The Message was released in October 1982 by Sugar Hill Records. It was the only album released while the group's original line-up was together. The album charted at number 53 in the United States and at number 77 in the United Kingdom. It was ranked as the 21st best album of 1982 in Robert Christgau's list for the Pazz & Jop critics' poll. In , he gave the album an A-minus and said, although "She's Fresh" is the "only instant killer", each song's attempt to experiment and "touch a lot of bases with a broad demographic... justifies itself". In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Ron Wynn gave The Message four-and-a-half out of five stars and called it the group's "ultimate peak" whose highlight was the title track. Miles Marshall Lewis, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide, gave its 2002 British reissue four out of five stars and cited "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" as the album's "clincher" and "the only prime-period example of Flash's ability to set and shatter moods, with his turntables and faders running through a collage of at least 10 records that sound like hundreds." Colin Larkin also gave it four stars in his Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Mark Richardson from Pitchfork said The Message featured "two absolutely essential songs"—the title track and "Scorpio," which he dubbed "the greatest early electro track." However, he felt the rest of the songs were inferior and gave the album a score of 6.4 out of 10. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing
;Sample credits
"She's Fresh" contains samples from "It's Just Begun" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch and "The Lovomaniacs" by Boobie Knight.
"It's Nasty" contains samples from "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club.
"It's a Shame" contains samples from "Mt. Airy Groove" by Pieces Of A Dream.
"The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" contains samples from "Good Times" by Chic, "Apache" by The Incredible Bongo Band, "Rapture" by Blondie, "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen, "8th Wonder" by The Sugarhill Gang, "Monster Jam" by Sequence, "Glow of Love" by Change and "Life Story" by The Hellers.
Personnel
Grandmaster Flash – turntables, drum programming, Flashformer transform DJ device
Keef Cowboy – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
Grandmaster Melle Mel – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
The Kidd Creole – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
Scorpio – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
Rahiem – Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
