The Deadmau5 discography is currently comprised of eight studio albums, eight compilation albums, six mix albums, one soundtrack album, two remix albums, two video albums, seven extended plays, 55 singles, and 22 music videos.
Zimmerman's career in music began in 1999, releasing the vinyl pressed single "I Don't Want No Other" under Dred And Karma. Six years later, Deadmau5 released his debut studio album album, Get Scraped on July 26, 2005, which featured more experimental genres different from his future sound. Within the following year, Zimmerman finished three compilation albums, Project 56, Deadmau5 Circa 1998–2002, and A Little Oblique, which were released on his (now retired) SectionZ page.
On November 6, 2006, he released his second studio album Vexillology, which marked the beginning of the signature Deadmau5 sound. In 2007, Zimmerman founded his own record label, Mau5trap, which released his third studio album Random Album Title on September 2, 2008. This was his first album to garner mainstream success, coining his unique style of progressive house and featuring the singles "Faxing Berlin", "Not Exactly" and "I Remember" (with Kaskade).
During 2008, Zimmerman left Play Records. However, due to his contract agreement, Play Records was able to claim ownership of tracks he made during the time he was signed to the label. This led to the creation of the At Play series, which consisted of six mix albums released periodically from 2008 to 2015.
On September 22, 2009, Deadmau5 released his fourth studio album For Lack of a Better Name . In contrast of his previous album, For Lack of a Better Name is based around tech house. Despite this switch in style, the album contains two of Zimmerman's greatest hits to date: "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" and "Strobe". He expanded his EDM sound further with his fifth studio album, 4x4=12 which was released on December 6, 2010, and consisted of techno, electro house and the progressive house/dubstep mashup "Raise Your Weapon". In 2011, Deadmau5 released two non-album singles: "Aural Psynapse" and "HR 8938 Cephei", with the former being a modern remake of an old song Zimmerman made under the alias Halcyon441.
Zimmerman revisited his roots with his sixth studio album, > Album Title Goes Here <, released on September 21, 2012. The album consists of house music along with songs in the ambient, glitch, and trip-hop genres. In November 2013, Zimmerman deleted three years worth of music from his SoundCloud account, replacing them with 7, an EP of seven melancholy piano sonatas named after the seven deadly sins. The same month, Zimmerman left Ultra Records and signed with record label Astralwerks.
On January 7, 2014, Deadmau5 announced on Twitter that his next project was complete. However, it was preceded by the weekly release of four singles, "Avaritia", "Seeya", "Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer" and "Phantoms Can't Hang" until his seventh studio album While(1<2) was finally released on June 17. After this, Zimmerman would leave Astralwerks and not release any new music until May 27, 2016, with the digital single "Snowcone". This song was later included on his eighth studio album W:/2016ALBUM/, which was released on December 2, 2016.
In 2017, Deadmau5 would go on to release a compilation album of his older works, Stuff I Used to Do on January 7, and the single "Legendary" on August 25. On March 30, 2018, Zimmerman released Where's the Drop?, a compilation album containing orchestral covers of previously released music, with the exception of "Caritas", an entirely original song. From July 13, 2018 to February 1, 2019, Deadmau5 released the Mau5ville series, three EPs which featured original work along with remixes and songs by other Mau5trap artists. On January 25, 2019, the movie Polar premiered on Netflix, with Zimmerman releasing the soundtrack album, Polar (Music from the Netflix Film) the same day. In November, Zimmerman released three new singles, entitled "Satrn", "Coasted" and "Fall", released on the 16th, 22nd and 29th, respectively.
The following year, Deadmau5 would continue to release singles, with "Pomegranate" on May 20 and "Bridged By a Lightwave" on November 10. Both are expected to appear on Zimmerman's next studio album. On March 29, 2021, Zimmerman debuted a new, house-focused record label called Hau5trap, and simultaneously released the single "Nextra". He would go on to release "Hypnocurrency" on April 22 and "When the Summer Dies" on July 15.
Throughout his career, Deadmau5 has won 15 competitive awards and received 42 nominations. Amongst his major achievements, Zimmerman has won five Beatport Music Awards, four DJ Awards, three International Dance Music Awards, three Juno Awards, and has also received six Grammy Award nominations and one World Music Award nomination.
