In the second half of the 1970s, progressive rock - a clever continuation of the Beatles' late music - met the angry sound of punk. Almost immediately, the punk movement disappeared, giving rise to the more sophisticated post-punk genre. This shift is most evident in teams like Joy Division and Magazine, which have benefited from texture composition and detailed production. At the same time, Kraftwerk began their long experiments with synthesizers in search of an accessible sound. thispop-synthesizerThe age has come.
Anyway, the first synthpop album was Kraftwerkmens-machine, its release spawned a wave of synth-based acts that spread across the Western world. Teams like the Tubeway Army, Visage and The Human League quickly picked up on the plans and built interesting structures of their own. At the same time, advances in synthesizer technology have made this mode more accessible and easier to use.
In the early 1980s, the post-punk movement was in stark contrast to synthpop, with fans of Bauhaus, The Cure, and bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees being particularly opposed to fans of pop groups like Duran Duran or The Human League. These two factions are inextricably linked, and most bands of the era used synthesizers to some degree.
Below we list the ten best synthpop albums of all time. By our definition, synthpop is a musical genre and era; therefore, while some post-millennial albums and artists could be considered synthpop, we focused on mid-70s and early-90s synthesizer-based pop releases, when Britpop and raves took off.
Top 10 Synth Pop Albums:
Japan -stay on the road
The synthpop hero from South London, Japan kept the androgynous ship of David Bowie's glam era afloat in the late 1970s. Debut album from 1978teen sexIt gained huge popularity in Japan mainly due to its popular lead single. similar to a guitarunclear replacement, Japan weathers the storm with solid synthsquiet life1979.
quiet lifeis the band's first synthpop album and laid the groundwork for their impressive development over the past two albums:gentlemen, buy a polaroidFrom 1980 to 1981stay on the road.Japanese swan song is their masterpiece;stay on the roadIt benefits from a unique oriental aesthetic, balanced atmosphere and smooth production. Most memorably, the album contained "Ghosts", the only top-five single in Japan.
Kraftwerk –mens-machine
German synthesizer pioneers Kraftwerk have been crafting since the early 1970s, bringing their innovative electronic music to the masses, such asmotorwayIradioactivityBut until 1978mens-machineThis really set the tone for the '80s and synthpop takeover.
mens-machineadding more accessible notes and dance beats to Kraftwerk's sound and marking the maturation of the German collective into true style icons. With students such as David Bowie, Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, OMD, and Visage, Kraftwerk's influence on 1980s culture was similar to that of LSD in the 1960s.
Depeche Mode -rapist
In 1990, Essex gothic synthesizer Depeche Mode hit the ground running and ushered in an era of synthpop. In the 1980s, Depeche Mode descended on sweet songs like "Just Can't Get Enough" in favor of melancholy and more complex themes.popular musicIt came out in 1987 to critical acclaim and didn't seem unbeatable until the sequel in 1990rapist.
Wrapist, Depeche Mode used the power of all their experience to release four hit singles - "Personal Jesus", "Enjoy the Silence", "Regime of Truth" and "The World in My Eyes" - for you to think about or take back. sit back and enjoy. on the dance floor. Best of all, these songs never seem to go out of style, and combined with the album's less commercial underbelly, create one of the most refined compositions in the synthpop genre.
new assignment -Power corrupts and lies
FollowingIan Curtis tragically committed suicide in 1980Afterwards, the remaining members of the Joy Division regroup as the New Order. After using synthesizers on their underrated but uneven Joy Division album,movementNew Order triumphantly returns with an innovative classic, arguably their '83 masterpiecePower corrupts and lies.
Released shortly after the breakthrough single "Blue Monday", the album featured a perfect harmony between punk influences and a later love of synthesizers. Gillian Gilbert's synth skills really unleash on songs like "Your Silent Face," "The Village," "5 8 6," and "Ultraviolence," but the entire album is spiced with precision.
talk about-it's my life
directed byMeticulous Creativity Mark Hollis, Talk Talk flourished in the 1980s with a series of style changes. The sound they finally landed in 1988spirit of Edenin 1991ridiculeSimply breathtaking, but it's hard to describe them as synthpop.
Each of Talk Talk's five studio albums was better than the last, but only the first two can easily be classified as synthpop. That's why Talk Talk's take on synthpop peaked in 1984it's my lifeThe band's introspective art-rock days were yet to come, with hits like "It's My Life" and "Such a Shame" helping the album maintain a respectable spot on the European charts.
rhythmic--sweet dreams are like that)
Eurythmics was founded in 1980 by singer Annie Lennox and multi-instrumentalist Dave Stewart from the ashes of The Tourists.in the garden, the duo's 1981 debut album received poor reviews, both critically and commercially, but they redeemed themselves with their masterpiece follow-up in 1983.sweet dreams are like that).
