Do people overrate how different the 90s were from the 80s?

[bluemylk]

I think very decade over laps, so a lot of 80s elements went into the early 90s. Similarly, a lot of 90s elements went into the early 00s.

I always compare how different 1990 was to 1999. 1990 you had more high waisted jeans in fashion and more 80s style you could get away with. 1999 (and the few years before) was like the start, early rumblings of what the 00s would be.

Then again, 2010 had a very 00s feel and I’m sure we’ll be saying 2020 had a 10s feel in 10 years. I would say some genres of music changed greatly from 2000-2010.

Also, I do remember shows in the late 90s discussing the 80s. I always thought that was funny because it took people about 20 years to admit there is a 00s style and feel.

[TXRunner]

I agree that early 90s was definitely different than late 90s. I don't think it had anything to do with the internet though. We had AOL in 1996-1997 and all I remember was playing some card games. Even in the mid-2000s, social media had zero influence on anything.

I remember the 90s being a time of social change. When someone did something wacky, people would say "it's the 90s". Like anything goes. Grunge was a massive influence, along with popular rappers like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. The acceptance of gay people really had a massive push in the 90s. Of course, at that time it was solely focused on acceptance, not the current woke/cancel culture we have nowadays.

Friends, Seinfeld, and SNL/In Living Color were massive influences. The music culture was a wash in the mid-90s, which allowed bands like Aerosmith to make a massive comeback. Can you believe my school's class song for 1998 was by Aerosmith? Big movies were Dances with Wolves, Schindler's List, and Jurassic Park.

There's a lot more I could say about 90s culture vs the 80s, but of course if you see a lot of things from 1990-1993, it does resemble the 80s.

People were just crazy about the following song my entire 7th/8th grade year back in 1992/93. It's largely forgotten at this point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSffz_bl6zo

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by TXRunner

Grunge was a massive influence..The music culture was a wash in the mid-90s, which allowed bands like Aerosmith to make a massive comeback. Can you believe my school's class song for 1998 was by Aerosmith?

Good post.. I'm just gonna echo your point about rock music since the mid 9os. In it's early years, rock was youthful and trendy. Grunge was organic, trendy, & generational.. like I think ideally rock should be.. but it's been a pretty listless vacuum since. It has left fans largely looking backward instead of forward, and explains why pre-90s rock bands are literally playing in to their senior years now. There is nothing new (that's better) to displace them. The vacuum has largely been filled with rap, which is everywhere, including corporate commercials, which would've been inconceivable in it's early years. The up & coming rock star is basically non-existent. Who currently could be mentioned with Cobain, Jim Morrison, Robert Plant etc..(?)

Ps I assume your class song was I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing.. great song, but it's lame that late 90s kids were leaning on their parents' bands to define their own generation. What can ya do..