Greatest Hits [PA]

Performer: Run-D.M.C.
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: Producers: Russel Simmons, Larry Smith, Rick Rubin, Pete Rock, Run-D MC. Compilation producer: Rob Santos, Jeremy Holiday. Recorded between 1983 & 1993. Personnel: Steven Tyler (vocals); Eddie Martinez, Joe Perry (guitar). Audio Mixers: DJ Red Alert; Davy D.; DJ Starchild; Latin Rascals; Rick Rubin; Run-D.M.C. Photographer: George DuBose. Break out the Kangols, rope chains, and Adidas, because Run-DMC are in the house with GREATEST HITS. Still busting out rhymes when most of their contemporaries had long ago left the world of rap, these Queens natives take a quick look back with this collection overflowing with hip-hop milestones. Employing spare beats and metal-derived samples on early smashes like "It's Like That" and "Rock Box," Run-DMC was one of the first rap crews to crash the R&B charts. From there, this talented trio soon appeared in movies like KRUSH GROOVE with song in tow ("Sucker M.C.'s [Krush Groove 1]"), started influencing fashion ("My Adidas"), and smashed the line between rock & roll and rap with help from Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry ("Walk This Way"). Other notable nuggets sprinkled throughout this collection are hits like "You Be Illin'", "It's Tricky," "Peter Piper," and of course, "King Of Rock." There's also Run-DMC covering the Monkees ("Mary Mary"), putting their stamp on the holidays ("Christmas In Hollis"), and making a massive early-'90s comeback ("Down With The King").

Rolling Stone (10/3/02, p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...For about 3 years in the mid-80s, RUN DMC weren't just the valedictorians of the old school of rap, they were the best band on the planet..." Spin (12/02, p.43) - "...'Sucker MC's' and 'It's Like That' still whomp hard enough to kick-start an electro-rap revival..."

Until Run-DMC came along in the early 1980s, most hip-hop music wasn't much more than nursery rhymes over disco loops. They popularized the idea of rap as a new kind of rock & roll--the voice of the streets set to the raw sounds of a turntablist one-man-band. The group even managed to pioneer the collision of rock and rap with a groundbreaking take on Aerosmith's "Walk This Way." Run-DMC is now viewed as the avatar of old-school hip-hop, almost quaint by 21st-century gangsta standards, but undeniably influential. Sadly, Run-DMC disbanded in 2002, after the tragic murder of Jam Master Jay, the group's groundbreaking DJ.

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