Run DMC retrospectives

well, as a couple others have said, this jam master jay shit hits me harder
than biggie or pac, or any of the other rap deaths. big and pac had some
joints, but i was never a huge fan of either. but man, i grew up w/ run-dmc.
_raising hell_ was the first album i ever got that pissed my mom off - just off
the title. i played that tape like crazy thru the years.
anyway, i pulled out the first 4 albums and listened to them all again last
night and today. thought i'd drop a few words here.

_run-dmc_, 1984
this album changed the game. i think it was really the first rap album to be
conceived as an album, rather than just throwin a bunch of singles and filler
together. when they dropped their first single in '83, it brought in the New
School era. run-dmc brought the style of dress back to the streets. they
introduced their new style by rejecting the Old School artists (as ultramags
and bdp would later reject them) - "not five, not four, not three, just two."
and they started a new sound - no longer the funk/disco tracks that had been
prevalent, but now the drum machine. the underrated larry smith is never
talked about in the same vein as mantronik or marley marl, but his drum machine
work on this album matches their shit. the first 6 songs on this album are as
strong as any album around. it slows down some at the end, but all in all, a
revolutionary release.
Grade: A-

_king of rock_, 1985
everything that worked so well on the first album was just a bit off this time.
it starts out with promise with the bumping pastiche "rock the house." but
the beats just don't have the same flair, the lyrics aren't as memorable. the
drums are augmented by synthesized swill, which is usually just dull if not
outright corny. there aren't any true disasters on this album, but nothing
great either. i think "you talk too much" was the first run-dmc joint i
remember hearing on the radio, but at the time it wasn't one of my favorites,
and it doesn't really stand up now. everything was just a little bit off, and
by the end this album drags.
Grade: C-

_raising hell_, 1986
well well...i don't remember when this album dropped in relation to when the
1986 singles from eric b and rakim, bdp, and ultramags ushered in the Golden
Age. but something must have made run-dmc realize they had to step up their
game, and did they ever. they broke the formula of their first two releases,
now experimenting with sampling, live drums, or just a mouth and hand, that's
what hip-hop was it still stands. a brilliant album without a weak track
throughout. it's hard to listen to "walk this way" objectively after all these
years, after all the hack writers have fellated it as the genesis and peak of
the rock/rap hybrid. but play the title track - it's not just rapping over
rock guitar. the guitar is assimilated into the beat. it rocks, but it's also
100% hip-hop. and peep the ill imagery they spit - "fire from the depths of
hell and you can smell the smoke;" "i cut the head of the devil and i throw it
at you." on top of all that, they just may have begun the pro-black phase in
hip-hop with "proud to be black." far from offering up simple platitudes, they
knew their history, and made you feel their words - even an 11 year old white
kid in connecticut like me. they were the coolest motherfuckers on the planet,
simple and plain.
Grade: A+

_tougher than leather_, 1988
the Golden Age was in full swing, how the fuck these relics gonna keep up?
well, they did...this album may not have been one of the best of the year,
because the year was so damn strong. but after all this time it still stands
up, albeit falling short of classic status. by this time, of course, rakim,
kris, kane, and others were writing lyrics that for the first time begged to be
studied...the metaphors, the rhyme schemes, the vocal patterns. run-dmc had
broken the musical rules of the Old School, but had kept on rhyming in the
1-2-3-4 cadence of those cats. meanwhile, rakim and others were flowing
through the beat, and fans were focusing on lyrical skill and vocal dexterity.
run-dmc wasn't setting the trends anymore, but they were keeping up. they
broke out the james samples. they started kicking some internal rhymes and
changing up their patterns. and shit, where are my manners, this is after all
a jmj remembrance - listen to him tear up "run's house." perfect accompanist.
some flaws here - the title track tries to emulate "raising hell" but is just
overbearing, as run and dmc fight the guitar. and i can't even call "miss
elaine" a hip-hop track. but some brilliant moments are here.
grade: B-

anyone wanna fill us in on the last 3 (?) albums?

i saw them live at the cubby bear in chicago, fall of 96. livest crowd ever.
and not just cause we were charged off the old hits - we coulda listened to
them at home. they knew how to rock the crowd. they came from the era when
you had to control the mic to be an mc - it didn't matter if their lyrics or
flows couldn't keep up thru the 90s. they had important skills that a lot of
mcs out now don't. and jay held it all together. never a spectacular dj, but
he wasn't supposed to be. he filled at the right time, he kept the crowd
alive. not my favorite member of the group - that would be dmc - but shit, the
3 were 1. this really is the end of an era.

