Many people believe that this was the beginning of the end, point of no return after which the music was entirely commercial, and low quality.

I love the 90's, one of my favorite decades ..... there was so much great music ...
Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.
Nothing Else Matters - Metallica
The Unforgiven - Metallica
Losing My Religion - R.E.M.
Wonderwall - Oasis
Du Hast - Rammstein
Virtual Insanity - Jamiroqui
Keep the Faith - Bon Jovi
Don.t Cry - Guns N Roses
Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
Don't Speak - No Doubt
I Feel You - Depeche Mode
November Rain - Guns N 'Roses
Amazing - Aerosmith
Innuendo - Queen
Tease Me, Please Me - Scorpions
Freedom - George Michael
.....

I could go on forever.

What do you think about the 90s?
Which songs, albums, artists - favorites?

[Edited 3/5/12 2:55am]

I could be mistaken but I believe that the consensus is that roughly the first half of the nineties was quite good but after about 1995 things slowly started getting worse and by 1999 a decline had set in which music, particularly mainstream music, never really recovered from.

Looking at your list of songs from the nineties it appears that most of them are from the first half of the decade.

rialb said:

I could be mistaken but I believe that the consensus is that roughly the first half of the nineties was quite good but after about 1995 things slowly started getting worse and by 1999 a decline had set in which music, particularly mainstream music, never really recovered from.

Looking at your list of songs from the nineties it appears that most of them are from the first half of the decade.

the first half of the decade was just great (1991 is one of the best years in music ever for me), the second - much weaker, but compared to the 00's and music today, it was a good time anyway.

LiLi1992 said:

This was the beginning of the end, point of no return after which the music was entirely commercial, and low quality.

Bullshit.

This was the point after which most mainstream music was entirely commercial, and low quality.

Still, there have been good mainstream artists in the 1990s and 2000s.

Favorite albums of the 1990s:

I may change/add to this list later. I made this list up off the top of my head, so it's likely to change.

1. Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication (1999)

2. Radiohead The Bends (1995)

3. Prince Chaos and Disorder (1996)

4. Nirvana Nevermind (1991)

5. Michael Jackson HIStory (1995)

6. Prince Emancipation (1996)

7. U2 Achtung Baby (1991)

8. Radiohead OK Computer (1997)

9. R. Kelly R. (1998)

10. Janet Jackson The Velvet Rope (1997)

11. Prince The Gold Experience (1995)

12. Bjork Homogenic (1997)

[Edited 3/5/12 11:33am]

LiLi1992 said:

Many people believe that this was the beginning of the end, point of no return after which the music was entirely commercial, and low quality.

How do you count "many"? Many people grew up in the '90s so there might be many people who thought that era was great. Same thing has been said of the '80s by people who grew up in earlier eras. When Rock & Roll just had started, people who disagreed and/or grew up in earlier centuries thought it was a disgrace as well. It's a never ending story. You like what what you like and imo you don't need to apologise for it or seek for confirmation if other people agree with the era which someone prefers

Shango said:

LiLi1992 said:

Many people believe that this was the beginning of the end, point of no return after which the music was entirely commercial, and low quality.

How do you count "many"? Many people grew up in the '90s so there might be many people who thought that era was great. Same thing has been said of the '80s by people who grew up in earlier eras. When Rock & Roll just had started, people who disagreed and/or grew up in earlier centuries thought it was a disgrace as well. It's a never ending story. You like what what you like and imo you don't need to apologise for it or seek for confirmation if other people agree with the era which someone prefers

I think most major music critics consider the early 1990s to be the end of great music, for the most part.

But I agree with everything you said.

Nirvana killed rock. Rap killed pop. Sampling killed musicianship. So I'm not a fan of the 90's.

Although, country music was very strong in the 90's.

Perhaps that's no coincidence.

Favorite albums (not in order):

Metallica - Metallica (1991)
R.E.M. - Out of Time. (1991)

Michael Jackson - Dagerous (1991)
Depeche Mode - Violator (1990)
Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion 1|2 (1991)

Prince - The Gold Experience (1995)

R.E.M. - Automatic for the People (1992)
Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
U2 - Achtung Baby (1991)
Massive Attack - Blue Lines (1991)

there was a thread on this a few years ago , wish i could retrieve it

anyways , it was a great decade

i think this is one of ,if not the best album of the 90's

[img:$uid]http://www.stuffwelike.com/stuffwelike/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/blood.jpg[/img:$uid]

LiLi1992 said:

Favorite albums (not in order):

Metallica - Metallica (1991)
R.E.M. - Out of Time. (1991)

Michael Jackson - Dagerous (1991)
Depeche Mode - Violator (1990)
Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion 1|2 (1991)

Prince - The Gold Experience (1995)

R.E.M. - Automatic for the People (1992)
Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
U2 - Achtung Baby (1991)
Massive Attack - Blue Lines (1991)

Do you not like the RHCP ?

