Audiopile Review: Oh-so-many words have been written about Madvillain’s 2004 classic ‘Madvillainy’. How to say something new about what is almost universally regarded as one of hip-hop’s greatest albums? Well, on this occasion, let’s start by saying that, in 2003, The Fall’s new album ‘Country on the Click’ leaked onto the internet. Fall frontman Mark E. Smith was a huge fan of the godlike Peter Hammill and, as such, was himself one of the realest MFs ever. Smith had the entire album remixed almost beyond recognition for an eventual release in 2004. Around the same time, two more of the realest MFs ever were working on what would become a truly epochal collaboration. And wouldn’t you just know it, this hotly anticipated collab between emcee MF Doom and beatmaker Madlib leaked just the same way as ‘Country on the Click’. Now, history does not record how these dudes felt about Hammill, but Madlib did sample ‘The Habit of the Broken Heart’ by the great man’s group Van Der Graaf Generator. Point is, Doom and Mad were bigtime weirdos and mavericks. Naturally, they, like MES, went back into the lab, remixing many tracks, revoicing others, and rejigging the whole running order. Since its release, the resulting album has enjoyed an extremely exalted status, but the dastardly duo never managed to finish a sequel. And it’s safe to assume they never will, following two tragedies: MF Doom’s passing in 2020 and the recent destruction of Madlib’s home studio in the LA fires. Still, ‘Madvillainy’ has enjoyed a significant afterlife, including an instrumental version and a full-album remix by Madlib. How much light these releases have shed on the album’s enigma is arguable. But just as the original ‘Country on the Click’ got an official release last year, we can now offer you the original ‘Madvillainy Demos’ on wax. And it really is a fascinating listen. It’s less fuggy than the final version, but the extra clarity just makes it sound weirder, wilder, and more chaotic. No doubt heads have been studying these tablets digitally since they first leaked, but Madlib is one of those producers who really come alive on vinyl, so the demos have never sounded so right, so real. This is ‘Madvillainy’ in the rawest and, arguably, truest form imaginable. An essential peek into the inner workings of two of hip-hop’s most beautiful minds.

In 2002, before Madlib and MF DOOM finished Madvillainy, the first demo sequence of the album leaked online – early vocal cuts from DOOM, recorded then quickly mixed in LA at Madlib’s Bomb Shelter studio. The leak spread around the world, and while the tracks may have been unfinished, it was clear that this was a hip-hop album unlike any other…

We’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of Madvillainy by releasing the Demos on vinyl for the first time, mastered by Dave Cooley, and with a new cover photo and insert of photographer Eric Coleman’s contact sheets from the original album shoot. Vinyl mastering by Phil Rodriguez.