It’s been more than 6 years since this album was released, and it’s still revered as one of the best in EDM. Deadmau5 was at the top of his game at this stage, easily being the most popular artist in electronic music at the time. The album is mostly a contrast between the songs that went massive and deeper, darker Progressive House tracks that would be right at home in a club in the early hours of the morning.
The beauty of that half of the album is that listening to all of those songs in full really immerses you into the unique style that Deadmau5 had going at that point in time, and even though the songs are minimalistic, extended and repetitive they don’t get boring, which is an achievement given that Deadmau5 probably has the longest average song time in electronic music. Bot through to The 16th Hour really embodies this, and is a series of songs that didn’t last as well as they could have given their quality.
What made the album so famous, however, was the first and final few songs. Deadmau5 had been sitting on Ghosts n Stuff for 5 years at the time, and finally released it with the vocals of Rob Swire on the album. It was a massive hit in the US, UK and his home country of Canada to an extent, but the career that it set him up for really is the major legacy of this song.
Hi Friend is one of those songs that you can sing along and go mad to, and the popping synth that Deadmau5 used is still very recognizable by itself today. That being said, most of the sounds used on songs in this album are recognisable today, which is a testament to Deadmau5’s insane sound design and production skills.
Strobe is the final song on the album and is perhaps just as important as Ghosts n Stuff, mainly because it’s widely considered to have one of the best build-ups ever and a drop that took it to number 13 on the UK dance charts even though its style is nowhere near that you’d expect to get onto the charts. That’s how good it is. Really, that’s how good the album is and for that reason it’s a modern-era classic: it’s very, very, very good.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsi02QZ9XMM?list=PLDF34E082BCDB7DBF&w=560&h=315]