Everybody wants to rule the world

David Bowie

Sound and Vision - 2017 Remaster1977

"Sound and Vision" bridges Kraftwerk's electronic minimalism and the art-rock experimentalism that Talking Heads would adopt on "Once in a Lifetime." Recorded during Bowie's Berlin trilogy sessions in 1977, this track strips away the glam-rock excess of his early '70s work to embrace synthesizers and angular production—directly inspired by Kraftwerk's machine-like precision. The song's stark arrangement and detached vocal delivery created a template for how rock musicians could absorb electronic music without losing artistic credibility. Bowie's shift toward art rock here influenced an entire generation of post-punk and new-wave artists, particularly the New York art-school crowd that would shape the next decade's alternative sound. The 2017 remaster preserves the original's icy clarity.

Talking Heads

Once in a Lifetime - 2005 Remaster1980

Building on Bowie's marriage of electronic sophistication and stark vocal delivery, Talking Heads—formed in New York City in 1975—pushed that template toward neurotic urgency and rhythmic complexity. "Once in a Lifetime" showcases the band's signature blend of punk energy, funk grooves, and art-school anxiousness, with David Byrne's stammering delivery and the rhythm section's polyrhythmic precision creating controlled chaos. The track bridges Bowie's cool detachment and the synth-driven precision that Ultravox would refine a year later on "Vienna." By 1980, Talking Heads had already established themselves as pioneers of new wave by fusing punk, art rock, and world music into something genuinely unsettling—a sound that would help earn the band a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2002.

Kraftwerk

Computer Love - 2009 Remaster1981

Kraftwerk's 1981 track bridges the gap between Bowie's experimental synth work and the synth-pop that Tears for Fears would perfect four years later. Formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, Kraftwerk emerged from West Germany's krautrock scene before embracing synthesizers, drum machines, and vocoders as their primary instruments. "Computer Love" showcases their fully realized electronic vision—Karl Bartos joined in 1975 to help develop the group's pop sensibility alongside their technical precision. The song's direct, robotic vocal delivery and pulsing synth bass became blueprints for 1980s synthpop, influencing how artists would blend human emotion with machine-like precision in the decade to come.

Ultravox

Vienna - 2009 Remaster1981

Where Talking Heads married art rock with electronic precision, Ultravox took that synth-driven template and made it slicker, more romantic. "Vienna" arrived in 1981 as Ultravox's breakthrough—their most successful single, fronted by Midge Ure, who'd taken over from original singer John Foxx just two years earlier. The track crystallized the New Romantic movement: lush synthesizers, cold production, and dramatic vocals wrapped around a minor-key melody that sounded both futuristic and melancholic. Between 1980 and 1986, Ultravox would rack up seventeen top 40 UK singles, proving the formula worked. This 2009 remaster sharpens what was already crystalline—a direct line toward the synth-pop precision New Order would refine next.

★ Tears for Fears

Everybody Wants To Rule The World1985

This is the Song Zero — the track that starts the lineage — and it points directly forward to Kraftwerk's "Computer Love," the blueprint for the clean, mechanical synth lines that Tears for Fears absorbed and brought to mainstream radio. Released in March 1985, "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" hit number one in both the UK and the US, carrying that distinctly European synth architecture into arenas and car stereos worldwide. The track's rolling guitar figure and airy keyboard beds show exactly how much British new wave owed to Kraftwerk's decade-long work with synthesizers — and how far that sound had traveled from Düsseldorf to the pop charts by the mid-eighties.

New Order

Temptation - 7" Version; 2015 Remaster2005

Where Ultravox's atmospheric synth-pop paved the way, New Order pushed electronic music toward the dancefloor. Formed in 1980 from Joy Division's ashes, the Salford band combined New Wave and electronic music while incorporating dance elements in the early 1980s, bridging the gap between Ultravox's art-school sensibility and The Human League's club sound. "Temptation" showcases New Order's mastery of synth-pop hooks and driving rhythms—the kind of accessible electronic pop that made them Factory Records' flagship act. By the 2005 era, New Order had reunited after splitting in 1993, proving their influence on synthpop remained undiminished. This track connects the introspective synth-pop of the early '80s with the more groove-oriented electronic music that would dominate clubs and charts.

The Human League

The Sound Of The Crowd - Remastered 20022005

Following New Order's synth-driven exploration of desire, The Human League's "The Sound Of The Crowd" shows how Sheffield's electronic pioneers built dance music from pure synthesizer layers. Formed in 1977, the band—led by Philip Oakey with vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley (who joined in 1980)—won the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982, cementing their influence on the synth-pop wave. This remastered 2002 version preserves the original's mechanical pulse and layered vocals, a direct ancestor to OMD's similarly precise electronic arrangements. Where New Order balanced post-punk darkness with club energy, The Human League leaned fully into synthetic joy, proving electronic instruments could carry entire songs on their own.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

Enola Gay - Remastered 20192019

Where The Human League brought synth-pop into the mainstream, OMD took electronic music further as Britain's first two-piece synthesizer band. Formed in 1978 by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys in Merseyside, they built on the foundation that The Sound of the Crowd established—proving synthesizers could drive entire songs. "Enola Gay," their 1980 breakthrough, gained them popularity across Europe and became their signature track. This 2019 remaster brings fresh clarity to a song that defined early synth-pop and influenced countless electronic acts. After dissolving in 1996 and reforming in 2006, OMD proved their staying power with albums like English Electric, which became their biggest UK success in decades. The remaster honors their role as pioneers who showed what two musicians and synthesizers could achieve.