Run-D.M.C. Album: “King of Rock [Digipak]”

Here it is! Run DMC's creative manifesto. Sure they're only on their second album but at the same time you can tell in a few seconds there's no chance of sophmore slump here; they use every new recording and new idea to expand on the last and are creating a trail for hip-hop to follow each time. This is the beginning of the Run DMC sound that everyone became aware of with their follow up to this,the blockbuster

. The sound has those hard rocking 808 drum machine beats,Jam-Master Jay's hyperspace scratching and plenty of that rocking guitar they were known for but,at the same time wheras their debut was more or less trying to take one kind of sound and turn it into an album lengh concept this one has Run DMC takling different kinds of beats and rhythms and expaning their language. The songs here are funky,rocking and the rhymes are clever and,much as on LL Cool J's

from the same here have very recognizable song structures. The title track says it all for them. They're not in the same exact field of the day the way Michael Jackson and even Kool & The Gang had become but they were still part of the game and were ASSUMING their status rather than nipping around for it and they "wouldn't stop rocking 'til they retired". "You Talk To Much" is a really witty song backed up by this kind of new wave-funk jam where they remarking on one of those people who can talk the talk but never walk the walk and end up being one of those people who "never shut up". "Jam-Master Jammin",""You're Blind" and the confident "It's Not Funny" find the crew continuing to tinker with their rock/rap hybrid where as "Can You Rock It Like This" ups the tempo and rocks right out in a funky way...right along with things like Prince's Minneapolis sound. Pointing to the diversity of this album "Roots,Rap, Reggae",maybe with few realizing it baught the Jamaican connection back into hip-hop especially since reggae was a genre without which we could have no hip-hop to due it's talk singing style. So there's a lot of history in that tunes concept. "Darryl And Joe (Krush Groove 3)" brings back the new wave funk groove back to the equasion. The demo "Slow And Low" is just Run DMC's rapping over the 808 beat and you also get a very on the spot sounding version of "King Of Rock" from

and those are the two best bonus tracks. The first three Run DMC albums have the advantage of EACH being a new addition to the hip-hop genre in and of itself as they were getting their legs and it's also really entertaining all the while.

I was a teenager when this album came out and fell totally in love with hip hop around this time. This album was the icing on the cake for a kid like me in the 80's. Get this album and you will re-live those great hip hop memories.

C'mon fellow heads! This is that business!Of course their debut self titled album is awesome but this one has it's own place in history too! When have you,ever,ever, see an intro to a movie like KrushGrove when they threw down on 'King of Rock' ( I am 33 and I still get pumped watching that,so do my little cousins!)Daryl and Joe helped me to appreciate the art of M.C.ing and Djing all on the same track. And You're Blind? Oh my god, You're Blind.......dude, one of the FLYEST HOOKS EVER! Around that time, wearing glasses was considered nerdy, D.M.C. made it cool, and proved you can could rock lenses and be hard all at the same time. RUNDMC the album certainly open the door, but this album created the phenom!