Back From Hell

by

Run-D.M.C.

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This album was released in 1990. By this time, the (undeserved) street backlash to TOUGHER THAN LEATHER gave the group a bad reputation in hip-hop-only circles. Also, Rap had splintered off into several sub-factions: The success of West coast and Southern rap acts weakened the New York-centric stranglehold on the rap scene. Gangster rap, as epitomized by N.W.A., Ice T & the Geto Boys, made national headlines, and managed to get major sales regardless of limited radio & video airplay. The sexually explicit tales of Too Short and 2 Live Crew brought a decidedly blue flavor to rap, while achieving similar sales results. New York's newer Rap acts, like Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, KRS-One and Big Daddy Kane brought updated topics and influences ranging from The Black Panthers to the Nation of Islam.

All this, combined with the fact that the hip-hop 'freshness' timetable is ridiculously accelerated, made New York traditionalists like Run DMC seem, well, old. "Pause" was a comeback single that hit in 1989, that adopted the then-hot New Jack Swing style of R&B production. For the album, the band self-produces for the first time (longtime collaborators Larry Smith and Davy D work on a few cuts, but keyboardist Stanley Brown has the most prominent role), and eschews the rock aesthetic that they pioneered (which by that time, had been virtually abandoned for funk & soul samples) and goes full-throttle into Teddy Riley territory (indeed, Aaron Hall shows up on "Don't Stop").. The results are mixed.

The band sure curses a lot more, which is either a sign of the band's frustrations at the time, or a pained attempt at being contemporary: The title track "Back from Hell" is a series of anecdotes about thugs going into or getting released from prison. There are some vague guitar licks scratched in, and that's about the most of the rock-rap fusion to be found on this release. People expecting "Raising Hell part 2" will be disappointed. Most of the songs would be okay for anyone else, but Run DMC fans demand more.

Arista Records bought the Profile catalog in the late 90's and re-released the standard versions of Run DMC's studio LPs. However, Back from Hell was not included in the 2004 expanded versions of the group's albums. At the time of the album's original promotion, there was a groundbreaking 12-inch/EP-only remix of the single "Back From Hell" featuring Ice Cube and Public Enemy's Chuck D. That makes for at least one potential bonus cut that could be included for a proper re-release.