More Than a Feeling: The Definitive Soundtrack of 1980s Love Songs

When you think of the 1980s, what comes to mind? Neon windbreakers, heavy eye makeup, synthesizer intros that could wake the dead, and, above all, some of the most dramatic, unapologetically emotional love songs ever recorded.

While the decade gave us blistering rock anthems and the birth of synth-pop and hip-hop, the charts were completely dominated by declarations of devotion. But let’s narrow the lens. There is a very specific subgenre of ’80s magic that wears its heart right there on the sleeve—and right there in the title.