Several publications included "Madvillainy" in their lists of the best albums of the year. "Pitchfork" ranked it number six on their list of the 50 best albums of 2004, stating that "the collaboration brings out the best in both men, without copying anything in their catalogs". "Prefix" ranked the album first on its list of the 60 best albums of 2004, stating that "when Doom and Madlib combine, they form like Voltron". "PopMatters" positioned it at number nine on their list of the 100 best albums of 2004, commending MF Doom's "royal, pop culture-laden flow" and Madlib's "beat-mining expertise". "Spin" ranked it number 17 on their list of the 40 best albums of 2004, praising Madlib's production, "thick, woozy slabs of beatnik bass", that "keeps things hotter than an underground volcano lair". Washington City Paper ranked Madvillainy number one on their list of the top 20 albums of 2004. "Stylus Magazine" named it the second best album of 2004. In "The Village Voice" annual poll Pazz & Jop, which combined votes from 793 critics, "Madvillainy" was ranked number 11 on the list of the best albums of 2004. "The Wire" and AllMusic also included the album in their unordered lists of the best albums of the year.