The record is conceptual, serving as the soundtrack to a non-existent Blaxploitation murder mystery film projected by the band members which concerns a tragic love triangle between a pimp, a prostitute and a third character.

On release, Mack Avenue Skullgame was a commercial failure, which has been attributed in part to Sub Pop's distribution problems of the period, but has been named the band's finest work by several critics, and is listed in the book 501 Essential Albums of the 90s (2024).

[3] Big Chief's first studio album for Sub Pop and second overall record, Face (also 1991), featured a similarly heavy but slightly more polished sound, while a subsequent tour opening for the Beastie Boys widened the group's audience in other parts of the United States.

[15] Tight grooves are provided by Dannner's drums with bassist Matt O'Brien, energized by the twin guitars of Mark Dancey and Phil Durr, and singer Barry Henssler's rough vocals.

[11] Comparisons have been made with the Beastie Boys' albums Check Your Head (1992) and Ill Communication (1994), albeit with a stronger emphasis on funk and soul,[5] and the soundtracks of Blaxploitation films like Shaft's Big Score (1972) and Three the Hard Way (1974).

[1][22] Reviewing the single, The Hard Report dubbed it a "colorful, super hi-vibey, funky slam jam" in a 1970s soul style with "scratch and move effects" that made it unusual for a heavy metal offering,[1] while Kerrang!

[20] The song's music video, directed by Seattle-based Shaun O'Neal,[4] acts as a companion to the album, outlining the storyline for the imaginary film, and concerns a tough pimp played by Danner, who pays his prostitutes with heroin.

[4] Reviewing their show at London's Camden Underworld on November 10, Peake commented that the "funk-based" Mack Avenue Skullgame did not prepare audiences for the group's metal roots, naming it "one leaf of a whopping, sprawling tree.

[3] In his review for Gavin, Rob Fiend praised Mack Avenue Skullgame for its psychedelic-oriented music, believing that Big Chief were an excellent example of a contemporary rock band reintreprting the guitar and bass grooves of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, and adding that they "could be the MC5 of the '90s".

[13] Tony Norman of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette named it the "most compelling case of stylistic mimicry" for many years, believing that the group "displays a parodist's understanding" of Blaxploitation's "criminal-minded machismo and campy misogyny without sacrificing the musical values that made it worthwhile.

"[11] Norman added that while the Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers hinted at the "potential greatness" of revived Blaxploitation music, Big Chief's example "is the album to beat.

[28] Less favorably, Fort Worth Star-Telegram reviewer Malcolm Mayhew opined that it contains some interesting songs, singling out Thornetta Davis' vocals on "No Free Love on This Street" as "momentous", but conceded that "the record itself – a closet of alt-rock, punk and soul – is so full of wah-wah guitar playing and horns, it sinks by the time you find out the band is suffering from an obvious identity crisis".

[15] In Kerrang!, Gordon Goldstein likened the album's sound to a jam between the Beastie Boys, Curtis Mayfield, Soundgarden and the Blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore, deeming it "as shudderingly heavy as it is funky, laid back and cool.

[29] Retrospectively, AllMusic's Andy Kellman named it the band's finest work and felt it was not a gimmick despite the influence of Blaxploitation films being uncommon when the record was released; he added: "Save for the Beastie Boys, hardly any non-black acts were adopting such a stance as a means of embracing and acknowledging black culture.

"[5] Gary Graff of Trouser Press described it as "an oddity in the Big Chief oeuvre" for its expansive, sparser sound resembling music by a collective more than a band, but felt that despite the presence of some strong songs, it is less satisfying than Face.

[2] Sam Steele of NME contended that the "raucous, although not entirely rivetting" album was chiefly notable for being a film noir soundtrack and for the "sleazy hooker" song "No Free Love on This Street".

[14] Thornetta Davis' major work on Mack Avenue Skullgame led to Big Chief backing the singer on her debut EP for Sub Pop, Shout Out (To the Dusthuffer) (1994), which was the label's first acid jazz release.