A masterpiece. MF DOOM is one of the most talented rappers I have ever heard (and I've heard 100's of albums), and Madlib is one of the greatest and most diverse producers in the world. The combination of the two works extremely well, as the two have a very similar sound. This is a must for any hip hop fan to listen to.

BUY. IT. NOW. Forget that questionable album of 2003 "Speakerboxxx/Love Below" (come on, now, what band in their right mind releases a song with the chorus "Lean a little bit closer/See, Roses really smell like poo poo poo-ooo"?). Get this Madvillain masterpiece. Jaw-droppingly brillaint - its everything you want it to be.

Best Hip-Hop Album of 2004...Madlib's creative - dirty, innovative, yet soulful - productions is the perfect complement over MF Doom's calm, yet stylish voice. Furthermore, the dare to bend the rules, not making your very standard hip-hop song (verse and a course) to produce a story element that keeps the listener at the edge of their seat. Most def an "eargasm."

ground-breaking

Madlib's production provides the perfect backdrop for Doom's take on things. Sure to be talked about for years to come.

Awesome album, makes some of the most original hip hop albums look unoriginal!

I've referred to this as my favorite album of all time in many, many occasions, and I still fully back that comment. Every single track is mindblowing.

Cool Clean sound, i am not usually a rap listener, but i would definitely recommend this album to all my rock and metal listening friends!

God, there are so many white people on this forum.

I have to admit I didn't like this album at first. I liked it, I just didn't LOVE it like other people did. Now it's one of my favorite CD's in my collection. It grows on you with repeated listenings so definitely spin it a few times to really get it. A complex, sprawling work that if there is any justice in the world will get nominated for some type of award.

A masterpiece; at turns amusing, threatening and even downright psychopathic. Just for the record, anyone who - like Eric Y - refers to this as "rap" doesn't know of what they speak and should get back to their Fifty Cent record collection.

This is a an independent classic for ages to come! I was not a common Doom fan until I listened to this CD. Madlib is one of the best underground producers of all times. This was a big breath of fresh air to Hip Hop!

Best HipHop Album of 2004.......

Best hip hop album of 2004. MF Doom is unstoppable.

Shockingly Genius Recording, nothing will beat this for this year unless some kind of revelation comes around.

Genius. Anyone who doesn't rate this album highly needs to re-assess the way they evaluate pretty much everything. Or they could just turn off MTV.

an unbelievable album!!!

Incredible blend of beats, rythm and dissonance. Worthy of non Hip Hop merits. Also dig on Quasimoto if you like this album.

Madlib is our generation's Miles Davis and MF Doom is a grower. You need a degree of patience for this one. After that, it's magic.

Probably the best hip-hop album in quite some time. This is truly a modern classic.

Real hip-hop music. It will grow on you. People will be talking about this record for years. A MUST OWN.

10!!! If you dont agree that this albums a classic, you havent been listening to it long enough. Give it more than two spins and youll be hooked. This album marries classic Madlib production and the always witty genius that is Metal Face Doom. The best album by both so far in their dynamic careers is, for me, the best ALBUM of the year.

This album is a stroke of GENIUS. If you are a hardcore Hip Hop head by this album. A combination of hard underground beats by MADLIB and slick lyrical flow by MF DOOM made this album 2004's best buy. Hip Hop Classic.

Whoever posted anonymous was talking about Bloc Party's album, which i gave a 7.5 too heh. This however, is one of my favorite rap albums of all time.

Best album of 2004

Wow, I know that it's bold of me, but this is seriously the best Rap album that I have ever heard. Madvillainy is not just proof that MF Doom and Madlib are two of the most talented figures in rap today, but that they need to collaborate again. Totally original and groundbeaking in every way.

One of the best rap/hip-hop albums of all time!

