For the sake of fairness, I’ve opted to only include one album per artist-although songwriters like Haruomi Hosono and Vince Clark are a part of multiple projects included in this ranking. Obviously, attacking a list of this size in a genre with more blurred lines than others is a tall order-especially when most of the bands on this list have more than one classic record. There was a lull period after Depeche Mode’s Violator in the 1990s, but the community is stronger than ever. One could say that the electronic movement is having a renaissance in 2023-as it seems like every artist working today is experimenting with synthesizers-but I’d argue that the frenzy of synth-pop has barely wavered since catching fire in the late-1970s.
Few sub-genres of music are as timeless and inventive as the world of synth-pop.
