By their third album,
Run-D.M.C. were primed for a breakthrough into the mainstream, but nobody was prepared for a blockbuster on the level of
Raising Hell.
Run-D.M.C. and
King of Rock had established the crew's fusion of
hip-hop and
hard rock, but that sound didn't blossom until
Raising Hell, partially due to the presence of
Rick Rubin as producer.
Rubin loved
metal and
rap in equal measures and he knew how to play to the strengths of both, while slipping in commercial concessions that seemed sly even when they borrowed from songs as familiar as
"My Sharona" (heard on
"It's Tricky"). Along with longtime
Run-D.M.C. producer
Russell Simmons,
Rubin blew down the doors of what
hip-hop could do with
Raising Hell because it reached beyond
rap-rock and found all sorts of sounds outside of it. Sonically, there is simply more going on in this album than any previous
rap record -- more hooks, more drum loops (courtesy of ace drum programmer
Sam Sever), more scratching, more riffs, more of everything. Where other
rap records, including
Run-D.M.C.'s, were all about the rhythm, this is layered with sounds and ideas, giving the music a tangible flow. But the brilliance of this record is that even with this increased musical depth, it still rocks as hard as hell, and in a manner that brought in a new audience. Of course, the cover of
Aerosmith's
"Walk This Way," complete with that band's
Steven Tyler and
Joe Perry, helped matters considerably, since it gave an audience unfamiliar with
rap an entry point, but if it were just a novelty record, a one-shot fusion of
rap and
rock,
Raising Hell would never have sold three million copies. No, the music was fully realized and thoroughly invigorating, rocking harder and better than any of its
rock or
rap peers in 1986, and years later, that sense of excitement is still palpable on this towering success story for
rap in general and
Run-D.M.C. in specific. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
![Upstairs at Eric's [Limited Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0821797100205_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Upstairs at Eric's [Limited Edition]")
