Music of the 1990s vs. the 2000s: which do you prefer? (90s, 00s, Nineties, Noughties, Oughts)

90s

1900s

00s

There is some 90s music that I carry some nostalgia for, but it came mostly in the early part and the latter part is a complete fucking wasteland. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I don't remember much of it fondly.

00s for sure

90s hiphop >>> 00s hiphop

00s everything else >>> 90s everything else

00s

00s, easily.

Only one of these decades has Andrew W.K. in it, and that is the one I voted for.

The noughties have definitely been better. The only thing worthy from the 90s was Britpop, whereas the 00s had featured a lot of great electropop and also a nice comeback for prog.

00s here too, the 90s look v poor in retrospect

Hoping for pleasant & unexpected revisionism and a high placing for 'Spartacus' in louis's poll.

00s

oos for me too. I should have fond memories of 90s music, considering it covered fifth grade through my sophmore year at college, but I really don't have many, except for some rap records. When I think of the 90s, rightly or wrongly, I think of grunge. I never liked grunge.

I also think of boy bands and Limp Biscuit, unfortunately.

I should have fond memories of 90s music, considering it covered fifth grade through my sophmore year at college, but I really don't have many, except for some rap records.

I see rap as typical 90s music. Surely, it started in the 80s, and it is still around to some extent. But the 90s were the decade when rap seemed to "take over" the world for a while, crossing over into genres like dance/techno and even some of the then pop.

I don't like rap, so I see that as a negative thing about the 90s.

there was some rap in the 00s too iirc

Rap and shoegaze/dreampop are two of the only things I still regularly listen to from the '90s. I was pretty deep into britpop and guitar-heavy indie rock at the time, but there's not much of it I ever listen to anymore. Same with grunge. Same with "electronica." I may get nostalgic for some of that stuff a few years from now, but it currently stirs no happy memories.

Voted for the one Geir didn't. Instinct, I guess.

90s hiphop >>> 00s hiphop

00s everything else >>> 90s everything else

00s

Right on.

Tempted to say that the shifting genre-blog known as "indie rock" peaked in the '90s, what with Pavement, GBV et al. doing all their worthwhile stuff in that decade. But I don't tags '00s stuff "indie rock" as quickly as some lazy critics do (e.g., Animal Collective is NOT indie rock, they are psych-folk with recurring pop elements, damn you).

Regardless... '00s for me.

Meant to say: genre-blob *

this is a difficult question, voted 90's because that's kinda my specialist subject but both were pretty good

90s hiphop >>> 00s hiphop

To which I'd humbly add 90s dance >>> 00s dance

a lot of my favorite records are right at the intersection of the two

One of my strongest associations with "2000s music" is music that wasn't made in that decade, but was rediscovered/rereleased then. I'm thinking of Arthur Russell, disco, all the excavations by Numero Group/Strut/Soul Jazz/lots of blogs that dominated my personal musical landscape of the past 10 years and informed lots of the "new" developments (e.g. DFA, freak-folk, hypnagogic fun).

Disordered thoughts on the 90s:

Probably my favorite genres of all time are grunge and shoegaze, owing no doubt to the fact that I was in middle school at the time I was introduced to them. My most listened-to playlist is just basically a mix of 4AD and Subpop artists, with a few other things tossed in for good measure.

Also, of that era: Smashing Pumpkins and Jane's Addiction are monumentally great. There are a few indie bands from the late 90s that I like too: Built to Spill, Les Savy Fav.

I also experience nostalgic joy at new jack swing, although a lot of the best stuff was from the late 80s. I don't really know much else about R&B from the decade. I mean, you've got Maxwell, D'angelo... Lauren Hill was big, but I didn't care for her.

I didn't listen to any girly pop back then (Cheryl Crow or Alanis?) the way I listen to like, Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne these days. It's kinda different, I know. Have no idea if any of that stuff was any good.

However, I like whatever's on just your general pop radio a lot more these days. There were so many many groups in the late 90s whose music repulsed me the way something like Owl City does now, is the best way I can explain it. Hard to beat Mambo #5 though. That song's a motherfucker.

Cheryl Crow

Who?

