10 Albums That Defined The 80s

This record helped introduce a legion of kids into what synthpop could truly do. Many people write synthpop off nowadays as being cheesy and overly dramatized, but Tears for Fears brought the songs on this record to justify the melodramatic overtones of the music.

This album has so many staples of '80s pop from the moody "Shout" to the fun singalong of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Songs like "The Working Hour" and "I Believe" have a certain gravitas that make them feel timeless. Even the sleeper single "Head Over Heels" was given a second wind when it was used in Donnie Darko some fifteen years after its release.

For all of the disposable pop on the radio throughout the '80s, this record held the distinction of fitting neatly on the radio without sounding like anything else that was out at the time. You can call it cheesy, but it's some of the greatest cheese the world has ever known.