...nesta...

Props for Nesta's original post. It's kinda difficult to try
to follow-up such dope posts, but I'll try to cook up something.

Run-DMC (1984)
It's a perfect mix of austere beats, classic Run-DMC vocals and sharp
cuts. I hope my mind returns me to the womb with the blessing of these
sounds when the pulse fades away and life turns to death. The sound
of this album makes me dream about building a time machine, travelling
to 1983 (resurrecting Jam Master Jay in the process) and wilding out
to Run-DMC tracks with a smile on everybody's face all night long in
the streets and residentials of New York when hip hop was still trying
to learn how to walk. Then right when everything is perfect I'd stop
the time movement to make it timeless and live forever in innocence.
A beast album, a concrete jungle heaven. Sucker MC's has classic
lyrics with perfect inflections, the beat itself is truly unfucking-
beliavable, with headphones its low-key echo effect is perfected, it's
one of the beautifullest, speciallest and insanest beats ever created.
Without any doubt this album deserves a 5.

King Of Rock (1985)
It falls slightly short of the first album in all areas. The lyrics
are not quite as tight and lack some of the intricacies in delivery.
Some of the beats have rock guitars layered on top, but the sound is
never overbearing, so there is plenty of good stuff for a rock guitar
hater like myself. I don't think the core of the beats was far from
the beauty of the debut. Darryl And Joe emits a nice 80s flavor with
a melody that feels like I'm playing arcade games for the first time
in a large dark hall packed with all types of coin slot machines,
coins jingling, people chatting and drumming the machines with their
fingers, pinball lights flickering and game screens looming. You Talk
Too Much is definitely on the classic level, perhaps not quite as
great as some other Run-DMC classics but it's like the smaller pyramids
next to the pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) in Giza, Egypt. Not every great
pyramid can be the greatest. Plus opening with Rock The House was like
starting from where the debut album left off. 4, maybe 4.25

I think Nesta was way too harsh on King Of Rock. I don't know how it
is possible to love the first album and hate King Of Rock, but I guess
it is. I personally love the liquid synth touches too.

By the way, why are some people in 2002 all of a sudden shocked that
LL wrote a Run-DMC song? It's not like it was a secret. The credits
never included Run or DMC. LL was credited along with Larry Smith
and Rick Rubin.

Raising Hell (1986)
I got a mental block on that heavy metal shit, so I never loved Walk
This Way. It's listenable, but the only song of that ilk I like is
Rock Box on the first album. The emceeing on Raising Hell had some
nice variation with straight rhymes, funny things (Run in DMC's verse
on Perfection), legendary deliveries, beatboxing, words from Humpty
Dumpty to black awareness, not to forget the rock/rap fusion (the
title track works well). "It's McDaniels, not McDonald's/these rhymes
are Darryl's, those burgers are Ronald's." Larry Smith didn't do work
on this album, so the flavor of the beats changed from the austere
boom-tchikas to some live drums, carefully chosen samples, scratches,
beatboxing and different kind of drum machine beats. It's the second
distinguishable musical phase of Run-DMC. Jam Master Jay stepped up
to a more prominent role (maybe that's why he looked so pleased with
himself in the back cover?), the right move at the right time. I
especially like beats such as the marvellous Peter Piper (shiver
inducing moments galore in the lyrics too) or the Sam Sever track Is
It Live. You can't front on the sound. Jam Master Jay cuts with taste.
"Jay's like King Midas as I was told/everything that he touched turned
to gold" they said in 1986. It's always exhilarating to hear the real
raw simple hip hop with cowbells and timely scratches and all that.
"The turntables might wobble but they don't fall down." The sound of
the 80s was Run-DMC, but I don't quite feel this album on the level
of the first. It's an influential piece though and rating this album
that's right on time it's TRICKY. The album doesn't lag at any point,
there is oodles of good stuff, bad meaning good, but in my book the
live drums just can't fuck with the boom-tchikas, 4.25