The album is remembered for the sheer power of the first single, which made it a number 1 hit in the US.billboardHot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. In addition to hit singles,sweet dreams are like that)It possesses a thematic and tonal balance that earns it its place among the greatest synthpop recordings and reaches the pinnacle of the genre's power.
Simple minded -New Golden Dreams (81/82/83/84)
Simple Minds emerged as a post-punk band in the late 1970s, gradually incorporating synthesizers into their sound. after the breakthroughson and crush/sisterhood callIn 1981, under the leadership of Jim Kerr, the team soared to new heightsNew Golden Dreams (81–82–83–84), the band's first album that could be classified as synthpop.
While the album's cover is extremely unremarkable,New Golden Dreams (81/82/83/84)is a Simple Minds masterpiece, featuring numerous timeless hits. Three brilliant singles "Promised You a Miracle", "Glittering Prize" and "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" along with equally delightful hits like "New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)" and "Big sleep" album track.
Gary Numan --fun principle
Gary Numan releases his most refined and critically acclaimed album to date,fun principle1979. Just look at the cover of the album and you can see that Numan was almost entirely inspired by Kraftwerk. The record marks Numan's solo debut after two successful albums under Tubeway Army.
Like most of the pioneering Kraftwerk materials of the 1970s.fun principleCelebrate the post-industrial era. Numan brings soulless, ghostly vocals to boring, everyday themes like 'Cars', 'Films' and 'Metal'. Everywhere, the textures of industrial synths reflect postmodern concepts. The hit singles "Cars" and "Complex" and other hits such as "ME" helped the album reach number one on the UK Albums Chart shortly after its release.
Yazoo -Eric upstairs
Yazoo - or Yaz, as they are known in North America for legal reasons - is a duo formed by singer Alison Moyet and former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke. It's a transitional project with only two studio albums, but what they lack in lasting impact they more than make up for.
Eric upstairsReleased as the duo's debut studio album in August 1981, they received the worldwide attention they deserved with the lead single "Only You". The single reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in May 1982 and remains Yazoo's most popular single to this day.Eric upstairsIt is also home to classics of the genre such as 'Don't Go', 'The Situation', 'Bad Connection' and 'Midnight'.
blanco -Eat everything
Blancmange consists of singer Neil Arthur and keyboardist Stephen Luscombe. The duo had a major impact on the synthpop scene of the early 1980s, but their lack of chart longevity left them overshadowed by many of their peers in retrospect. The first two of their three albums from the eighties.happy familyIEat everything, are all true gems, and it's a daunting task to determine which one is the most outstanding masterpiece.
Finally,Eat everythingLead with a more comprehensive, multi-year dossier. compensatehappy family"Top 10 Hit "Life on the Ceiling",Eat everythingIt was the birthplace of the catchy and danceable singles "Blind Vision" and "Don't Tell Me". Elsewhere on the album, "The Day Before You Came" and "Game Above My Head" mark more subdued moments.
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FAQs
Top 10 synth pop albums? ›
To all intents and purposes, the first synth-pop album was Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine, a release that triggered a surge of synth-based acts to spread across the Western world. Bands like Tubeway Army, Visage and The Human League soon grasped these blueprints and built intriguing structures in their own right.
What was the first synth-pop album? ›To all intents and purposes, the first synth-pop album was Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine, a release that triggered a surge of synth-based acts to spread across the Western world. Bands like Tubeway Army, Visage and The Human League soon grasped these blueprints and built intriguing structures in their own right.
Who is the pioneer of synth-pop? ›Synth-pop—sometimes referred to as electro-pop—stems from the electronic music of the 1970s that Kraftwerk and Brian Eno helped pioneer.
Who was an 80s synth-pop duo? ›In the mid to late 1980s, duos such as Erasure and Pet Shop Boys adopted a style that was highly successful on the US dance charts, but by the end of the decade, the 'new wave' synth-pop of bands such as A-ha and Alphaville was giving way to house music and techno.
When was synth-pop most popular? ›The History of Synth Pop in the 70s and 80s
Synth pop is a derivative genre of pop music, mixing the sounds of disco music with pop. It also borrows elements from progressive rock and art-rock. It was one of the most popular subgenres globally from the late 70s to the late 80s.
The band Monkees was among the first groups to use the synthesizer in pop music, and featured the instrument throughout their 1967 album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.
What was the first pop song with a synthesizer? ›The earliest example I found was Vera Lynn's “We'll Meet Again”, released 1939. The track features the Novachord, an early polyphonic synth manufactured only for a few years by Hammond.
What was the first sampling synth? ›The Fairlight was the first digital synthesizer and sampler. It was invented by two young Australians, Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel (pictured), in 1979.