I voted for the 00s, by the way. Just felt compelled to blather on about the 90s, is all.

xp:

Sheryl

One of my strongest associations with "2000s music" is music that wasn't made in that decade, but was rediscovered/rereleased then. I'm thinking of . . . all the excavations by Numero Group/Strut/Soul Jazz/lots of blogs that dominated my personal musical landscape of the past 10 years and informed lots of the "new" developments (e.g. DFA, freak-folk, hypnagogic fun).

otm. the only band from the grunge era who i loved is nirvana, and i still love them, maybe more than any act from this decade. but overall, for me, it's no contest.

(second sentence was an xp to someone else)

The 90s for me, but I think a lot of that has to do with being in my high school and college years at the time. I was at an age where I was more impressionable and soaking up more stuff than I am now.

im not exactly an expert on 00s music, but a lot of the highly acclaimed stuff -- eg the top end of the p4k albums poll -- leaves me unimpressed. especially in the latter half. especially in the indieverse. grime and dubstep not really my bag. think of the 00s as the decade america "got" daft punk.

The 90s for me, but I think a lot of that has to do with being in my high school and college years at the time. I was at an age where I was more impressionable and soaking up more stuff than I am now.

See? I too was in high school and college through the '90s (ages 15-25), but I guess I was more impressionable in the late '80s. I hold a lot of that stuff up like its LAW, but think of the music I listened to in the '90s as mostly frivolous and incapable of standing the test of time. I was far more aggressive about searching new music out to like in the '00s (even though I was a digger in the '90s too, I didn't have the benefit of the internet).

The 90s for me, but I think a lot of that has to do with being in my high school and college years at the time. I was at an age where I was more impressionable and soaking up more stuff than I am now.

this is why the 80s still has a magic appeal for me. when i actually hear those songs now, i still appreciate and adore them, but i feel like what i've heard in the 00s is better. maybe i'm more open now to a variety of styles and source materials. it is still special to find an 80s disc i didn't own before and get introduced to new songs that remind me of that era (tho the retro-80s fetishism of some 00s music does this for me, too). but those unearthed 80s finds haven't changed my view yet.

another vote for the 00's. i was 9 years old at the end of the 90's so there's not much i was there nostalgia besides spice girls or aqua for me. although i obviously love 90's rap i think rap in the 00's was also amazing, so that's not even a big sticking point for me.

ilx is getting mad young these days

pretty equal

Indie 90s > 00s
Everything else 00s < 90s

80s > both 00s and 90s tho

ilx is getting mad young these days

― its sad he was a blogger (acoleuthic)

Wait, what? This coming from you?

If you want to make yourself fell OLD, fast, for no reason, start thinking of those 3-4 years younger than you as "mad young."

80s > both 00s and 90s tho

― one boob is free with one (daavid), Wednesday, March 10, 2010 11:20 AM (59 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

To my ears, the 80s had the best pop music, but I'll take the 00s for indie-released rock/electronic/etc music. I can't speak for 80s indie-releases. I'm still ignorant other than some touchstone records.

I really can't decide. I think the 90s were the beginning/emergence of more of the things that interest me. But the 00s probably saw the release of more music I actually love, even if much of that music involves revivals/hybridization of familiar ideas and material.

I turned 14 in 1990, spent the rest of the decade devouring music. Stopped pretty much dead on the turn of the 00s, and just really dabble in new stuff now (always embarrassed by the end-of-year lists).

Although I know the 90s infinitely better, I much prefer the 00s. I don't think it's down to only getting the cream these days, it's more down to feeling the 90s were really weak, unadventurous and complacent, except maybe in their very early years. Maybe it'll look different if the Oasis revival ever comes around, but I doubt it.

I can only really pick the 00s, because it was the first music decade I properly experienced. It is 'my' decade and I have a stake in it.

My 90s was drinking Ribena and watching Star Wars again and again, not getting stoked on jungle/breakbeat hardcore pirate radio broadcasts. Or turning my nose up at Britpop (while secretly liking some of it). Or listening to Warp/Mille Plateaux type things and dreaming of a gorgeous digital future.

Maybe it's just because we're not far enough removed from the 00s yet, but I find very little embarrassing about music and fashion from that decade. It's like (for the most part) the 00s took everything before it, blended it up, and used the results sensibly. Music has progressed, but a lot of stuff coming out this month, for example, sounds not too different from what might have come out ten years ago. Same with clothes. Same with design/architecture. It's not that the 00s were stagnant, instead it's like we finally leveled off and achieved some sense of balance.

the 00s took everything before it, blended it up, and used the results sensibly. Music has progressed, but a lot of stuff coming out this month, for example, sounds not too different from what might have come out ten years ago. Same with clothes. Same with design/architecture. It's not that the 00s were stagnant, instead it's like we finally leveled off and achieved some sense of balance.

also christ, is that what you want? levelling off and achieving balance?

