The 90s: Worst Decade for Pop Music

[Guybrush]

Hey fire! Welcome

I think you guys are focusing too much on the good memories and not enough on the bad...

I have never heard either of the songs you posted before, so even though they're not great, I don't think they were really part of the pop landscape over here in the 90s. To me, the shitty pop music of the 90s was the pop R&B garbage churned out by the likes of Mariah Carey and Color Me Badd. I like R&B, but I feel like the late 80s and early 90s were its artistic nadir.

It's a fair point. Pop music may have been shittier here in Norway than across the pond  a lot of the awful artists I remember from the radio were from Scandinavian countries like the aforementioned Dr. Alban, DJ Bobo, Aqua, Whigfield, Redneck, Daze, E-Type, Toy Box, also don't care for Ace of Base.

Maybe it was a problem with Europe. Eiffel 65, 666, 2 Unlimited, Vengaboys. So much crap.

But also stuff like Moby's Play seems poor to me in hindsight. You steal soul music and just add breakbeats to it? What's up with 90s breakbeats in general? The new agey stuff like Enigma and Masters of Chant. What about the punk covers trend spearheaded by Me First & The Gimme Gimmes?

[jimmy jazz]

There's loads of good 90s pop.

There was a lot of good Euro dance and things about back then.

Take a look at Pure Shores by All Saints or this for good 90s pop:

[Janszoon]

But also stuff like Moby's Play seems poor to me in hindsight. You steal soul music and just add breakbeats to it? What's up with 90s breakbeats in general? The new agey stuff like Enigma and Masters of Chant. What about the punk covers trend spearheaded by Me First & The Gimme Gimmes?

Well, I like "Play" and Enigma and Me First & The Gimme Gimmes. So there. 

[Guybrush]

Nope, this LFO. Corny white boy rapping abound.

I remember when this came out and even back then I thought it sucked.

I'd never heard this one before, but boy. It sucks hairy ass. Thanks for sharing

Now, I actually don't HATE this song (because I find it funny), but the music video and the song encapsulates many of the dumb things about the 90s. Take a look at the themes here. Listen to the stupid 90s Enigma drum sample they put on it. Now this is well done for its time, but it's still kinda stupid.

To me, it seems typical of the 90s that it featured some the worst output from artists who were beloved in earlier decades. Image and how they should present themselves sometimes got a little messy.

There's a 90s stupidity that's hard to describe in words. It's cheesy, maybe mysterious? It's like the 90s movie The Prophecy where Christopher Walken, playing the angel Gabriel, and everyone else is always perching on things like birds. Because they're angels, right?







This could only be cool in the 90s. What were they thinking? I feel like whatever the source of this stupid was, it also leaked into No More I Love Yous and certain other songs from that time.

[Janszoon]

Whoa, now you're going after Annie Lennox? Damn.

[Guybrush]

Whoa, now you're going after Annie Lennox? Damn.

I'll go after anyone. Metallica? David Bowie? Prince? Meat loaf? Cher? They all got 90s musical blood on their hands.

It's the decade that made Bono awful.

[Janszoon]

I'll go after anyone. Metallica? David Bowie? Prince? Meat loaf? Cher? They all got 90s musical blood on their hands.

It's the decade that made Bono awful.

I think the first two U2 albums of the 90s are among their best releases. David Bowie continued his 80s trajectory of making some good music without being nearly as good as he was in the 70s. Prince continued being Prince, even with the temporary name change. Meat Loaf and Cher had a couple good songs, like in previous decades.

The only artist you mentioned that I think really went off a cliff in the 90s was Metallica, and even they had one reasonably okay album at the beginning of the decade.

[Guybrush]

To be honest, I don't hate 90s David Bowie even if his output seems weaker and his whole personae a little out of place. I'm not a huge Prince, Meat Loaf or Cher fan in any case, so I'm not actually frustrated with their 90s output. I do think artists that were well established before the 90s typically had an artistic decline in the 90s, so like Madonna is worse (despite tremendous successes with frozen, secret, ray of light, etc), Michael Jackson got way way worse, Metallica really did make some weird decisions. It affects many, so I'm fairly sure @Trollheart is not gonna say the 90s are the best decade for Iron Maiden f.ex.