Anyone who is planning to buy this album has to realise that it's MF Doom & Madlib. Those two guys are well into unconventional rap. I mean: this album is as far away from - let's say - 50 Cent as it is to - let's say - Radiohead. Maybe even closer to Radiohead. But if you like to hear new things, things that haven't been done before, if you like to be suprised by an album, if you don't like the "been there, done that"-approach that some rappers are into nowadays, but you are into rap, well: this is your album. BTW: [anonymous] (who gives the album a 7) is talking about Bloc Party's Silent Alarm and not about this album.… Expand

I can't call it the greatest rap album of all time, because I haven't heard them ALL but that said, my favorite rap album of all time.

An exceptional album...MF DOOM proves he is among the greatest rappers ever.....

It's one of the few albums that I can listen to over and over and over again, every track flows so flawlessy, and are instantly catchy, but there are plenty of hidden tresures in some of these songs, that you start to notice on about the 10th listen. A Classic no doubt, almost as good as The Unseen.

I don't give out tens easily. This album is a ten. Basically, if you are a fan of Madlib's disctinct production style, then this is a masterpiece you must check out. Immediately. Art meets entertainment in a most equisite package/

Gets more fresh and fresh after every listen.

Madvillain album Madvillainy is one of the greatest underground albums of all time period. IT ROCKS

An awesome album, but really the only flaw holding it back is the length of some tracks.

Incredible originality and flow - nothing else like it in this genre. Doom is the master of low-fi indie hip-hop and this collection is a 7-course meal of listening pleasure. If you've come here for pop rap or auto-tune, look elsewhere - you are not worthy.

.......with the exception of MF DOOM's other side projects, MADVILLAINY is the finest hip-hop album of the past two years......

completely testicles

awesome. a flashing colalboration between mf doom & madlib isw the best hiphop album released in the 21st century. it is raising hell of our times

Instant classic, this hasn't left my cd player since I bought it a week ago, and I think it'll keep within my reach for the rest of the year. The best work yet by Madlib as well as Doom.

A phenomenal hip-hop trip. Listening to this album is actually more like watching a really good film. The straits and peaks are perfectly balanced, and despite being incredibly eclectic and creative, Madvillain never lose their grass-roots hip-hop. It's a rocker.

Rarely does an album come around like this.

dude mf doom has had the midas touch since 99's operation doomsday. like u can hear it start devepling even with KMD as Zev love X now its Doom's time.

Simply the best of 2004. And maybe 2005.

upon ma first listen of this Album...i was thinking the album was a 7 at best. Then I took the commercial MTV/BET clog blocking ma listening skills out. after the 3rd listen i was bedazzled! the lyrical content of this album is Amazing! the beats and skits are perfect. The album touches many many things! This is a classic. Definetaly comes after Illmatic in ma all time greatest albums....and if it aint in ur top 3.....I wonder what the f*ck is!!!!!!!… Expand

Best album ever

Pretty Much As good as rap gets

Reading all the bad reviews here clearly shows that this album is for people with an love of hip hop and wider music in general. Some people drink Teachers, other choose a single malt.

This was the first rap album I ever owned and it has never gotten old. It puts me in a mood that no other cd possibly can. The review that Blender gives is so far off from what this cd is. Nothing punk-rock about it. Just fucking amazing

An absolute hip-hop classic. A must have. I wouldn't say that Doom misses the beat, he just flows over it. But your head just has to calibrate itself to a style of hip hop that's outside the box...or in this instance; the beat. Picasso had the most warped perspective ever, but he's revered as a master of the masters. And a thousand other examples. the ONLY lacking element is the entire track of "hardcore hustle". No doom, no track. Wildchild sucks.… Expand

this is the most inventive rap album EVER! if you dont like this your a piece of shAt! i wanna be listening to this when i die...

Simply Head-Bangin, Mind Twangin, and Straight up Reignin at #1 With the world...

This is what hip hop is supposed to be. Madlib and MF Doom? Are you kiddin me? Wow. All I can say is wow. As for Bubba Hick, well I think his name speaks for himself. He should show more respect for others opinions and go on listening to Journey or something.

