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While(1<2) Image
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 87 Ratings

  • Summary: The latest release for Joel Thomas Zimmerman as the mouse head -wearing Deadmau5 is a 25-track double LP featuring a How To Destroy Angels and Nine Inch Nails remix.
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Top Track

Seeya
Don't wake me up, I'm winning wars inside my head And maybe I'm weak but not beneath the covers of this bed Asleep, I'm undefeated in this world of... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Jun 17, 2014
    90
    Sprawling, ambitious and mostly well-executed, While (1<2) may confuse his fan base’s Ultra-attending electro house contingent, but deadmau5’s double album undoubtedly marks his most mature and forward-thinking release to date.
  2. Jun 23, 2014
    80
    Quality-wise, the second half of the album has a higher batting average.
  3. Jun 23, 2014
    75
    While(1<2) offers a more thorough understanding of the dance music culture than the main stage at Ultra has done over the last six years.
  4. Jun 17, 2014
    70
    While(1<2) is a very good, very restrained, and very inspired Deadmau5 effort.
  5. Q Magazine
    Jul 2, 2014
    60
    Ultimately, while(1<2) is overlong and never quite the cohesive masterpiece it wants to be, but there's tantalising evidence of a smart brain ticking away beneath those big Disney ears. [Aug 2014, p.114]
  6. Jun 17, 2014
    40
    For his seventh album, Deadmau5 has turned from an electro-house polymath into the world's most unnecessary Nine Inch Nails tribute act.... However, erase the Reznor fan fiction from this 141-minute behemoth, and there's a solid 64-minute house record hidden in there.
  7. Jun 23, 2014
    40
    Repeating very simple, barely there melodies over spare arrangements and ghostly keys is fine when you're soundtracking a Michael Mann film, but it isn't enough to fill the long gaps between your club-crashers.

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 24
  2. Negative: 1 out of 24
  1. Jun 5, 2016
    10
    Definitive masterpiece by one and only deadmau5, not deadmau five, it is deadmau5 like maus, mouse.
    This guy is a unique example of Anti-EDM
    Definitive masterpiece by one and only deadmau5, not deadmau five, it is deadmau5 like maus, mouse.
    This guy is a unique example of Anti-EDM producer, someone who cares about music and so makes such an awesome albums.
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  2. Feb 8, 2020
    10
    This is one of the most underrated albums I know. It is strange but fascinating. The capital vices of Christianity (aka the seven deadly sins)This is one of the most underrated albums I know. It is strange but fascinating. The capital vices of Christianity (aka the seven deadly sins) is the predominant theme throughout the album. Each of the sins is given its respective song, interspersed throughout the album. These songs (Avaritia, Gula, Acedia, Invidia, Superbia, and Ira), are all beautifully composed piano pieces with a melancholic character, suggesting a connection to their respective sin. These songs do indeed invoke feelings of guilt, jadedness, and just plain sadness, but does this in a contemplative and self-aware way. This ties into the Janus-faced nature of the album as a whole. The quiet piano is juxtaposed with a distorted electronic sound. The sound is somewhat violent, almost impatient, and fast-paced. The song "survivalism," a remix of the nine-inch nails song by the same name, is an excellent example of this. The song, I believe, describes an intrinsic drive to consume. The lyrics "Mother nature is a whore," exemplifies this, and I think this is (at least to me), what the central theme of the album is concerning. Consumerism. Expand
  3. Jan 17, 2015
    10
    Fifteen dollars is given,
    All tracks of this album are works of art !!! I've never heard a better song than Avaritia !!! Continue like this deadmau5.
  4. May 21, 2015
    9
    I am starting to appreciate other music than music from the ''EDM'' scene (like all songs on spinnin, revealed and wall recordings). OverallI am starting to appreciate other music than music from the ''EDM'' scene (like all songs on spinnin, revealed and wall recordings). Overall it sounds a bit sad (I think it has to do with the breakup with his girlfriend). But this album is just a masterpiece. Expand
  5. Aug 12, 2022
    8
    I think this album gets a lot of crap for not being yet another house compilation from mau5. But what we got instead was much better. ThisI think this album gets a lot of crap for not being yet another house compilation from mau5. But what we got instead was much better. This album is a great balancing act of genres that flows very well. There's a couple weird picks on here (a NiN remix? Really?) but other than that, this is Joel's best album to date. Expand
  6. Dec 15, 2014
    7
    After giving this album a few lessons, I can safely settle on believing that this album is pretty... good.

    At times, the album is good. An
    After giving this album a few lessons, I can safely settle on believing that this album is pretty... good.

    At times, the album is good. An amazing song or remix comes on, such as Ice Age, but many of these great moments are blocked out by some pretty mediocre sounding songs. While these songs aren't bad, I couldn't tell them apart or even name them if I tried. They're just there in the album, and while they continue the atmosphere of the album they are pretty boring to trek through if you want the whole experience of listening to the entire album at once.

    Overall, mau5 has a pretty interesting album here. Some of these songs make my favorites list, while others could be thrown away easily. 7/10
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  7. Aug 3, 2014
    2
    Franchement déçu... Moi qui était fan de "Strobe", "Move For Me", "I Remember" ou "Ghost'n'Stuff et de son album "random album title" je neFranchement déçu... Moi qui était fan de "Strobe", "Move For Me", "I Remember" ou "Ghost'n'Stuff et de son album "random album title" je ne retrouve pas ce style dans son dernier album... Après il ne déplaira sûrement pas à d'autres personnes mais ses fans de la première heure risque d'être surpris même si 2-3 chansons sortent du lot. Expand

See all 24 User Reviews