Review Summary: Sometimes things get complicated, but there's no complications here.
Having started making EDM music in 1998 and finally getting recognized 9 or 10 years later, a lot of people as artists, would have given up at that point, but after releasing a whole bunch of unreleased singles, EPs and 2 limited spread studio albums, Canadian EDM producer Joel Zimmerman(or deadmau5), deserves to be recognized and this is the album that changed it all.
This is deadmau5'5 debut mainstream album, but the music on here is far from anything you'll hear on the radio(or at least your average crappy radio station) and is sure to bring far beyond what regular crap pop music can. Whether it's the minimal sounds of "Sometimes Things Get Whatever" or the more electro/house sounding, "Brazil(2nd Edit)", this album is one of those albums that just seems to flow nicely along the listen.
Along your listening of this album, you'll find that your mood may change a lot, but still keeping you in a grip-holding journey. The opener, "Sometimes Things Get, Whatever", starts off with a minimal progressive sound, as the track ends, the sames thing goes on in "Complications". In the track, "Slip", the sounds are much more lighter, which will get you ready for the next few tracks. The track, "Some Kind of Blue" sounds to me, kind of like a trance track, having the first 3 tracks be mainly progressive house, you can tell that Joel is really trying to change things up a bit. However, the synths and drums still sound as though, progressive house. "Brazil(2nd edit)", is definitely an electro/house track. With such a compelling build-up, followed by just an epic, soothing drop. "Alone with You" is kind of the same thing, but is more progressive and minimal, having light synths in the backround. "I Remember(feat. Kaskade)", is the only track on the album that contains vocals and yes, this is, a progressive house track. "Haley Gibby", the vocalist on the track,(not credited on album) adds some really nice vocals to the track that really go with the synths and drums of the song, the piano in the song gets you ready for the next track on the album. "Faxing Berlin"(1 minute piano acoustica version and 2 minute album edit version) is actually one of the singles off this album, as well as " I Remember(feat. Kaskade). The original version of this song is actually 8:41 secs long. The reason this track was edited to 2:36(technically 4:15 with piano acoustica version), was because the album(or at least, the general mixed version) was meant to be mixed to it was playable as a continuous mix in DJ sets. nonetheless, edit or no edit, this is an incredible song, with smooths synths and a nice maraca effect too. "Not Exactly", "Arguru" and "So There I Was", all shift slight genre changes, but this is over all, a progressive house album.
This is really a fantastic album, I recommend it to any who likes EDM or Dance music. I recommend the unmixed version though. Get the FULL version of Faxing Berlin. This is probably the best deadmau5 album, or at least my favorite and is definitely a ride. Thank you for reading this review. :)