Johnny Fever otm. It will be interesting though, to see what wins this poll.

Is it fair to say ILM is largely made up of people who had their most intense periods of listenership in the 90s and then the 00s?

Like lots of other posters I *cared* a lot more about individual releases in the 90s because I was in school, developing my tastes from scratch. Everything was new! I would listen to the newest (or latest-purchased) Pavement/dEUS/Godspeed albums for weeks on repeat, which I'd never do now. But that's more about me than about the music.

For me only genre in which one decade is clearly better than the other is in commercial pop, where the 00s owns from beginning to end. The rest is a wash (Hyperdub vs Warp, Merriweather Post Pavilion vs Loveless, Sonic Youth vs Sonic Youth...)

voted 90s but what I'd really like to see is four choices:

90s and I am over 30
90s and I am 30 or under
00s and I am over 30
00s and I am 30 or under

Normally, when you get to a certain age, one should expect that you reckon music only gets worse and worse.

But actually, I think that the 00s were better than the 90s. This goes for both mainstream pop music and music overall (the latter being of more interest for me than the former by now).

00s and I am over 30

Same - 00s and I'm over 30

90s hiphop >>> 00s hiphop

00s everything else >>> 90s everything else

this is pretty true which makes it hard for me because 90s hip hop was SO GREAT I can't decide if it outweighs everything else

Guayaquil, I like the demographic version you suggest, because one reason I was even interested in this poll question is that I liked the 00s (musically)quite a bit more than the 90s, despite being well over 30.

I'm well over 30 and I can say without question that the music was better then, at least as far as bands with guitars go.

30 or under & I prefer the 90s

The early 90's were incredibly promising: shoegaze, indie-dance, trip-hop, electronica, even grunge sounded promising for like 5 minutes. But then somehow EVERYTHING went wrong.

43 albums from the 90s in my top 500, and 24 from the 00s. Not the only way to measure, but big enough difference that it's an easy decision.

over 30 and the 90's, but it's not cause i wasn't engaged in the 00's. dance music then was new, fresh, changing a mile a minute, and raving was SO much funner than clubbing. rap in both decades was, to me, about equally strong, and neither nineties nor naughties were watershed years for guitar/rock stuff but i thought the 90's were a hair stronger in that scene as well.

i think so far the internet actually kinda had a bad effect on musical innovation - yeah, sure anyone can make a decent sounding recording on a home computer nowadays, but there's little to no financial reward for it. in the 90's those bedroom producers could sink $300 into pressing up a 12" themselves, if it sold they could easily and quickly make thousands of dollars. these days you make your magnum opus on your laptop, upload it to myspace, and it's like a fart in a windstorm, with nary a hope of seeing a dime off it...

i'm hoping the 10's will finally see a new genre of music emerging, something as new and different as rap was in 84 or techno in 87... i suppose it's quite possible the next generation, having grown up with the concept of music being free and easy, won't really give a damn if they make money off their home recordings, and will be happy to just get props/laid off of the sheer status of getting 1,000,000 youtube hits or something.

xp Okay, I'll bite. How did everything go wrong? Are you going by bad popular music? Because compare the Billboard charts and I don't think it was much different or better in the 00s. Mid to late 90s I was listening to Tricky, DJ Shadow, Disco Inferno, Tortoise, Björk, Portishead, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Laika, Chico Science & Nação Zumbi, Spiritualized, Arto Lindsay, Neutral Milk Hotel, Stereolab, Dirty Three, Dr. Octagon, Asian Dub Foundation, Labradford, Tom Zé, Magnetic Fields, Cornelius, Oval, Massive Attack, Amon Tobin, `O'rang, God, Fugazi, Gallon Drunk...and I still like 99% of it.

90s indie rock just seemed so much more devoid of all the forced hipness musically and beyond.

The early 90's were incredibly promising: shoegaze, indie-dance, trip-hop, electronica, even grunge sounded promising for like 5 minutes. But then somehow EVERYTHING went wrong.

The early 90s were what I disliked most about the entire decade. It then got better in the middle, and worse again towards the end.

90s indie rock just seemed so much more devoid of all the forced hipness musically and beyond.

