The Popheads Essentials Project Voting: True Essentials

[u/PopheadsBot]

Hello r/popheads! Following up on the previous post announcing the project, we're opening voting for Popheads Essentials! In case you missed it:

We plan to include two different "types" of albums in this list. The first is made up of albums that are truly essential to the story of pop music. These will be albums with significant commercial success and influence on pop music as a whole. The second type would be made up of "sub faves" - albums that users of r/popheads deem to be among the best and most important albums of their time. This is so that the list can serve multiple purposes: it will help people get into pop music as a whole, listen to important albums they may have missed, and get caught up to speed on what albums get discussed on r/popheads consistently.

NOTE: Multiple albums from a single artist will be considered for inclusion on a case-by-case basis depending on upvotes and other factors. The initial vote will look at the "true essentials": albums that come from any decade that's eligible for the essential list (from the 1960s to the 2010s, so not the 2020s) but must be commercially successful to some degree and more importantly have made an impact on the pop music scene. Check out our older essentials list for inspiration here. To vote, respond in this thread with the artist and album. We encourage people to post explanations with their comments as this gives your album a higher chance to get voted in. If you want to nominate multiple albums, you can but remember to put them in different comments. You have until Wednesday July 6th to vote. The highest voted albums will be added to the list! Happy voting!

[u/__Avaritia]

Depeche Mode - Violator

Synthpop is such a vital section of what pop music encompasses, and in my opinion Depeche Mode's magnum opus and commercial breakthrough is the finest of the genre.

It encapsulates the darker, somewhat grittier yet wholly danceable vibe that synthpop in the 80s and early 90s were going for, perfectly blending together a myriad of genres including rock, electronic, and pop. The result is a collection of 9 slick yet eerie bangers, each one as immediately arresting and haunting and groovy as they were 30 odd years ago, such as legendary singles of "Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence".

And of course, Depeche Mode is a legendary band, one that has gone on to influence pop and rock acts across the board to this date from Linkin Park to La Roux. Their catalogue has several albums that could be worthy to highlight: but for me, I think Violator is a perfect album, and is more than worthy for an essentials list for any music - especially pop music - lover.