"God damn, that DJ made my day!"

Released at the beginning of 1986, Run DMC's Raising Hell was a landmark album. To a snot-nosed, soon-to-be-16-year-old, it was a revelation. The heavy guitar riffs and thunderous, sledgehammer beats crossed over to take my white world by storm. And, the collaboration with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on a remake of the classic "Walk This Way" revived a deader than dead career for Aerosmith.

Peter Piper – 3:25
It's Tricky – 3:03
My Adidas – 2:47
Walk This Way – 5:11
Is It Live – 3:06
Perfection – 2:52
Hit It Run – 3:10
Raising Hell – 5:31
You Be Illin' – 3:26
Dumb Girl – 3:31
Son of Byford – :27
Proud to Be Black – 3:14

Deluxe Edition bonus tracks:
My Adidas (a capella) - 2:32
Walk This Way (demo) - 5:26
Lord of Lyrics (demo) - 4:30
Raising Hell Radio Tour Spot - 0:53
Live at the Apollo Raw Vocal Commercial - 3:28

Some of Haahnster's favorite rhymes include:

He's the big bad wolf in your neighborhood,
Not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good! (from “Peter Piper”)

When I wake up people take up mostly all of my time
I'm not singin', phone keep ringin' cause I make up a rhyme (from “It’s Tricky”)

It's McDaniels not McDonald's
These rhymes are Darryl's, but the burgers are Ronald's! (from “Hit It Run”)

Hanging in the heavens on the sound supreme
So clear to the ear it is sometimes seen
...
Mysterious is serious, I ain't no joke
Fire from the depths of hell, and you can smell the smoke
Kicking and ticking while you're having a ball
Like chicken finger-lickin I'll be flicking you all
Don't do the bird, have you heard? Did they give you a call?
Just me and DMC cold shakin the wall (from “Raising Hell”)

The way Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels traded rhymes, often in mid-word, sometimes in mid-syllable, was both artful and entertaining. The late Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell provided the scratching, and Run's brother, Russell "Rush" Simmons and the mighty Rick Rubin provided the production. Great stuff, even for the casual rap fan.

Fun Raising Hell facts:

• Raising Hell peaked at #1 on Billboard's R&B/Hip Hop Album chart, and at #6 on the Billboard 200.
• The album achieved triple-platinum status.
• "Walk This Way" became the first rap song to crack the top 5 of The Billboard Hot 100.
• Raising Hell was ranked # 120 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.