What synths were used in 80s synth-pop? ›Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
The most sought after and arguably THE synth of the '80s – (Apologies to the Roland Jupiter-8) . The synth has five voices of polyphony and patch memories – one of the first synths to have them.
For early live shows, Daft Punk would utilise LinnDrum and Roland TR-909 drum machines alongside a Roland Juno-106 and TB-303 for synths. In a 2001 interview with the French Keyboard magazine, Daft Punk listed the following pieces of gear used on Discovery: Synthesizers: Roland Juno-106.
What was the best synth of the 80s? ›
Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
Arguably THE synth of the 80s – just look at that list of users. The synth has five voices of polyphony and patch memories – one of the first synths to have them. It came in three versions released between 1978 and 1984.
In 1981 we have to begin with Roland, who could be regarded as the most dominant synth force throughout the 80s, and it certainly doesn't get much more dominant than the Jupiter-8.
Which synth-pop singer had a hit with cars in 1979? ›"Cars" is the debut solo single by English musician Gary Numan. It was released on 21 August 1979 and is from his debut studio album The Pleasure Principle.
What is the most famous synth intro? ›4) The Final Countdown – Europe
The lead synth in The Final Countdown is quite possibly the most iconic synthesizer riff of all time. I say this in the sense of how many people would instantly recognize it. If you gone to a sporting event, chances are that you have heard and rocked out to this song.
A synth is the same as a synthesizer. [informal]
What synth pop dance song by new order was released in 1983? ›"Blue Monday" is a song by the English rock band New Order. It was released as a 12-inch single on 7 March 1983 through Factory Records.
Did Led Zeppelin use synthesizer? ›The technology informed his now-famous electronic synthesizer, which debuted in 1964. The sound soon found its way into the recording studio, where The Beach Boys and Led Zeppelin used variations of a theremin in landmark songs like “Good Vibrations” and “Whole Lotta Love,” respectively, that are still favorites today.
Did the Beatles use a synthesizer? ›The Abbey Road recording sessions found the Beatles experimenting in the studio with a brand new instrument: the Moog synthesizer.
Did Stevie Wonder invent the synthesizer? ›In 1982, he challenged an MIT engineer named Ray Kurzweil to develop a synthesizer keyboard that sounded “exactly like a baby grand piano.” Kurzweil had developed an “automatic reading machine” for the blind, which used early synthesized voice technology, and Wonder became Kurzweil's first customer for the machine.
What is the oldest pop music? ›Milwaukee is home to the song 'After the Ball' by Charles Harris. Written in 1891, it's the first song to sell a million copies of sheet music.
Is synth pop considered EDM? ›
Electronic Dance Music is a compilation of electronic music subgenres that are intended for crowds of dancers, including disco music, synthpop, techno, house music, trance music, drum and bass, dubstep, trap, hardstyle and more.
What is the rarest synth ever? ›The MCS70 monophonic synth was the first-ever synthesizer capable of storing presets, making it the first completely programmable synth in history. Now two friends have come together to restore the one and only unit in existence.
What was the first album to use samples? ›Stevie Wonder's 1979 album Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants may have been the first album to make extensive use of samples.
Is synth 70s or 80s? ›While there are a few notable experimentations in the decades before, the first wave of synth music didn't hit until the late 1970s and ran heavily in the 1980s.
What synth was used on Radio Gaga? ›After hearing the phrase, Taylor began writing the song when he locked himself in a room with a Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizer and a drum machine (Linn LM-1).
What synths did Michael Jackson use? ›As such, many of the iconic synthesizers of the era are present on Thriller, including the Yamaha CS-80, Sequential Prophet-5, Roland Jupiter-8, Minimoog, ARP 2600, E-mu Emulator I, Synclavier II and Oberheim OB-X.
What synth was used in city pop? ›Some of the Japanese technologies which influenced city pop included the Walkman, cars with built-in cassette decks and FM stereos, and various electronic musical instruments such as the Casio CZ-101 and Yamaha CS-80 synthesizers and Roland TR-808 drum machine.
Did Daft Punk use autotune? ›So, if asking whether Daft Punk used software plug-ins in their creations, both live and in the studio, the answer is “minimally”. Outside of Pro Tools plug-ins, and the obvious use of Autotune, the only real software that the duo has admitted to using is Ableton; specifically for running Operator in Ableton Live.
What is Daft Punk style called? ›Daft Punk's musical style has mainly been described as house, French house, electronic, dance, and disco. Sean Cooper of AllMusic describes their musical style as a blend of acid house, techno, pop, indie rock, hip hop, progressive house, funk, and electro.
What did Daft Punk use to change their voice? ›Daft Punk is well known for the use of talkboxes and vocoders on vocals in tracks like Harder Better Faster Stronger. There are a lot of vocal effect plugins already containing vocoders such as the Izotope Vocal Synth. By combining autotune together with a vocoder you'll get the iconic Daft Punk robotic vocals sound.
