A Confident Run-D.M.C. : Check List **** Great Balls of Fire *** Good Vibrations ** Maybe Baby * Running on Empty

By ROBERT HILBURN

May 15, 1988 12 AM PT

****RUN-D.M.C. “Tougher Than Leather.” Profile.

Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels and Jason Mizell--the members of this New York trio--have long used rock as a cornerstone of their rap style, though it took the group’s galvanizing 1986 remake of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” to convince the mainstream rock audience of that connection.

Thanks largely to that song, Run-D.M.C.’s last album, “Raising Hell,” sold more than 3.3 million copies--a breakthrough that gave rap a foothold in the white teen market and helped open a door for such allied acts as the Beastie Boys and L. L. Cool J.

Instead of going back to Aerosmith or some other hard-rock heroes for another tune, the group--with a playful wink--offers a drastic reworking of a song by a band at the other end of the rock spectrum: the cuddliest of rock ‘n’ roll entries, the Monkees.

Run-D.M.C.’s version of “Mary, Mary” bristles with an assurance and bite that pervades the trio’s most consistently imaginative and appealing collection.

Ever since rap emerged in its present form a decade ago, there have been cries, especially from rock purists, that rap all sounds the same and that the street-oriented music, with its drum-machines and insistent rhyming, will soon fade away.

While rap lyrics often do tend to be unnecessarily self-absorbed, there’s an increasing confidence and range in the best rap that rebuts that view, and “Tougher Than Leather” stands as the most convincing rejoinder yet.

Moving beyond the use of rock as a strategy aimed at widening audience demographics, the key tunes forge an energy and artful design into a genuine and exciting rap ‘n’ roll vision.

Though there’s no retreat from the hip-hop atmosphere and turn-table wizardry of past Run-D.M.C. collections, the rapping itself--by both Simmons and McDaniels--has a supercharged pace and punch equal to the most tough-minded rock.

One of the band’s originals, “Miss Elaine,” is braced with such scorching rock textures that it wouldn’t be a surprise to see one of Aerosmith’s glam-rock offspring start including it in its repertoire. If Steve Tyler has a sense of humor, Aerosmith’ll even start playing the tune live itself.