Top 10 Best Deadmau5 Songs

Deadmau5, aka Joel Zimmerman, is a Producer and DJ within the genre of house, primarily progressive house. He is not only confined to this genre however, having dabbled in some techno and dubstep. He is well known for pushing the boundaries of electronic music, creating sounds and techniques that are innovative and inspiring. He is a breath of fresh air for the music world, particularly the electronic music world. He is a very down to earth, genuine guy, who is a good ambassador for the electronic music scene. His music is fantastic. His first two albums, Random Album Title and For Lack Of A Better Name are continuous albums, where each song leads into the next. They are each a roller-coaster of atmosphere and emotion, an adrenaline driven journey of sound, never ceasing to manipulate how you feel towards this music from start to finish. His third album, 4x4=12 is not continuous, but is extremely innovative and fresh, where Deadmau5 does new things with his music, pushing the boundaries and standards further and higher.

In this article I shall discuss what I believe to be his ten best songs. People may or may not agree with them, they are just my opinion. If people have a difference of opinion they are free to leave a comment. The songs are in no particular order. So, without further adieu, here is my top ten.

1: Sometimes Things Get, Whatever

The first song on his first album, 'Random Album Title', really sets the mood and scene, showing from the outset that this guy means business. It builds gradually, before leading into the next song seamlessly. That is what he does; and he does it so well. It is as if the whole album is one song; gradually increasing, changing and appealing to your emotions. It begins by fading into the kick, gradually building to the full beat with claps and hi hats. It eventually introduces the hook of "Sometimes things get complicated", which cuts in every so often. As the song progresses, this hook becomes distorted and choppy, showing Deadmau5's technical capabilities. The song progresses gradually, introducing new sounds every so often, such as subtle hi hats and cleverly placed beeps and tones. It has a break in the middle, which consists of a relaxing synth line, which has a gritty yet strangely soothing essence. It only lasts long enough to lull you into a false sense of security, before throwing right back into the drum beat, which still continues to build. There is one more similar break further on in the song, which erupts into the drum beat once more, which really does get, as the song suggests, complicated. It has a great atmosphere, and is both adrenaline filled yet relaxing. Overall, it is a remarkable song, which sounds simple, yet is technically outstanding and innovative.

2: Brazil (2nd Edit)

This song has a certain element to it that is particularly awe-inspiring. It is extremely dramatic, with a steadily increasing build which oozes technical excellence and charisma, delivering a masterclass in progressive house. It has a crisp, sharp drum beat, and a wave of synth lines which give the song its emotional impact. It is particularly uplifting. It begins by building the atmosphere with a steadily increasing bass and synth line before breaking into a beautiful emotion-filled build up. This build up consists of a lead synth line that builds in power and emotion. As it builds, Deadmau5 introduces delay and reverb to it, giving it a level of other worldly transcendence. It continues to build, before gracefully breaking into the house beat with the same synth line, creating a relaxing experience after the rollercoaster of emotion. Overall it is an excellent song which appeals to the emotions, as music should.

3: Arguru

Arguru begins with a nice peaceful intro, with a relaxing piano melody and a simple house beat. However, the beat is dismissed soon after, and the piano gradually leading up to the aggressive, adrenaline-filled drop, where it all becomes dark, sinister, and down-right brilliant. It is true fist pumping, hear-in-your-mouth stuff. Its the type of stuff that makes you want to get off your seat and go mental. It then brings the intro synth-line into this aggressive breakdown, to build up to a bouncy, uplifting synth-line. It is technically brilliant, Joel Zimmerman knows exactly what hes doing. From this bouncy synth it becomes ecstatically brilliant, throwing in build ups, breakdowns and crazy synths. From start to finish this song takes your emotions, churns them around and spits them back out. A great tune, that truly shows what Deadmau5 is capable of.

4: FML

The build up in this song is great. It consists of a variety of drums, quite like a marching band, gradually building up. This continues until the drop, which hits you like a freight train. At first its a drum medley, next thing your into a crazy house arrangement of synths, bleeps and zips. The crazy electro house beat builds gradually, incorporating both progressive house and electro house into one crazy song. The drums fade slowly into the drum medley, which builds again, but we know what to expect this time don't we? Once again we are thrown into a crazy electro beat, but this one is even crazier and heavier than the one before. This gradually builds; but then the song is suddenly taken down a notch. It goes into a relaxing yet sinister break, in which everything seems well, incorporating another drum medley. However this one has more style and substance that the two previous ones, and suits the mood of the break perfectly. Before long, it launches right back into the crazy drum beat. Once again, this is a great song to dance to or chill out to. Deadmau5's songs have a lot of variety, they are appealing to whatever mood you are in. Thats why I love them, this song particularly.