This is understandable, though, as they're artists from another time who kinda tried to adapt and / or got new 90s producers to do their albums etc. It's not unique for the 90s, but for the sake of argument I'll say that 90s grime tended to put a little extra dirt on these things.

For U2, I don't listen to their 90s albums (that's a long time ago), but I think they're pretty good (even if I prefer earlier stuff). But something happened to Bono's ego which, if you look back at concert videos from that time, is pretty cringeworthy. It's narcissism to a degree that would put Morrissey to shame. Specifically, I'm thinking back on the the Zoo TV tour with the black clothes and the big, buggy sunglasses where he would also show up as character MacPhisto on stage.

And I'm thinking maybe he was always like that, but the 90s spin on it is just a little more awful.

Pink Floyd did well, I think. Pulse is an okay album, but the tour was tremendous. And they managed to do it without falling into the many 90s pitfalls of the time. No weird costumes or contrived attempts at being cool or anything. Of course, it was also their farewell, so..

[Lexi Darling]

I'll maintain that U2 didn't get really awful until the 2000s. Even Pop has some great moments.

I also love 90s Bowie, but I will agree on Prince.

[Rubber Soul]

I'll maintain that U2 didn't get really awful until the 2000s. Even Pop has some great moments.

Oh yeah? I have one word for you- Zooropa.

[Janszoon]

And I'm thinking maybe he was always like that, but the 90s spin on it is just a little more awful.

He was always like that, but my take on him in the 90s is that it was when he stopped taking himself as seriously. 

Pink Floyd did well, I think. Pulse is an okay album, but the tour was tremendous. And they managed to do it without falling into the many 90s pitfalls of the time. No weird costumes or contrived attempts at being cool or anything. Of course, it was also their farewell, so..

Pink Floyd is where were switch sides in this debate. They were a shadow of their former selves by the 90s and only released one tepid studio album. They had been a band that was constantly evolving from album to album in the 60s and 70s, but once Gilmour took the wheel all they seemed to want to do was rehash Dark Side of the Moon. It's not even like the 90s made them lame either, they were already a reanimated corpse of a band in the 80s, they just continued shambling along into the 90s.

[Janszoon]

Oh yeah? I have one word for you- Zooropa.

One of their best albums imo!

[Rubber Soul]

Oh yeah? I have one word for you- Zooropa.

One of their best albums imo!

That's how I felt about Achtung Baby. Then they released this, uh, gem. I'm not sure what was worse, the songs that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, or that foot fetish video with the Edge. Yeah, I'd go with the foot fetish video.

[Guybrush]

Zooropa is fairly meh besides a couple/few tracks, but kudos to them for trying something else. It definitely feels like they were searching for something during the 90s. Pop seems very 90s contrived in terms of aesthetics, but some good songs still.

I bought the Passengers album they did with Brian Eno in the mid 90s. Also not great, but some good/pleasant songs there.

Pink Floyd is where were switch sides in this debate. They were a shadow of their former selves by the 90s and only released one tepid studio album. They had been a band that was constantly evolving from album to album in the 60s and 70s, but once Gilmour took the wheel all they seemed to want to do was rehash Dark Side of the Moon. It's not even like the 90s made them lame either, they were already a reanimated corpse of a band in the 80s, they just continued shambling along into the 90s.

Of course they were after Roger Waters left and they getting tied up in various court drama. Wright was always a little on the fence anyways and Gilmour and Mason probably had other things they wanted to do. I like late era PF, but it's hard to argue they're a better band than before.

I just think they handled the transition into the 90s like they didn't care or notice much what decade it was, which is nice. so much LARPing otherwise. Also Pulse is one of my favorite live records ever. It had a red pulsing LED light on the spine!

[Janszoon]

That's how I felt about Achtung Baby. Then they released this, uh, gem. I'm not sure what was worse, the songs that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, or that foot fetish video with the Edge. Yeah, I'd go with the foot fetish video.

I think of Achtung Baby and Zooropa as sort of an unofficial double album, so it's surprising to hear of someone loving one and hating the other.