Sure, I guess if there is something that Britpop didn't have "forced hipness" was surely among it. :)
I mean, Britpop bands were shamelessly wanting to be pop artists, and even did the kind of compromises in songwriting and production that actually made them hit #1. For me, being a classic pop fan, it made them better.
But the rest of the 90s were nothing much saving. Even grunge got quickly worn out.

The early 90s were what I disliked most about the entire decade.

I probably shouldn't even ask, but what in particular about the early years of the decade (which are my favorite years) do you like so much less than the other sub-eras?

00s and I am over 30 40

Geir, I have a feeling - and i could be wrong here - that Evan wasn't including britpop in his definition of 90s indie rock. to me at least, britpop is more equivalent to the spin doctors or the counting crows or matchbox 20 - bland radio rock.

I like this old thread, which (necessarily?) drifts into general discussion of music in the 90s: 1994

Overall, the hip factor was pretty unbearable these last ten years, with the Wolf craze, and the emphasis on image, and the forced musical quirks... The 90s really lacked a lot of that kind of stuff, but I would never say completely.

the Wolf craze

It's actually pretty easy to ignore all those bands. I've never even listened to 75% of them.

the emphasis on image, and the forced musical quirks

Hello, 1980s.

side poll: how much of the music that you value actually sounds representative of the decade in which it was recorded? I can't think of a one.

tons

oh i take it back; weird al is pretty definitively 80s.

early Aphex is pretty lo-fi really. but there's been a critics' meme that says there is no music you could take from nowadays and go back in time to 1994 to convince people you're from the future. of course this was said some time ago. i think perhaps some dubstep stuff might convince 1994 people though.

― dog latin, Thursday, March 11, 2010 10:47 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I remember back when Missy Elliot's Get Ur Freak On came out, I knew I was listening to some shit I had never heard before. There've definitely been tons of other hits that you could take back to 1994 and blow people's minds with, I'm sure. What would someone from 1994 think of Hey Ya? Of Single Ladies?

I like Hey Ya, but if I were an alien Star Trek computer, "What decade was it from?" would be the kind of question Kirk would ask me to make my compubrains blow up.

That's a fair response.

How 'bout Imma Be? : )

Overall, the hip factor was pretty unbearable these last ten years, with the Wolf craze, and the emphasis on image, and the forced musical quirks... The 90s really lacked a lot of that kind of stuff, but I would never say completely.

― Evan, Friday, March 12, 2010 2:59 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

OTM x 1000

the emphasis on image, and the forced musical quirks

Hello, 1980s.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, March 12, 2010 12:45 PM (Yesterday)

That is why I started this thread.

I probably shouldn't even ask, but what in particular about the early years of the decade (which are my favorite years) do you like so much less than the other sub-eras?

The complete domination of the mainstream by musical genres that didn't have proper melodies, i.e. hip-hop and dance. Also those awful harsh and metallic digital synth sounds that had dominated since the late 80s and didn't last much longer until they got forever unfashionable.

90s laid down the rules, 00s picked up the pieces

The best music from the 00s has usually been picking up musical rules laid down in the 80s or earlier.

history mayne sounding a little bit dj martian ITT, i'm surprised!

musical rules?

What would someone from 1994 think of Hey Ya? Of Single Ladies?

― kingkongvsgodzilla, Friday, March 12, 2010 7:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

hey ya in particular is nothing special, sonic innovation-wise.

i've never dug 'get ur freak on' because it's boring, but timbaland did represent s.thing new, but in the late 90s, not in the 00s.

yeah, like notes and... drums and stuff

were you put the quiet bit and that

xpost

musical rules?

oh boy here we go

hey ya in particular is nothing special, sonic innovation-wise.

Oh, I wasn't thinking in terms of sonic innovation. I was thinking in terms of composition.

Hey Ya would shock and appal most ppl digging on Southernplayalistcadillacmusic

I don't care about hiphop, rnb and dance music (for the most part)
anyways

Indie 90s > 00s
Everything else 00s < 90s
― one boob is free with one (daavid), Wednesday, March 10, 2010 7:19 PM (3 days ago)

90s indie rock just seemed so much more devoid of all the forced hipness musically and beyond.
― Evan, Friday, March 12, 2010 5:02 AM (Yesterday)

*crab crab crab*

xxpost I just realized I used the wrong ">" . I meant:

Everything else 00s > 90s

I can't quote you now

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Victory!

This poll and thread are anti-victory and pro-tedium.

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