Happy Easter, to those of you who celebrate Easter, and Happy Sunday, to those of you who do not. Good evening (to those of you who celebrate the evening) and welcome to the second post in THFNS! I know that this post was supposed to be published in the middle of last week, but when I took a step back and actually reviewed the 90's, as a decade of music and film, in my mind, I realized it was far to vast to finish in an hour or so after school. Alas, now it is Sunday eve' though, and I am fully prepared to take on this enormous task. Enjoy it.
The 90's:
What do I think of when my restless mind flashes over the 90's!? Despite being born right in the middle of the decade, being too late to actually enjoy the luxuries of the 90's, the decade that I'm currently absorbed in is teeming with 90's nostalgia. So, let's take a peak at what exactly made the 90s become so nostalgic so quickly.
As well as being a fantastic (which really just depends on how you look at it) decade for music, the 90's also marked the beginning/ending of a whole slew of ... shit. Confused? Yeah, well, I made a little list.
An Unreasonably Lengthy List Of Things That "Went Down" In The 90s:
- The wonderful poison that is the Internet became widespread, and the unholy blessing that is personal computers became common (I'm willing to bet that the pornography business skyrocketed).
- The U.S, Canada, Europe and Asia became filthy fucking rich. Look to the previous post for one of the many reasons why.
- The Soviet Union FINALLY fell.
- Berlin Wall fell in Germany, leading to a reuniting of the country.
- The enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on January 1, 1994, creating a North American free trade zone consisting of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
- The Rwandan Genocide which began on April 6, 1994 until mid-July 1994 results in serious criticism of the United Nations and major countries for failing to stop the genocide.
- Human Genome Project began.
- Discovery of dark matter, dark energy, brown dwarfs, and first confirmation of black holes.
- Apple introduces the iMac computer, initiating a trend in computer design towards translucent plastics and multicolor case design, discontinuing many legacy technologies like serial ports, and beginning a resurgence in the company's fortunes that continues unabated to this day.
- The console wars, primarily between Sega (Sega Mega Drive (marketed as the Sega Genesis in North America, introduced in 1988) and Nintendo (Super NES, introduced in 1990), sees the entrance of Sony with the PlayStation in 1994, which becomes the first successful CD-based console (as opposed to cartridges). By the end of the decade, Sega's hold on the market becomes tenuous after the end of the Saturn in 1998 and the Dreamcast in 2001.
- Pokémon entered the world scene with the release of the original Game Boy Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green games in Japan in 1996, later changed to Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue for worldwide release in 1998. It soon becomes popular in the U.S. and is adapted into a popular children's anime series and trading card game, among other media forms. Its popularity remains well into the 2000s with several new games and spin-offs.
- In 1990, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of diseases. Increasing acceptance of homosexuality occurs in the western world throughout the 1990s.
- Development of the free Linux kernel is started by Linus Torvalds in Finland.
- The U.S. animated television comedy series The Simpsons becomes a huge domestic and international success in the 1990s as well as the longest-running American animated series.
- US president Bill Clinton was caught in a media-frenzied sex scandal over his intern Monica Lewinsky, first announced on January 21, 1998. After the U.S. House of Representatives impeached Clinton on December 19, 1998 for perjury under oath, following an investigation by federal prosecutor Kenneth Starr, the Senate acquitted Clinton of the charges on February 12, 1999 and he finished his second term.
- The Columbine High School massacre occurred on April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado when two student gunmen killed 12 students, a teacher and then committed suicide, making it the deadliest high school shooting in United States history.
- Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, Tupac Shakur, and Notorious B.I.G. are the most publicized music-related deaths of the decade, in 1991, 1994, 1996, and 1997 respectively.
- Seinfeld becomes highly popular.
When one thinks of the music of the 90s, one genre may come to mind quicker than others. That genre, of course, is grunge. Have you just slipped out of your mothers womb, or do you have another valid reason for not knowing what grunge is? We're here to help.
Grunge, which stemmed from "alternative" rock, emerged in the mid-80s around the D.C area, especially in Seattle. The basic themes and influence of grunge were the DIY ethics of the punk scene, metal scene and indie scene. The grunge scene formed itself around the independent Seattle label Sub Pop (for Subterranean Pop), but later became commercially successful with the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. In case you're wondering, the word grunge means "dirty" or "filthy". This term stemmed from the sound of the music, and from the unkempt hair, flannel shirts, and generally unwashed appearance of the scenesters. Grunge's most prominent bands were Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam.
Another genre of music that rose to popularity in this decade was Gangsta Rap and Hip hop. One of the main differences between Hip hop and Grunge is the fact that Hip hop has managed to stay relevant and incredibly popular today. At the beginning of the 90s, MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice make hip hop popular to the pop audience, and mark the beginning of hip hop's so far permanent place in pop music. Cliques start to form within the Hip hop industry, with feuds starting, and ending, between artists such as Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur.
The last prominent genre of music that rose to popularity in the 90s was Indie Rock and it's many subgenres. One of the most prominent subgenre of indie (which stands for independent) music was the lo-fi genre. This included artists such as Elliott Smith, Guided By Voices, Pavement, and Neutral Milk Hotel, who recorded low fidelity music.
What was that? Do you vaguely recall a genre of music from the 90's that I haven't mentioned?
Well, it's called Boy Bands/Girl Bands, and I think it's closer to bat shit than music.
An Official Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice Mixtape: The 90s, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Love The Internet
01 American Music - Violent Femmes
02 Lucifer Rising - The Flaming Lips
03 Gold Star for Robot Boy - Guided By Voices
04 Tundra/Desert - Modest Mouse
05 Box Elder - Pavement
06 Life Goes On - 2Pac
07 Without a Face - Rage Against The Machine
08 Between The Bars - Elliott Smith
09 Common People - Pulp
10 N.Y State of Mind - NAS
11 El Scorcho - Weezer
12 The Long Cut - Uncle Tupelo
13 Holland, 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel
14 Bleach - Nirvana (Reissued in 1992)
Enjoy!
