Raising Hell

Certain Songs #2138: Run-D.M.C. – “It’s Tricky”

June 30, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Raising Hell
Year: 1986

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It was probably inevitable that Run-D.M.C. would hook up with Rick Rubin, and even without the massive success of “Walk This Way” to spur it, Raising Hell might have been their biggest album, as songs like “You Be Illin,” “My Adidas,” “Peter Piper” showed yet another leap in both song-making and execution.

My favorite — and probably my favorite Run-D.M.C. song period — was the self-referential “It’s Tricky,” which features a chorus where Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels are practically singing harmonies.

Certain Songs #2137: Run-D.M.C. – “Walk This Way”

June 29, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Raising Hell
Year: 1986

. . .

Here’s a thing you should probably know before we get into this: Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic was one of the very first albums I bought with my own money, and I probably know every single note of it by heart. But I bought Toys in The Attic not because of “Walk This Way,” but despite it.

Then, now and forevermore, it’s “Sweet Emotion” that is the highlight of that album, followed narrowly by the title track. “Walk This Way” is like, my fifth or sixth favorite song on that album.