The Daily Swarm

Headlines

November 04, 2009

New York Royalty's Essential New York Albums...

Steve Smith, Music editor:
“Along with fellow Def Jam trio Beastie Boys, Queens’ Run-D.M.C. successfully smuggled hip-hop into suburbia in the mid-’80s, most prominently with their third album, Raising Hell. While the Aerosmith collaboration ‘Walk This Way’ captured a million classic-rock hearts, it’s the full LP—with its spare beats, tag-team vocals, and shout-outs to DJs and sneakers—that was an outer-borough masterpiece.”

Scott Ian, Anthrax:
“Raising Hell is third or fourth. My No. 1 choice is the Ramones’ Rocket to Russia. As a kid from Queens that used to sit in his room and play along to ‘Teenage Lobotomy,’ the Ramones gave me hope. I looked like them: long hair, leather jacket and Levi’s. I know they invented punk rock, but for me it was more personal. They were the door to another world.”