Hand of Mars

Evidently, being kicked out of Van Halen revitalized Sammy Hagar, since Marching to Mars is among his best solo albums. A lean, tough collection of by-the-books hard-rockers, Marching to Mars stands out because of its immediate sound and Hagar's sense of purpose. He's out to prove himself, to illustrate that he wasn't just Van Halen's mouthpiece or a blowhard. Subtlety still remains a weak point with Hagar, but he's rarely sounded quite as convincing as he does here, tearing through a set of surprisingly well-written songs with such guest artists as Huey Lewis, Slash, Mickey Hart, and Bootsy Collins.

The top line of the revolutionary Roland SH series is rarely talked about, yet it includes some of the most powerful synthesizers of all time. There's the SH-101, SH1, SH-3A, SH-7… the list goes on.

We sample a lot of synths on this site, and they're mostly vintage, expensive and rare. The Mini isn't any of those things - we chose to sample it because you can get sounds these older synths just aren't capable of. And unlike most of the other modern analog stuff, the Mini isn't trying to mimic anything from the past - it has a completely distinctive voice that's both futuristic and nostalgic.

The Yamaha DX100 is a miniature FM synth from the mid 80s. It's similar in sound to the famous DX7 but grittier and tougher, due to its overdrive-able DAC. In fact, it has a similar vibe to the SP-1200. It is the sound of early Detroit techno (specifically the Solid Bass patch), Roger Troutman's talkbox (the Hard Brass patch), countless 80s Lynch-esc soundtracks, hotel lounge vibes and so much more.

"La Realidad De Los Sueños" is literally "the reality of dreams" for the numerous The Mars Volta fans all around the world. It not only contains the band's whole studio discography but also some true treasures like "Landscape Tantrums", unreleased material from the De-Loused In The Comatorium sessions.

The SK-1 is a cheap and un-assuming 8-bit synthesizer and keyboard sampler from the mid 80s. It's super gritty and lo fi in almost every regard — from the frequency-squeezing mic input to the uber-funky PCM based sampler.

For the last few decades, the System-100M has been a quiet pillar in many of your favorite electronic jams. From Yazoo/Erasure to Throbbing Gristle and the Human League, it's provided countless textures, sequences, blips and bass, but has never fully got the recognition it deserves. This epic modular synth has somehow fallen beneath the sonic cracks of the more iconic synths (Moogs, Arps and other Rolands from the same era) that we’ve come to know and love.

The Sidstation is a three oscillator desktop synthesizer based around the infamous 8-bit SID chip. Back in the day, the SID (Sound Interface Device) produced all of the lovely music and sounds of the Commodore 64, one of the earliest mass-produced home computer and gaming systems of the 1980s.