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Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; [10] also called techno-pop [11] [12]) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. [13] It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and ...
- 1977–80 in West Germany, Japan, and United Kingdom
- Techno-pop
Jul 21, 2023 · 32. Fad Gadget: Gag (1984) The fourth and final album from Francis John Tovey—aka Fad Gadget—is one of the best experimental synth-pop albums ever made. Released in 1984, Gag was produced by ...
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- Japan – Tin Drum
- Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine
- Depeche Mode – Violator
- New Order – Power Corruption and Lies
- Talk Talk – It’S My Life
- Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams
- Simple Minds – New Gold Dream
- Gary Numan – The Pleasure Principle
- Yazoo – Upstairs at Eric’s
- Blancmange – Mange Tout
South London synth-pop heroes Japan kept the good ship of David Bowie’s glam-era androgyny afloat in the late 1970s. The 1978 debut album Adolescent Sex garnered Japan a strong following, mostly thanks to its popular eponymous single. After the similarly guitar-driven Obscure Alternatives, Japan turned a corner with the synth-heavy Quiet Lifein 197...
German synth pioneers Kraftwerk had been tinkering away since the early 1970s, bringing their innovative electronic music to the masses with such releases asAutobahn and Radioactivity, but it wasn’t until 1978’s The Man-Machinethat they truly set the tone for the 1980s and the synth-pop takeover. The Man-Machine brought a more accessible edge and d...
In 1990, Essex gothic synth maestros Depeche Mode saw the synth-pop epoch out with a bang. Throughout the 1980s, Depeche Mode withered from the light of saccharine hits like ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ to venture melancholic and more complex themes. Music for the Masses arrived in 1987 to widespread acclaim and appeared insurmountable until its 1990 fo...
Following Ian Curtis’ tragic suicide in 1980, the remaining members of Joy Division reunited as New Order. After dabbling with synthesisers for their underrated yet unbalanced Joy Division hangover album, Movement, New Order returned triumphant with a seminal classic and quite possibly their masterpiece in 1983’s Power Corruption and Lies. The albu...
Led by the meticulous creative Mark Hollis, Talk Talk blossomed through a series of stylistic changes throughout the 1980s. The sound they eventually landed on in 1988’s Spirit of Eden and 1991’s Laughing Stockwas simply breathtaking, but one would be hard-pressed to describe them as synth-pop. Each of Talk Talk’s five studio albums bettered the pr...
Eurythmics was formed by vocalist Annie Lennox and multi-instrumentalist Dave Stewart from the ashes of The Tourists in 1980.In the Garden, the duo’s debut effort of 1981 was poorly received both critically and commercially, but they more than redeemed themselves in 1983 with the masterpiece follow-up Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). The album is u...
Simple Minds formed in the late 1970s as a post-punk outfit and gradually folded synth into their sound. After breaking through with Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call in 1981, the band, led by Jim Kerr, soared to higher heights with New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84), the band’s first album classifiable as synth-pop. In spite of its remarkably un...
Gary Numan released his most consummate and critically revered album, The Pleasure Principle, in 1979. Just by looking at the album cover, one can tell Numan was almost singularly inspired by Kraftwerk. The record marked Numan’s debut solo effort following a successful run of two albums fronting Tubeway Army. Like much of Kraftwerk’s seminal materi...
Yazoo – or Yaz, as they were known in North America for legal reasons – was a duo comprised of singer Alison Moyet and former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke. It was a transient project boasting only two studio albums, but what they lacked in longevity, they more than compensated for in enduring impact. Upstairs at Eric’s arrived in August 1981 as...
Blancmange consisted of Neil Arthur on vocals and Stephen Luscombe on keyboards. The pair significantly impacted the early 1980s synth-pop scene, but a lack of chart longevity has seen them retrospectively eclipsed by many of their peers. The first two of their three 1980s albums, Happy Families and Mange Tout, are true gems and determining which w...
1. ValhallaDSP VintageVerb. The range of production quality across ’80s synth-pop was vast, from DIY home recordings all the way through to slick pro studio sounds. One thing you won’t hear is the glossy sheen of modern reverb plugins, for the simple reason that they didn’t really exist in the early ’80s. Try a dirtier approach instead ...
Depeche Mode. 2016. Vinyl, Album, Reissue, 180 gram. Shop. Want. Depeche Mode, formed in 1980, is one of the biggest synth-pop artists still working in the genre today. The band’s seventh studio album, Violator, is its best-selling and blends synth-pop, alt-rock, and dance styles to create a sprawling, trippy atmosphere.
Apr 4, 2013 · So let’s raise a glass to New Order and the other pioneers and current torch-bearers of the genre, via our 10 best synth-pop albums. Suicide– Suicide. (1977; Red Star) The progenitor that started it all. This debut – the first album from the duo of Alan Vega and Martin Rev, who appropriately (considering the tone of their music) named ...
Synth Pop. Synth Pop was one of the most distinctive subgenres of new wave. In the early '80s, a number of bands -- primarily British and heavily influenced by Roxy Music and David Bowie -- adapted the electronic innovations of bands like Kraftwerk for pop songs. Initially, in the hands of artists like Gary Numan, the Human League, and Depeche ...