I agree with Metallica , Radiohead and G n' R

[Edited 3/5/12 6:05am]

Dewrede said:

there was a thread on this a few years ago , wish i could retrieve it

anyways , it was a great decade

i think this is one of ,if not the best album of the 90's

[img:$uid]http://www.stuffwelike.com/stuffwelike/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/blood.jpg[/img:$uid]

As you can see from my list, I love RHCP, but I've never liked this album much. I rank it below Californication, By The Way and Stadium Arcadium. The hits are great, plus "I Could Have Lied" and "Blood Sugar Sex Magik", but I never liked the rest..

^

ok , maybe it's a little long but it's great imo

never bought or listened to By The Way and Stadium ..

i need to check those out

The 90s were a fantastic decade in music, in my eyes it's second only to the 80s:

Radiohead

Fiona Apple

PJ Harvey

R.E.M.

Liz Phair

Lauryn Hill

The Fugees

Beastie Boys

Nirvana

Hole

TLC

Alanis

Mariah Carey

Madonna

Janet Jackson

Aaliyah

Aimee Mann

Bonnie Raitt

Manic Street Preachers

Moby

Massive Attack

Depeche Mode

Oasis

Rage Against The Machine

No Doubt

Sublime

Sneaker Pimps

Lil Kim

2pac

Wilco

The 90s have the widest range of music movements happening,

Trip Hop, alt rap, West, South and East coast rap, college rock, Grunge, shoegazing, singer songwriter renaissance, R&B Hip Hop fusion, Bubblegum pop, Rap Metal, Trance etc.

[Edited 3/5/12 6:27am]

Dewrede said:

^

ok , maybe it's a little long but it's great imo

never bought or listened to By The Way and Stadium ..

i need to check those out

Yes.. I do think the album is too long, with too many weak songs. But, there's really only about 6 or so songs I like.

By The Way & Stadium Arcadium were both criticized for being too laid back and "radio-friendly" ... people said the band "sold out" with By The Way. Personally, I like their more mellow and melodic songs better... By The Way is also too long of an album, but there's at least as many classics as on Blood Sugar Sex Magik (imo).. Stadium Arcadium was a double album, so of course it's got a lot of filler, too.

Californication was the only album of theirs that I loved start-to-finish.

[Edited 3/5/12 6:27am]

I think only a younger person, no older than early 30s, could really appreciate the 90s.

Us older orgers remember how the 70s and 80s were so kick ass, and what a letdown the 90s were. And the 2000's were just lost to eternity, because they were that awful. That's my perspective anyway.

^

ok

yeah they already said that about Californacation too , which i think is great indeed

Definitely the beginning of the end. The adult contemporary R&B that had become so popular in the late 1980s completely exploded in the 1990s. The "talk over a stripped down slow to midtempo cheap sounding beat" shit hip that had been underground in the late 1980s came above ground and it along with adult contemporary completely took over R&B radio to the point that it never recovered from the two to this very day. If it weren't for the house/dance music that made a small dent in the early part of the decade, mostly on pop radio because R&B had already gone completely to the dogs by then, there would have been no good music at all in the decade. And the house/dance that was played on the radio was only a fraction of what existed. The majority of it was in the gay clubs (thank God I'm gay ) but it eventually became ruined also when acid and trance took it over.

By 1997, I completely took all R&B stations that played current music off my dial and converted strictly over to pop radio. I should have done it years earlier when I heard some of the house/dance stuff on pop radio but not R&B radio but I kept hoping things would get better. For me to drop R&B radio and switch to pop radio is really saying something because that's something I would have never done before the 1990s. But then I noticed that pop radio was also going to the dogs. Shit hop was making it's way over there too and a lot of the pop/rock acts were stripping all their instruments and making "unplugged" or "accoustical" type songs. I hated folks like Jewel which sounded like folk music. I mean damn, was it pop radio or country radio? It sounded like Roy Clark and Buck Owens sitting on a stool playing an accoustical guitar on "Hee Haw". And speaking of country, it even started making it's way into rock which was totally uncool. In 1999, I finally took pop stations off my dial also and just said fuck it to 95% of all current music.

