# The 21 Best New Wave Albums of All Time

> Skinny ties, drum machines and a lot of nervous energy. These records took punk's attitude and gave it hooks, synthesizers and a dance floor.

*By YPB Team · Published October 17, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-21-best-new-wave-albums-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Business as Usual** — score 1000/1000
   Men at Work's 1981 debut, a worldwide hit with a quirky Australian pop sound.
2. **Talking Heads: 77** — score 897/1000
   The 1977 debut that introduced the band's nervy, minimalist art-school funk.
3. **Remain in Light** — score 846/1000
   Talking Heads' 1980 Eno-produced album fusing art rock with polyrhythmic Afrobeat grooves.
4. **Kings of the Wild Frontier** — score 636/1000
   Adam and the Ants' 1980 tribal-drumming, theatrical pop album.
5. **Rio** — score 636/1000
   Duran Duran's glossy 1982 second album, built on sleek synth-pop and cinematic videos.
6. **Fear of Music** — score 636/1000
   Talking Heads' jittery 1979 third album that bridged their early quirk and later rhythmic experiments.
7. **Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!** — score 636/1000
   Devo's 1978 debut, a jerky, satirical take on de-evolution with synths and spasmodic guitars.
8. **Power, Corruption & Lies** — score 538/1000
   New Order's 1983 album that locked guitars and sequencers into a new dance-rock template.
9. **Synchronicity** — score 538/1000
   The Police's 1983 final album, a chart-topping mix of pop, jazz and paranoia.
10. **Pornography** — score 538/1000
   The Cure's bleak, claustrophobic 1982 album, the darkest entry in their early trilogy.
11. **The B-52's** — score 418/1000
   The Athens, Georgia party band's 1979 debut of campy surf-rock and kitsch.
12. **Vienna** — score 418/1000
   Ultravox's 1980 album with its grand, romantic synth-and-strings title track.
13. **Beauty and the Beat** — score 418/1000
   The Go-Go's 1981 debut, a sunny chart-topping landmark for all-female rock bands.
14. **Songs from the Big Chair** — score 418/1000
   Tears for Fears' 1985 smash with big choruses and anxious, thoughtful lyrics.
15. **Parallel Lines** — score 0/1000
   Blondie's 1978 breakthrough, a polished blend of punk energy, pop hooks and disco.
16. **Disintegration** — score 0/1000
   The Cure's lush, melancholy 1989 masterpiece of gothic dream-pop.
17. **New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)** — score 0/1000
   Simple Minds' shimmering 1982 album of atmospheric, widescreen synth-rock.
18. **Violator** — score 0/1000
   Depeche Mode's 1990 breakout, with dark, sleek synth-pop and several worldwide hits.
19. **Dare** — score 0/1000
   The Human League's 1981 synth-pop landmark that went to number one in the UK.
20. **Outlandos d'Amour** — score 0/1000
   The Police's 1978 debut combining punk speed with reggae-tinged melodies.
21. **The Pleasure Principle** — score 0/1000
   Gary Numan's 1979 synthesizer-only album that helped define electronic pop.

Tags: music, 80s, rock, new wave, synth-pop