Zimmerman has also worked with a number of artists both underground and mainstream, including Melleefresh, Steve Duda, Kaskade, MC Flipside, Rob Swire of Pendulum, Chris Lake, Glenn Morrison, Wolfgang Gartner, Sofi, Chris James, Cypress Hill, Imogen Heap, Gerard Way, Colleen D'Agostino, Grabbitz, Attlas, Shotty Horroh, Lights, Mr. Bill, The Neptunes, Kiesza, and Rezz.
The name Deadmau5 originates from an incident where a mouse crawled into his computer and died. He posted this story on an internet forum, and members began calling him TheDeadMouseGuy. "Dead Mouse" was too long for an IRC login name, so he abbreviated it to "deadmau5".
Unspecial Effects
deadmau5 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The lyrics of Deadmau5's song Unspecial Effects are deceptively simple yet profound. The repeated line 'Your special effects are washing away' can be interpreted in multiple ways. On the surface level, it can be interpreted as a commentary on the transience of fame and success. Special effects are a crucial part of any visual performance or media, but they are not permanent. In the same vein, fame and success are fleeting and can be easily washed away by time or new trends.
On a deeper level, the lyrics can be interpreted as a critique of our obsession with appearances and artificiality. We constantly use special effects and filters to enhance our appearance on social media, but these effects are not real and eventually, the truth catches up. The line 'Your special effects are washing away' can be seen as a reminder to focus on substance over style and to embrace authenticity instead of chasing illusions.
Overall, the lyrics of Unspecial Effects highlight the importance of staying grounded and true to ourselves in a world that values superficiality and appearances.
Line by Line Meaning
Your special effects are washing away...
The manufactured and false images you have created to mask your true self are slowly fading and disappearing.
Why don't you forget about trying today?
Why don't you let go of this facade and be your authentic self for once?
Why don't you let the stars shine through your face?
Why don't you allow your true self to be visible, without hiding behind artificial images?
Why don't you let the stars shine through your face?
Why don't you allow your true self to be visible, without hiding behind artificial images?
Take off your mask, let your heart pace.
Remove your false identity and allow your true self to emerge and beat with life.
Run, rabbit, run. What you're running for?
Why do you feel compelled to constantly run away from embracing your true self?
Run, rabbit, run. Get away some more.
You continue to run from yourself, seeking escape in vain attempts to mask the truth.
Run, rabbit, run. What you're running for?
You are still running from the real you, without finding any resolution or peace.
Run, rabbit, run. Get away some more.
You persistently strive to escape from your true self, without realizing the futility of such attempts.
Get away some more, run, rabbit, run.
You keep seeking to escape from yourself, running blindly in circles without any direction or intention.
Can't keep hiding from what isn't there.
You can no longer hide from the absence of your true self, which can no longer be masked by false images.
Turn off your mind and listen instead.
Stop the endless chatter and noise of your mind and focus on listening to the truth within yourself.
Follow the rhythm into your head.
Allow the natural rhythm and flow of your being to guide your thoughts and actions, instead of resisting and trying to control it.
We look for love in the lies we're told.
We often seek love and validation in false images and ideals, rather than accepting and loving ourselves as we truly are.
It's all the same when the story's told.
All the false images and stories we tell ourselves are ultimately the same, regardless of their specific form or content.
It's all the same when the story's told.
All the false images and stories we tell ourselves are ultimately the same, regardless of their specific form or content.
We all want something of our own.
We all desire something unique and authentic to ourselves, rather than simply conforming to societal norms and expectations.
To find a place we call our home.
We seek a sense of belonging and connection, not just to others, but to our true selves and the world around us.
To find a place we call our home.
We seek a sense of belonging and connection, not just to others, but to our true selves and the world around us.
Contributed by Sydney A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Hatefuck
WHY DID THIS GET REMOVED FROM SPOTIFY OMFG I WANT THIS MASTERPIECE BACK
deadmau100
What in the world how is it on my Spotify account
Milehigh Toker
no one wants his sadness here. this is when his girlfriend broke up with him.
Cam Povazan
greed
Hatefuck
@Curtis Baller thanks omg
Curtis Baller
It's back!!
Teemu Piiroinen
Why isn't this available on Spotify anymore?
Andrea Miotto
it's hard to choose one track but personally this is mau5 at his best. fuck'n amazing
djkiwisan
Andrea Miotto got to say, if you know anything that comes even close as in sound and as quality, please tell me! Since I need more of this!
Xtasik
this one and strobe are the ones that really get me feeling things i couldnt feel without music. thanks, joel.