And all this occurred while I was in my 20s so for those that say people are "just getting older", they can keep that weak excuse.

.

.

.

[Edited 3/5/12 6:54am]

Again, you people must only listen to whatever is on the radio... there's a lot more music out there, and if you can't find anything recent that you like, you either aren't looking hard enough, or you have poor/no taste.

Dewrede said:

LiLi1992 said:

Favorite albums (not in order):

Metallica - Metallica (1991)
R.E.M. - Out of Time. (1991)

Michael Jackson - Dagerous (1991)
Depeche Mode - Violator (1990)
Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion 1|2 (1991)

Prince - The Gold Experience (1995)

R.E.M. - Automatic for the People (1992)
Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
U2 - Achtung Baby (1991)
Massive Attack - Blue Lines (1991)

Do you not like the RHCP ?

I agree with Metallica , Radiohead and G n' R

[Edited 3/5/12 6:05am]

Well, this is only the top 10
I like Californication and BSSM, they are somewhere in the top 40, but not in the top 10 for sure.
For me it is the rare case when a group that emerged in the 80-90s, the best album recorded at 00-s ... By the Way - their best for me.

^

ok

CrabalockerFishwife said:

Again, you people must only listen to whatever is on the radio... there's a lot more music out there, and if you can't find anything recent that you like, you either aren't looking hard enough, or you have poor/no taste.

THIS.

CrabalockerFishwife said:

Again, you people must only listen to whatever is on the radio... there's a lot more music out there, and if you can't find anything recent that you like, you either aren't looking hard enough, or you have poor/no taste.

Oy vey. I've said it before and I'll say it again....not everybody has the time, money, and/or inclination to go on some sort of Yetti like expedition for some hidden musicial gems. They didn't in the 70s and they don't now.

Since we're talking about the 90s...where were people supposed to ind all this fabled great music THEN? The internetz were HUGE in '91! As for tastes, come on now....

RKJCNE said:

The 90s were a fantastic decade in music, in my eyes it's second only to the 80s:

Radiohead

Fiona Apple

PJ Harvey

R.E.M.

Liz Phair

Lauryn Hill

The Fugees

Beastie Boys

Nirvana

Hole

TLC

Alanis

Mariah Carey

Madonna

Janet Jackson

Aaliyah

Aimee Mann

Bonnie Raitt

Manic Street Preachers

Moby

Massive Attack

Depeche Mode

Oasis

Rage Against The Machine

No Doubt

Sublime

Sneaker Pimps

Lil Kim

2pac

Wilco

The 90s have the widest range of music movements happening,

Trip Hop, alt rap, West, South and East coast rap, college rock, Grunge, shoegazing, singer songwriter renaissance, R&B Hip Hop fusion, Bubblegum pop, Rap Metal, Trance etc.

[Edited 3/5/12 6:27am]

Good partial list, but quite representative. Riot grrrl, neo soul, and Lilithfair was happening then too as movements. Not to mention many classic rockers having a 2nd wind and a big interest among youngsters for their parents' era...think Eric Clapton, the Stones, Dylan, etc...even 50s rock started getting renewed interest then.

There was definitely some interesting stuff happening in the 90s.

[Edited 3/5/12 8:12am]

brooksie said:

CrabalockerFishwife said:

Again, you people must only listen to whatever is on the radio... there's a lot more music out there, and if you can't find anything recent that you like, you either aren't looking hard enough, or you have poor/no taste.

Oy vey. I've said it before and I'll say it again....not everybody has the time, money, and/or inclination to go on some sort of Yetti like expedition for some hidden musicial gems. They didn't in the 70s and they don't now.

Since we're talking about the 90s...where were people supposed to ind all this fabled great music THEN? The internetz were HUGE in '91! As for tastes, come on now....

Yes, I shouldn't have mentioned peoples tastes.. I knew that would start fights. But, there is tons of music out there that isn't popular, and there's tons of music you and I have yet to hear, so I don't think it's right to act like all (or most) music of the past 20 years has been bad, when there's so much out there we haven't heard yet.

If you don't have the time, money or inclination to search for better music.. that's fine.

