So why is Danger Doom’s The Mouse and the Mask on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I’ve got my man Dave to thank for turning me onto The Mouse and the Mask – a wild and kaleidoscopic musical wonderland and collaboration between two I’ve got my man Dave to thank for turning me onto The Mouse and the Mask – a wild and kaleidoscopic musical wonderland and collaboration between two of hip-hop’s most eclectic and enigmatic masters (Danger Mouse and MF Doom).
As with the recent best 1,000 albums piece on GZA’s Liquid Swords (#117 of best 1,000 albums ever), I feel compelled to “ding” The Mouse and the Mask ever so slightly, rankings-wise, due to the frequent and at times lengthy audio clips dropped between (and occasionally during) songs, in this case pulled from Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
I kind of get the argument that you can’t pull apart one from the other with this duo (producing mastermind Danger Mouse literally named himself after a cartoon character!), but as with Liquid Swords (and other Wu-Tang-verse albums), I’d be far more contented if the audio clips were self-contained as their own album tracks. Even so, it does impact my enjoyment a bit overall when I throw on the album in its entirety and then have to sit through cartoon dialog that’s not particularly my thing.
But let me emphasize that it only impacts my enjoyment slightly. The music is pure joy: quirky, outrageously inventive, and maximally delightful.
The genius of Danger Mouse and MF Doom pairing up comes across in “Old School Rules,” which takes the funky-cheese of Keith Mansfield’s “Funky Fanfare” – itself feeling like intermission music that you’d hear in a movie theater in 1969 – and also leverages Talib Kweli’s rap stylings to excellent effect.
And then the grand, weirdo genius of MF Doom is in full effect on tracks like the bombastically funky “The Mask.”
Head on straight, mask on crooked
Exit stage left with the cash, gone took it
Off like a koufi, the fit was a bit doofy
He tried to get screwy, with that “two for you
One, two for me, G, ” cut the cranky attitude
Wet him like a handkerchief on a stanky fatter dude
Oh, and Wu-Tang Clan legend Ghostface Killah also sounds in his prime on this one.
Then it’s such an exciting pivot when “Benzi Box” goes all slinky and mysterious, and check out CeeLo Green guesting on this one.
His name’s Doom
They wonder just who is he
But don’t worry
Believe me he’ll get Bizzy
When it comes to poetry he’s got plenty
La la la
La la la la la
“Crosshairs” changes things up yet again, with a groovy and pleasing use of strings, guitar, and hip-hop beat.
My comments above about the Aqua Teen Hunger Force factor on The Mouse and the Mask notwithstanding, I’ll admit that “Sofa King” is both an exceptional hip-hop track and funny at the end as its little play-on-words joke pays off (note: I don’t think it’s okay to use the word that’s baked into the joke as a pejorative in real life, but I think it gets a pass here).
Some stats & info about Danger Doom – The Mouse and the Mask
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rap, Hip Hop, Alternative Rap, Underground Rap
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was The Mouse and the Mask released? 2005
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #105 out of 1,000
Danger Doom’s The Mouse and the Mask on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Danger Doom’s The Mouse and the Mask that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
It’s just that I’m old school like that, roll that rap over soul loops like that.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.