W:/2016Album/
A vector drawing of a stylized white mouse head on a black background, with one pink eye and mouth seen on it, and the other eye lying beside it. The artist name appears in white and the album title appears in pink above the illustration, with the record label name appearing in the bottom right corner of the image.
Studio album by
Deadmau5
ReleasedDecember 2, 2016
Genre
Length
  • 79:15 (digital release)
  • 76:17 (CD)
  • 79:40 (LP)
LabelMau5trap
ProducerJoel Zimmerman
Deadmau5 chronology
5 Years of Mau5
(2014)		 W:/2016Album/
(2016)		 Stuff I Used to Do
(2017)
Deadmau5 studio album chronology
While(1<2)
(2014)		 W:/2016Album/
(2016)
Singles from W:/2016Album/
  1. "Snowcone"
    Released: May 27, 2016
  2. "Let Go"
    Released: November 18, 2016

W:/2016Album/ (stylized as W:/2016ALBUM/; pronounced "W drive 2016 album")[3] is the eighth studio album by Canadian electronic music producer Deadmau5. The album was released on December 2, 2016, through Deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman)'s independent record label Mau5trap. The album's title, which was suggested by fans on Twitch, refers to a computer directory on Zimmerman's network-attached storage server used to store the master tracks of the songs on the album.[3] The album features several tracks Zimmerman uploaded to his SoundCloud account, prior to it being compromised.[4] W:/2016Album/ is also his first studio album to be released exclusively by Mau5trap. Two singles from the album have been released: "Snowcone" and "Let Go" (featuring Grabbitz).[5]

Background

Deadmau5 first announced the album's release during an interview with Pete Tong of BBC Radio 1 on November 7, 2016. Zimmerman stated that the album would have "an '80s sci-fi fantasy vibe", which he credits to his purchase of a Prophet-10 synthesizer.[3] Shortly afterwards, the album's track list was leaked on Reddit, based on one that appeared briefly during a Twitch stream made by Zimmerman a month before.

Zimmerman eventually revealed that he was not satisfied with the album, stating that he felt it was "slapped together".[6] He had previously hinted that he was already working on his next album.[7] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Zimmerman said he was dissatisfied with the album because "it's not written from start to finish; it's over a year's worth of work that doesn't correlate".[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?5.8/10[9]
Metacritic63/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Clash7/10[12]
Drowned in Sound1/10[13]
Exclaim!6/10[14]
The Guardian[1]
The Irish Times[15]
Pitchfork5.9/10[16]
Rolling Stone[2]

Upon release, W:/2016Album/ received mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 63, indicating "generally favourable reviews", based on 8 reviews. The Guardian gave the album a mostly positive review, stating: "This might be far from a perfect album, but it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of".[1] Rolling Stone gave a mostly positive review as well saying: "Fist-pumpy EDM cheese this most certainly is not. Instead, W:/2016Album/ works equally in a field, car or headphones, the latest catalog entry from an artist who continues to delight in bucking expectations".[2] Clash also gave a positive review, saying: "An album free from the shackles of a major label and its consequential rampant commercialism was always going to produce something that didn't immediately pander to its keg fuelled audience. The surprise is just how well deadmau5 pulls it off. If he actually makes a record he likes – it could be ground-breaking."[12]

The Irish Times gave it a mostly negative review, stating: "The problem is that Zimmerman obviously didn't care too much about the final outcome to bother his hoop on the spit and polish process. Maybe W:/2017Album/ will be better", scoring it 2/5 stars.[15] Jon Falcone from Drowned in Sound gave it an overwhelmingly negative review, noting that "nothing goes anywhere, and yet every song is so long. It's painful" awarding it only 1/10.[13]

Track listing

W:/2016Album/ track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."4ware"Joel Zimmerman8:39
2."2448"
  • Zimmerman
  • Phil Waring
6:24
3."Cat Thruster"Zimmerman5:36
4."Deus Ex Machina"Zimmerman6:31
5."Glish"Zimmerman2:10
6."Imaginary Friends"Zimmerman7:47
7."Let Go" (featuring Grabbitz)
6:20
8."No Problem"Zimmerman6:59
9."Snowcone"Zimmerman5:15
10."Three Pound Chicken Wing"Zimmerman6:23
11."Whelk Then"Zimmerman5:39
Total length:67:44
Digital bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Let Go" (Extended Edit) (featuring Grabbitz)11:31
Total length:79:15
CD bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Strobe" (No Mana Remix)8:33
Total length:76:17
Vinyl bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Strobe" (Monstergetdown Remix)6:45
Total length:79:40

Notes

  • All copies of the vinyl format replace the standard version of "Let Go" with the extended version, although it's not listed as such on the back cover.[17]

Charts

Chart performance for W:/2016Album/
Chart (2016–2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 58
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 133
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] 131
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[21] 37
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[22] 4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 84
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[24] 4
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[25] 20
UK Update Albums (OCC)[26] 82
US Billboard 200[27] 74
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[28] 1

Release history

Release history for W:/2016Album/
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various December 2, 2016 Digital download mau5trap [29]
February 17, 2017 Vinyl [30]
March 17, 2017 CD [31]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Aroesti, Rachel (December 1, 2016). "Deadmau5: W:/2016ALBUM/ review – genre-surfing EDM that's better than he thinks". The Guardian.
  2. 1 2 3 Castillo, Arielle (December 6, 2016). "Review: Deadmau5 Bucks EDM Expectations Again on 'W:/2016ALBUM/'". Rolling Stone.
  3. 1 2 3 "deadmau5 - 4ware [bbc r1 essential new tune]". YouTube. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  4. ↑ "LEAKED tracklist for W:/2016ALBUM/!". Reddit. November 11, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  5. ↑ "deadmau5 Drops Sweeping Single 'Let Go', Launches Album Pre-Order: Listen". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Deadmau5 admits he doesn't like new album W:/2016ALBUM/". The Independent. November 22, 2016. Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  7. ↑ "dead mow cinco on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Deadmau5 on Why EDM Is Finished, Learning to Love His New Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  9. ↑ "W:/2016ALBUM/ by Deadmau5 reviews - Any Decent Music".
  10. ↑ "W:/2016ALBUM/ by Deadmau5". Metacritic.
  11. ↑ Yeung, Neil. "W:/2016ALBUM - Deadmau5 review". AllMusic.
  12. 1 2 Jones, Richard (December 8, 2016). "deadmau5 – W:/2016ALBUM/". Clash. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Album Review: deadmau5 - W:/2016ALBUM/". Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Deadmau5 W:/2016ALBUM/". Exclaim!.
  15. 1 2 "Deadmau5 - W:/2016ALBUM/ review". The Irish Times.
  16. ↑ "Deadmau5: W:/2016ALBUM/ Album Review - Pitchfork". Pitchfork.
  17. ↑ "deadmau5 - W:/2016ALBUM/ (2017, Vinyl)". discogs.com. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  18. ↑ "ARIA CHART WATCH #398". auspOp. December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Deadmau5 – W:/2016ALBUM/" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Deadmau5 – W:/2016ALBUM/" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Deadmau5 Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  22. ↑ "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Deadmau5 – W:/2016ALBUM/". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  26. ↑ "UK Update Albums". Official Charts Company. December 5, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Deadmau5 Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Deadmau5 Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  29. ↑ "W:/2016ALBUM/". Amazon. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  30. ↑ "dead mow cinco on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  31. ↑ "W: / 2016album/". Amazon. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
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