[citation needed] This album features vocals from Aaron Hall ("Don't Stop") and also Jam Master Jay rapping for the first time ("Faces", "Not Just Another Groove" and "Pause").

Before Run, DMC and Jay went in the studio to begin recording Back from Hell, they were in trouble: Jay owed the IRS nearly $300,000 in state taxes dating back to 1989,[3] Run was struggling to cope with severe depression and DMC became reliant on alcohol to help him overcome his debilitating stage fright, downing as many as 12 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor a day.

's popularity had decreased dramatically, and the Queens residents had lost a lot of ground to both West Coast gangster rappers like Ice Cube, Ice-T and Compton's Most Wanted.

set out to regain the support of the hardcore rap audience and pretty much abandoned rock-influenced material in favor of stripped-down, minimalist and consistently street-oriented sounds.

[9] Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone gave the album two stars out of five, saying "Gratuitous obscenities abound on the record, and they sure don't make Run-D.M.C.