What synth did the killers use? ›
The Moog Voyager was used on some of their albums and this is an extremely popular synth as well.
What synth was used in kids in America? ›They wrote the song using a WASP synthesizer owned by Ricky. He has said that its main synth line was influenced by that of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's "Messages".
What synth was used in the 90s? ›- Roland Juno-106 61-Key Programmable Polyphonic Synthesizer. ...
- Roland SH-101 Monophonic Analog Synthesizer. ...
- Casio FZ-1 61-Key Digital Sampling Synthesizer. ...
- Yamaha TX81Z Rackmount FM Tone Generator 1987 - 1988. ...
- Alesis QuadraVerb 20k Bandwidth Simultaneous Digital Effects Processor.
Often called “the holy grail of synthesizers”, TONTO, or The Original New Timbral Orchestra, is a legendary synthesiser that was built by Malcolm Cecil in the early '70s and is the largest polyphonic analog synth in the world.
What was the signature song of synth-pop band The Human League released in 1981? ›"Don't You Want Me" is a song by British synth-pop group the Human League (credited on the cover as The Human League 100). It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album, Dare (1981).
What is 80s synth music called? ›Synthwave (also called outrun, retrowave, or futuresynth) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominantly on the music associated with action, science-fiction, and horror film soundtracks of the 1980s.
What specific name did pop music that featured heavy use of synthesizer have in the 80s? ›Synth-pop (also known as electropop or technopop) is a music genre that uses the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument.
What is the most popular selling synthesizer ever made? ›Unofficially that makes the MicroKorg the best selling synthesizer of all time.
What is Yamaha most famous synth? ›The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units.
What do you call a synth player? ›Also Called. Sound Designer, Synthesist, Music Programmer, Synthesizer Technician.
What are people who play the synthesizer called? ›
A keyboardist is a musician who plays one or more of the musical instruments called keyboard instruments, such as the piano, organ, or electronic synthesizer.
Who made the synthesizer famous? ›Robert Arthur Moog (/moʊɡ/ MOHG; May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005) was an American engineer and electronic music pioneer. He was the founder of the synthesizer manufacturer Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesizer, which debuted in 1964.
What was the first synthesizer pop song? ›In 1979 OMD released their debut single "Electricity", which is regarded as integral to the rise of synth-pop. This was followed by a series of landmark releases within the genre, including the 1980 hit singles "Messages" and "Enola Gay".
What was the first synthesizer in pop music? ›The band Monkees was among the first groups to use the synthesizer in pop music, and featured the instrument throughout their 1967 album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Watch the Monkees (and note the Moog, played by drummer and vocalist Mickey Dolenz) in this vintage clip.
When did synth-pop start? ›Synth-pop is a genre of popular music that emerged in the late 1970s and gained prominence in the 1980s. The genre is characterized by the use of synthesizers and electronic instruments, often in a futuristic or sci-fi-inspired aesthetic.
What was the original music synth? ›The first electronic sound synthesizer, an instrument of awesome dimensions, was developed by the American acoustical engineers Harry Olson and Herbert Belar in 1955 at the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) laboratories at Princeton, New Jersey.
Who was the first gen pop punk? ›Pop-punk emerged in the late 1970s with groups such as the Ramones, the Undertones, and the Buzzcocks setting the genre's groundwork. 1980s punk bands like Bad Religion, Descendents and the Misfits were influential to pop-punk, and it expanded in the 1980s and early 1990s by a host of bands signed to Lookout!
Is David Bowie a synth pop? ›He was one of my ultimate synth heroes; a star who revelled in creating everything from ambient electronic soundscapes and chart topping synth pop, to IDB and brutal industrial music.
What synth-pop dance song by new order was released in 1983? ›"Blue Monday" is a song by the English rock band New Order. It was released as a 12-inch single on 7 March 1983 through Factory Records.
What synth did the Beatles use? ›This month marks the 45th anniversary of the Abbey Road recording sessions that found the Beatles experimenting in the studio with a brand new instrument: the Moog synthesizer.
What is the oldest punk band? ›
Iggy and The Stooges.
Originally billed as the “Psychedelic Stooges” and debuting in Detroit on Halloween night in 1967, the Stooges are arguably the first-ever punk band.
After years of debate, I think it's time we truly acknowledge who started pop punk: The Ramones. The Ramones were founded in 1974 in New York City, by friends Johnny Ramone, Tommy Ramone, Joey Ramone, and Dee Dee Ramone.
Who was the first punk rock girl? ›The Godmother of Punk
As we kick off this celebration of influential women in punk rock history, I can think of no better place to start than with Patti Smith. Smith released her debut album, Horses, in 1975.