5: Ghosts n' Stuff

This is probably Deadmau5's most well known song. It features vocals from Rob Swire, the front-man of Pendulum. The song itself is really good, the vocals are not generic "put your hands up" dance crap. It has a positive vibe to it, giving a sort of "anything's possible" sense. It has a hard hitting drum beat, and a nice arrangement of synths and bleeps. What is particularly nice is the panning at the intro of the song. This is when the song switches from one speaker/headphone to the other. It is a nice effect that sets the song up nicely. Another great song by Joel. Oh, and the videos pretty cool too. I used that ghost as a costume for a fancy dress party before, was pretty cool.

6: Bot

This is one of Deadmau5's songs that really does leave me in awe. It is a technical masterpiece. This shows the talent that Joel Zimmerman has. It has a nice long intro, with a hard kick, a strange bleeping noise, and a bouncy bass-line. A ping-pong synth line comes in, and throughout the song Deadmau5 manipulates this in a variety of ways showing his technical greatness. It becomes truly amazing when the atmosphere changes halfway through the song. This part actually gives me butterflies. It is eerily beautiful, with the ping-pong synth being manipulated in the most beautiful and innovative ways, with the use of delay and reverb. The tones and soft bass-line add to the emotion driven atmospheric break. The break ends abruptly, dropping to a nice drum beat. The song is just as innovative the whole way through, making good use of that ping-pong synth.

7: Strobe

This song truly is beautiful. It captures every emotion and feeling and delivers them in a nice tasty, beautiful package of house music. If you like music that creates atmospheres, then this is the song for you. It is eerie, beautiful, relaxing, uplifting....you name it, its got it. It is just over ten minutes long. It begins with a peaceful intro, gradually building up to the main body of the song. This song has so many elements to it, each time you listen you discover something new, and each time you listen it continues to amaze. The emotions delivered change, but one thing stays consistent; the songs ability to move the listener. It captures the heart and soul of what it means to be human. It is not simply a dance song to pump your fist to. If you invest your time into this song, you will get a meaningful interpretation from it, that is personal to you. There is no doubt that this is a truly wonderful song.

8: Some Chords

This is the first song on Deadmau5's third album, '4x4=12'. As you listen, you realize that once again, Joel Zimmerman has pushed the boundaries of what is possible within electronic music. The intro consists of some chords, as the name suggests, which gradually increase in power and emotion. Joel fades in a kick to add to the build-up, which leads nicely into the exciting drop. When it drops you are treated to a truly original and awe-inspiring production. It is similar, yet different to what he has done before. The beat is an electro masterpiece, with some elements of progressive house in it. The beat gradually increases in excitement and finesse before once again dropping into the same chords as before. These build again, but in a much more atmospheric sense, as they act as a break from the unyielding craziness of the drum beat. As before, it leads into the drop, which builds in emotion and technical brilliance just as the first one did. Once again, Deadmau5 has pushed the boundaries, and once again he has delivered emotion-driven excellence.

9: Cthulhu Sleeps

A really interesting song, which is technically outstanding. It is a song that has so many elements to it, bringing you on a journey of wonder and pure enjoyment. It uses the sounds within it in an original and innovative way. About a quarter of the way in, there is a speed up which leads into the main bridge. This part is another one of those rare moments which gives me butterflies. It is truly inspiring and emotional, making you actually feel the music within you. This main bridge is moving and relaxing; but all of a sudden it throws you right back into the crazy main drum beat of the song. A truly excellent song that takes you on a journey. Oh, and if you don't know what Cthulhu is, you should google it, its quite interesting.

10: Raise Your Weapon

Last, but most certainly not least is Raise Your Weapon. It features the hauntingly beautiful vocals of Greta Svabo Bech. The song gradually sucks you in, mesmerizing you with the beautiful lyrics and underlying house beat. It continues to do this, sucking you in, then, without warning, it drops. What comes next is so unexpected you could be excused for dirtying your pants. It drops into some really filthy dubstep, a new venture for Deadmau5 on this album. The dubstep continues, and Bech's lyrics are brought in once more on top of this dubstep. Deadmau5 successfully merges two genres of dance music, house and dubstep, and creates a unique experience. Not only is it a great house song, its a great dubstep song.

There It Is

My top ten. Of course not every one will agree with these, Joel Zimmerman has many more great songs for you to experience and enjoy. Not many producers within the dance music scene today have the ability Deadmau5 has. His tunes are not simply fist pumping club-fillers. They are emotional, atmospheric, beautiful pieces of art. He is an inspirations to producers and DJs all over the world.  In conclusion, Deadmau5 is an excellent artist, and these are my top ten favourite songs by him.