10 Best Alt-Rock Albums Of The 80's

In the glory days of the 80's, it was all about either guitars or keyboards. Every hit song that blared out of the radio seemed to either have a shredding solo by a guitarist with big hair, or a bright sounding synthesizer played by a pianist with equally big hair. It wasn't until Depeche Mode that the two defining sounds of the decade found a healthy way to co-mingle.

Up until Violator, Depeche Mode were known as a synth rock band whose sound kept getting darker on each release. Once they reached the end of the decade, their sound had gone from slightly dark to pitch black as they took on guitar rock on songs like "Personal Jesus" while still mining fantastic synth passages on the smash hit "Enjoy the Silence." Some of the album cuts like "Waiting for the Night" displays a wonderful sense of unease, with its minimal keyboard riff and chilling ambience that could make every hair on your body stand on end.

Even though this album was released right as the decade had ended, Depeche Mode used Violator as a fantastic send-off for 80's music by re-contextualizing the decade's sounds into the new 90's aesthetic.