[Edited 3/5/12 8:02am]

vainandy said:

Definitely the beginning of the end. The adult contemporary R&B that had become so popular in the late 1980s completely exploded in the 1990s. The "talk over a stripped down slow to midtempo cheap sounding beat" shit hip that had been underground in the late 1980s came above ground and it along with adult contemporary completely took over R&B radio to the point that it never recovered from the two to this very day. If it weren't for the house/dance music that made a small dent in the early part of the decade, mostly on pop radio because R&B had already gone completely to the dogs by then, there would have been no good music at all in the decade. And the house/dance that was played on the radio was only a fraction of what existed. The majority of it was in the gay clubs (thank God I'm gay ) but it eventually became ruined also when acid and trance took it over.

By 1997, I completely took all R&B stations that played current music off my dial and converted strictly over to pop radio. I should have done it years earlier when I heard some of the house/dance stuff on pop radio but not R&B radio but I kept hoping things would get better. For me to drop R&B radio and switch to pop radio is really saying something because that's something I would have never done before the 1990s. But then I noticed that pop radio was also going to the dogs. Shit hop was making it's way over there too and a lot of the pop/rock acts were stripping all their instruments and making "unplugged" or "accoustical" type songs. I hated folks like Jewel which sounded like folk music. I mean damn, was it pop radio or country radio? It sounded like Roy Clark and Buck Owens sitting on a stool playing an accoustical guitar on "Hee Haw". And speaking of country, it even started making it's way into rock which was totally uncool. In 1999, I finally took pop stations off my dial also and just said fuck it to 95% of all current music.

And all this occurred while I was in my 20s so for those that say people are "just getting older", they can keep that weak excuse.

.

.

.

[Edited 3/5/12 6:54am]

Geez Andy...this is a fantastic summary of what happened, esp to RnB. Diversity within genres started to die and it started to get a real sameness happening. If someone sounded "different"radio play was getting very unlikely.

Not everything was bad in the 90s tho, but the old standbys in terms of radio were just totally blurred. Remember when Garth Brooks became inescapable? He along w/ Billy Ray Cyrus brought country into the mainstream pop realm. That was like

[Edited 3/5/12 8:17am]

90's had some great music!!!

Some of my favorite albums(not in order);

Prince- Gold Experience & Come

David Bowie- Outside & Earthling

Madonna- Ray of Light, Erotica & Bedtime Stories

U2- Achtung Baby

Lenny Kravitz- 5

Depeche Mode- Violator

Aerosmith- Get a Grip

Bjork- Debut & Post

No Doubt- Tragic Kingdom & No Doubt

Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood Sugar Sex Magik & Californication

Beastie Boys- Check Your Head

Janet Jackson- Rhythm Nation 1814

Michael Jackson- Dangerous

Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving

Radiohead- OK Computer

Metallica- Metallica

Nirvana- Nevermind

xLiberiangirl said:

90's had some great music!!!

Some of my favorite albums(not in order);

Prince- Gold Experience & Come

David Bowie- Outside & Earthling

Madonna- Ray of Light, Erotica & Bedtime Stories

U2- Achtung Baby

Lenny Kravitz- 5

Depeche Mode- Violator

Aerosmith- Get a Grip

Bjork- Debut & Post

No Doubt- Tragic Kingdom & No Doubt

Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood Sugar Sex Magik & Californication

Beastie Boys- Check Your Head

Janet Jackson- Rhythm Nation 1814

Michael Jackson- Dangerous

Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving

Radiohead- OK Computer

Metallica- Metallica

Nirvana- Nevermind

I like most of your picks, but why not Bjork's "Homogenic" Most people consider that her best album.

CrabalockerFishwife said:

brooksie said:

Oy vey. I've said it before and I'll say it again....not everybody has the time, money, and/or inclination to go on some sort of Yetti like expedition for some hidden musicial gems. They didn't in the 70s and they don't now.

Since we're talking about the 90s...where were people supposed to ind all this fabled great music THEN? The internetz were HUGE in '91! As for tastes, come on now....

Yes, I shouldn't have mentioned peoples tastes.. I knew that would start fights. But, there is tons of music out there that isn't popular, and there's tons of music you and I have yet to hear, so I don't think it's right to act like all (or most) music of the past 20 years has been bad, when there's so much out there we haven't heard yet.

If you don't have the time, money or inclination to search for better music.. that's fine.

[Edited 3/5/12 8:02am]

Thanks for taking it as I meant it. The music industry has changed so much it's crazy when you look at it. Andy's post really sums up how it felt to many back then.