Essential

Everything on THE ESSENTIAL RUN-D.M.C. is good to great to all-time classic. Now, there is a lot to nitpick about this compilation, but it's a great value for 29 tracks. The sequencing and track selection appear designed for listeners new to Run-D.M.C., meaning that a lot of classic songs were skipped in favor of some newer and more modern-sounding tracks.There are a few cuts that can't be easily found elsewhere: edits of Walk This Way, King Of Rock, Rock Box, and You Talk Too Much, remixes of Back from Hell (with Chuck D. & Ice Cube) and Pause, plus the best of the 2005 reissues' bonus tracks like Together Forever, Here We Go, and Christmas in Hollis (all of which have appeared on previous compilations), plus the long version of the now-rare single remix of Jam-Master Jammin'.It would have been nice if a few other stray non-album tracks were included (like Bounce, Christmas Is, The Kings, Ghostbusters, or even Krush Groovin' or Praise My DJs), but none of those qualify as "essential." Maybe if this sells well, there will be another round of reissues so all of the other rare mixes, instrumentals, and B-sides can finally appear on CD together...The bottom line is, there's a lot to like here. Run-D.M.C.'s first four albums are all essential to any great music collection, but this is a good starting point. Buy this first, then track down the '80s albums to get the other essentials (Jam-Master Jay, Can You Rock It Like This, Hit It Run, Raising Hell, etc.).

Great stuff here reminds myself of how great hip hop used to sound like ..

As a way to get some of my favorite tracks of there, I felt this was a good and inexpensive way to do so. Mary Mary, Christmas in Hollis, etc etc.

This was a Christmas Gift for my son-in-law. I'll have to say he loved it because it's what he asked for.

Good

;~``~; BEEN JAMMIN' TO THESE OLE BEATS!!!

Love this CD.Had listened to other greatest hits CD of RUN DMC but it does not compair.It's really dope.

Fast Service, Awezome Tracks Ole Skool