"Got more soul than a sock with a hole" brilliant

I bought this album on critical responce after I head a bunch of good things about Doom, this album is easlily my favorite hip hop album, which is odd because it's so current, but its badass, the beats are spectacular, the punk rock presentation is endearing, and the buttery smooth flow is bodacious, Every single hip hop fan needs to own this album as a reference point to greatness.

dopeness at it's maximum

A classic album. This is one of my favorite hip-hop albums of all time. The CD is filled with great songs, and even greater beats. Doom can sound like he's rambling (as he often does), but his songs usually have a profound (or at least meaningful) message. If you're into jazzy style hip-hop, then this CD might be worth looking into.

WOW. this is weird yet entertaining

I love this

BRILLIANT.

Utterly unique, thick bass lines, fantastic jazz samples and the greatest rapper of all time to boot, any of you fools that gave this a bad review have no taste and are the reason most hip hop is crap nowadays.

DOOM + MADLIB = Greatest Combination EVER!!!

Pure genius.

I admit, this took a LOT of listens for me to get into, and I only finally got into after listening to the excellent Mouse and the Mask -- reinvigorated my interest in hip-hop -- highly recommended!

"Mad man never goes (*pop*) like snot bubbles." If somebody overdosed on pcp, they couldn't come up with something like that. The most original album I have heard in a while!

This is the best album since never....This is on another level. You can't rate it along with any other album. Simply BRILLIANT!!!!

It took some time to love, and now I can't stop listening. The lyrics are good , but the samples are genius.

Not only a perfect note it should be a blue note. That is what I call jazz!

Wildly overrated??? Son, please...try as we all might, you cannot overhype a masterpiece. Madvillainy joins a very elite lineup--jazzed like Tribe, blitzed like Wu, tight as all hell...requires--no, DEMANDS--spin after spin. Yes, Madlib and Doom have dropped hands down the best hip hop release of 2004, but more than that, they've set a precedent: to take a shot at all-time greatness--whoever you are--that next record's gonna be held up against this one.… Expand

Like all great pop art this album is familiar and decidedly alien. Engaging and oddly distant. MF Doom and Madlib are the best thing happening in underground hip hop, undercutting El-P and his Def Jukies on the grounds of inovative music by altering musical preconceptions as well as contexual ones. Perhaps more hip hop should keep it sureal.

Jampacked full of complete originality. great cd. great music but the Street Fighter 2 sounds in one song won me over. 9 for sure. like nothing you have ever heard before.

Wow...so rarely see this kind of invention in such a tired usher world. Sick.

i really think this is such an amazing album. the sampling along with the wild rapping is excellently done, and just because all of MF Doom's lyrics don't always make sense it TOTALLY works on this album, it's almost more intelligent. i would definitely recommend this album to anyone.

brilliant super genius, nvr get bored of this after years..

My first exposure to MF Doom has blown me away. I didn't know what to say to what I was listening to as it came through the speakers, but I could only stutter and blink in awe. What a great album.

This album is simply incredible. Flowing... Brilliant.

Great album. But to anyone who disses Doom as an MC: name one rapper out today with a more unique style. You can't. And Madlibs beats are cool, perfect for Doom's style.

I have to respond to JeremyE's review. Look just because you can't understand the lyrics doesn't mean they aren't saying anything or have no meaning. I can't expect you to know what you don't know, but if you pay attention there is a lot of fascinatingly deep lyrics here. Try not to look at the world with such a literal view point. The lyrics on this album are abstract and take time to grasp. There are plenty of fine artists out there that say very literal things in their raps, go find them and leave what you don't understand alone.… Expand

This is one of the greatest albums, rap/indie wise, possibly ever. Its so well built from instrumentals to lyrical this album is a classic in my opinion. Accordion is one of the best songs on the album and can be taken in to context as one of the best rap songs in the past ten years and possibly of all time. M.F. Doom and Madlib create such a masterpiece that it will have your mind blown away from the first minute to the last. Definite buy for any indie lover or rap lover. You will never be the same again after you listen to this work of art… Expand