Tougher Than Leather (1988)
Whooooooose hooooooouuuuuuuuuse? Ruuuuuuuun's hoooooooouuuuuuse! By
now the beats had transformed into the more sampled loops idiom of
late 80's. A step away from Raising Hell and even further from the
original sound. Maybe Davy D was the catalyst this time. Some songs
are a bit suspect, Miss Elaine for one, and there is some loud rock
guitar scattered around just like on Raising Hell but not as well
implemented. I wish the title track only had the wah wahs and less
loud vocals, because it sounded like some of the power was contrived.
The other general flaw is that in spots the basic rhyming sounded a
bit too basic over modernized beats, especially when the holy trinity
of Rakim, G Rap and Kane was in full throttle. Had Run-DMC kept to
their original beats, the basic rhymes would never have become an
issue, but when they stepped into the world others inhabited, they
came under a different type of scrutiny. The tight stuff is extra
sweet however, sweet enough for me to feel it at least as much as the
finest on Raising Hell. I really miss hip hop when DJ was a key
ingredient like JMJ was here. Subtle and meaningful touches, no
unnecessary athletic kitchen sink extravaganza. Some of my favorite
gems on this album are Run's House, They Call Us Run-DMC (how classic
is that scratched chorus), Beats To The Rhyme (the beat is the illest,
a gorgeous knock-out beat for real), I'm Not Going Out Like That,
How'd Ya Do It Dee... TTL is a flawed album with some tracks I could
live without, but the moments of splendor are outrageously dope, 4.25.

Back From Hell (1990)
I suppose some fans just didn't like this album, probably because
Run-DMC switched to a different sound, the third musical phase of
Run-DMC, the later Golden Age approach of funky drumloops and jazzy
sampladelica, there is also a lot more swearing on this album. Not
much rock guitars though. Back From Hell was much fuller in sound
than any previous Run-DMC album. They also updated their styles on
the mic to a more contemporary approach with some multiples and less
of the old. No shelltoes on the cover though, Run had Ewings on. If
the first album was straight off the streets with skies above pouring
their blessings on it, the fifth baby could still make a street sparkle
with a different sound, even if it's closer to a mix of Marley Marl
produced Mama Said Knock You Out and Soul II Soul than mid-80's Run-DMC.
Plenty of good stuff for people who were willing to let Run-DMC change:
The Ave (reminds me of Bomb Squad type sound barrage), Bob Your Head
(very hypnotic), Faces and so on. Some tracks tend to get slightly too
muzaky in a Brand New Heavies type of way, but the album still has
memorable Run-DMC magic, 3.5

Down With The King (1993)
I can't rate this properly at the moment, because I lost it soon after
I got it. I must have said to myself "need to buy a new copy" about a
hundred times. It's not their greatest and there were way too many
producers and guests, but some of the soup was still tasty. Pete Rock
and Bomb Squad provided some nice work, if I recall, but there was
slipshod stuff too. By this time DMC had kicked his alcohol habit and
Run acquitted of the rape charges and both had become devout Christians.
I think this album had a bit of a tribute feeling already.

Crown Royal (1999)
Never heard in full. I'm not sure I want to. Queens Day is nice, but
it's the other stuff that worries me. This was the last musical phase
of Run-DMC: Run-DMC hooked to a respirator. On October 30, 2002, the
plug was pulled.

If any hip hop novice is reading this, the first Run-DMC album is
essential to life, the next three for a hip hop collection. If you
don't immediately click with it, or think it sounds old-fashioned
or whatever, please persevere, because one day it will all make
sense. Trust me on this. The first album is definitely in my top
10 hip hop albums.

One thing I've always wanted to hear is a CD long megamix of Run-DMC
done by a dope DJ. Mix in together all the best. I don't mean any
Greatest Hits mix, one track blended into another. I mean running
thru the Run-DMC catalogue with a proper mindset and impeccable taste
cutting details from here and there to come up with a mindblowing
Run-DMC collage. It could be the true hip hop paradisiac for all
people suffering from lack of original new school vitamins, Run-DMCins.

I'll end this with the last line from Peter Piper:
"You'll see Jay again my friend."