Treble's 150 Best Albums of the 1980s

If the '70s was one of the most consequential decades for popular music, the '80s is perhaps the only other decade that can give it a run for its money in terms of both innovation and pop cultural visibility. The top 40 was rife with heavy hitters—Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince and even '70s rockers like Springsteen—while elsewhere, technological advancements were bringing about new evolutions in synth-pop, dance music and industrial. Hip-hop rose to prominence, about a half-dozen metal subgenres were born, and punk begat post-punk and so on. If we're simply counting all of the new sounds that were born, the '80s were simply overwhelming.