The Mouse And The Mask - DangerDoom
Metascore
81 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 34 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 34
  2. Negative: 0 out of 34
  1. 100
    As subversive as it is weird.
  2. 91
    An entire record of scorching wordplay, groovy soundscapes, jaw-dropping cadence and Aqua Teen Hunger Force cameos. [#17, p.93]
  3. Both guys are so irrepressibly playful that they get serious at their peril--they're better off as a nonstop musical goof.
  4. A hip-hop tour de farce. [14 Oct 2005, p.152]
  5. The best album of the year in the hip-hop underground.
  6. Wonderfully askew. [Feb/Mar 2006, p.96]
  7. Lyrically, Doom hasn't sounded this vital since Viktor Vaughn's "Vaudeville Villain."
  8. 90
    Finds both beatmaker and rapper at the peak of their powers. [#70, p.89]
  9. Rather than detract from the funkified weirdness, the guest spots from the Adult Swim crew actually add to the craziness.
  10. Anyone intrigued by Doom should adore this album.
  11. [A] psychedelic rap reality worth wigging to.
  12. It's an excellent album if you're in on the joke.
  13. Proof once more, that you can be experimental, extreme and eccentric but be excellently hip hop all at the same time.
  14. 80
    This is MF Doom's most accessible moment to date. [Nov 2005, p.108]
  15. It might not be the underground hip-hop record of the year, but it is easily on the short list.
  16. The Mouse and the Mask’s levity is the antithesis of the dense Madvilliany, and it continues Doom’s steady march toward achieving legendary status.
  17. The Mouse and the Mask, while it may not be answering life's questions, is an enjoyable and highly original achievement.
  18. The beats on The Mouse and the Mask are remarkably consistent, satisfactorily complex, and surprisingly subtle.
  19. Like Paul's Boutique, The Mouse and the Mask is at times frustrating in its top-heaviness. Thank god it's got Doom.
  20. The addition of Adult Swim characters into damn near every track isn't always seamless or clever, and the album could do without "Bada Bing" or Meatwad's intentionally painful bonus-track cover of Doom's "Beef Rapp," but otherwise, this stellar collaboration threatens to give underground synergy a good name.
  21. Even though the album maintains a barely serious attitude from start to finish, it's impossible to doubt the talent and style present.
  22. It's not as revealing as Doom's other work, and Danger Mouse's big, Technicolor productions here are a little too trivial to be immortal. But for what it attempts-- which is basically a comedy record with no-joke skills-- it exceeds expectations.
  23. An ingeniously clever album. [13 Nov 2005]
  24. 75
    Doom's playing it safe. [Oct 2005, p.133]
  25. Though not really getting the joke can somewhat divorce the listener from proceedings, the slick, masterful production and real-life cameos from the likes of Ghostface and particularly Cee-Lo on the majestic 'Benzi Box' make up for the feeling of exclusion.
  26. 70
    An entirely silly album. [Jan 2006, p.120]
  27. Doom's bizarre raps prove a good match for Danger Mouse's eclectic approach. [Nov 2005, p.123]
  28. It's a fun ride. [6 Oct 2005, p.154]
  29. The Mouse and the Mask's downfall, though, is its excruciatingly narrow scope.
  30. It’s not a bad album, and Doom’s rapping is damn near unparalleled; but when you come right down to it, The Mouse & the Mask kinda feels like a throwaway.
  31. Both participants' artistic weaponry [is] set for "stun" instead of "kill." [Dec 2005, p.216]
  32. While this buoyant link-up is no disgrace, its main ingredients - copshow brass, cartoon flutes, professor voices - are fairly familiar rap tropes.
  33. Abandoned in the spotlight, Doom appears to falter, though again I think it’s just because we’ve grown so accustomed to cherry-picking his lyrical gems from a well-blended stoned barrage.
  34. 50
    Surprisingly pedestrian. [Nov 2005, p.134]
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 50 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 32
  3. Negative: 3 out of 32
  1. Mr.E.S.Pony
    9
    Since I'm both a fan of the two primaries on the album and of adult swim this was a marriage made in heaven. A sick, twisted heaven where milkshakes run amok on answering machines and balls of ground meat freestyle, where the master of ceremonies wheres a metal mask and the score to it all is arranged by a rodent. Full Review »
  2. DillonG
    7
    danger doom rocks the hip-hop scene with their intelligent use of comical rhymes, comic book and cartoon characters, and danger mouse is great at mixing beats and at producing. their best guest appearances were obviously Talib Kweli and Ghostface. (cee-lo was alright.) it was abstract and surreal, but it could've integrated more social commentary and been more straight-forward at times....other than that, very solid first album, and hopefully many more to come. Full Review »
  3. ObaloidF
    8
    Though one of this albums two collaborators is a Madvillain alum, this album bears little resemblance to that Tour de Force. This album, a good one by all means, does not achieve the "Wow" factor that Madlib brought to the imaculate duo. Madlib is better suited to providing beats for Doom's two+ minute flows. Dangermouse should stick to extremely out-there projects (The Infamous Grey Album) or his recent procudtion job with the Gorillas. His beats are not as coherent to Doom as they could be, but the album succeeds in being a comedy/rap/other album, whether it wanted to be or not. -QWERTY Full Review »