This is one of very few albums in the rap world where I can jam to the entire album without skipping a song. Doom, being probably my personal favorite rapper, does some of his best work on this album. I heard this album being my first Madlib experience, and I was wowed. Most people don't appreciate the rap DOOM spits, but if you follow along to each spoken word, Doom is probably one of the top ten most talented MC's of the world. Listen to this, this is BANGIN!… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It is strange that the album already downloaded, is different rhymes, beats different, but the sound has an incredible quality;

A good rap underground, MF DOOM rhymes short, dark and no chorus. Already in the beats, sounds of Madlib uses film clips, cartoons and even accordion, one thing is very complex and different from what happens in the mainstream;… Expand

Truly the best hip-hop album ever made. Can you even imagine the amount of work they've put in to pick the samples? These weren't produced in no studio or whatever, these were hand-picked from a ceiling-high stack of vinyl.

Kudos to them. Their efforts certainly have not been in vain.

Some people seem just not to GET IT. I hate to phrase it in such a such a way, because everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that's the way it is. For one, both the word play of MF Doom, and the mixing of Madlib destined this album to be extremely polarizing from the get go. Not everyone is going to love it, some are going to hate it, but most just won't get it. It's intentionally a jumbled mess of near silliness, that switches between abstract tracks and specific concepts, but it blends the two seamlessly. It's an album that if you want to hear jaw dropping punchlines and crazy metaphors, you're not going to get until the third listen or so; if you want head nodding beats you're not going to get because the tracks are too short and all over the place. BUT if you're willing to look past the 'weird' nature of the album, you'll hear the masterpiece underneath. And if you give it a chance and listen 2,3, 4 times you'll get something different out of it every time. This album gets a 10/10 from me, because it's so out there that it's brilliant. MF Doom will never be an artist that everyone can appreciate it, but if you give him a chance he might just surprise you.

Oh, and Accordion is EASILY one of the greatest songs ever, of any genre.… Expand

One of the BEST hip-hop album of all time. I'm honored that I had the opportunity to listen and own this album. The album is genius! Madlib is a awesome producer and MF Doom, is an amazing rapper (and also a producer). Because of this album, I'm a big fan of Madvillian. Can't wait for their next album together!

Probably the best hip-hop album i have heard in my entire life, make sure you listen to it from start to finish. Very original and heaps of clever lyrics and nice beats. Absolutely quality hip-hop.

This album took me for a long ride and on the way explained what was wrong with mainstream rap and how the glory days are long gone. the production from Madlib were topped with a combination of lyrics that were just as strange but incredibly artistic from the undergrounds most treasured lyricst MF DOOM. Losg story short, it just matched perfectly. The unorthodox flow and the mysterious melodies put my brain into pondering mode and concluded that anything unseen by the public could easily be the best thing around. Hip hop whould be briefly revived by this album and still carrys a strong position as the best hip hop album of its decade.… Expand

The best underground album of all-time. The entire album flows from beginning to end; a sequel is needed ASAP. No hooks because none are necessary when an MC as skilled as this handles the microphone

A very entertaining, inventive Hip-Hop album with no boundaries. Like nothing you've ever heard.

a simply mind-blowing record... DOOM lays down his signature twisted lyricism and flow over equally warped and perfectly crafted beats from the one and only Madlib. simply put, this is a landmark hip hop record. must own for all underground rap fans

This is where true rap and hip-hop is. This is what most rap artists are missing. Originality. It has it's own independent style in the lyrically and production department. Perfection, literally...

Fantastic album which has stood the testament of almost a decade. MF Doom continues to release unprecedented rhymes over classic Madlib instrumentals. A true hip-hop classic.

I' m not big into hip-hop, but I think this, like some other albums from this genre (The Money Store, The Grey Album) is a masterpiece. The singles (like All Caps or Accordion) are delightful, and the other tracks are also great. The group relies equally on the abstract rhymes of MF Doom and Madlib's Jazz Influenced Beats. However, the feat. on Raid and MF's "singing" on Great Day aren't amazing. Overall, a great record and a great introduction to underground Hip-Hop.… Expand