TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

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ghostrunner
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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by ghostrunner »

Musically the 90s is a real mixed bag.

Post grunge there's a ton of bands that just had one or two hits that were really good and some of those went away but others actually kept on making good music that didn't take off. Lots of stuff at that Gin Blossoms level - catchy but ultimately not very interesting. Every once in a while I'll hear Breakfast at Tiffany's and I'm amazed that was a hit. It's ok, a little catchy, but I can't imagine seeking it out.

I was out of college by the time Limp Bizkit was picking up and I hated all that stuff at the time. Korn, Kid Rock, Staind, etc.... Big era for misspelled words in band names. Anyway, it felt to me like 80s hair metal all over again. Less conforming musically, but in terms of look and attitude it was all the same. And the music just did nothing for me.

I don't even view grunge that positively anymore. It was a welcome change at the time but not sure most of it holds up. Pearl Jam does zero for me when I hear it now. Nirvana and Soundgarden are still great.

Lots of good R&B I didn't appreciate at the time as much as I should have. All that Dr Dre/Snoop era hip-hop still holds up.

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BottenFieldofDreams
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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by BottenFieldofDreams »

ghostrunner wrote:
September 14 22, 12:53 pm
Musically the 90s is a real mixed bag.

Post grunge there's a ton of bands that just had one or two hits that were really good and some of those went away but others actually kept on making good music that didn't take off. Lots of stuff at that Gin Blossoms level - catchy but ultimately not very interesting. Every once in a while I'll hear Breakfast at Tiffany's and I'm amazed that was a hit. It's ok, a little catchy, but I can't imagine seeking it out.

I was out of college by the time Limp Bizkit was picking up and I hated all that stuff at the time. Korn, Kid Rock, Staind, etc.... Big era for misspelled words in band names. Anyway, it felt to me like 80s hair metal all over again. Less conforming musically, but in terms of look and attitude it was all the same. And the music just did nothing for me.

I don't even view grunge that positively anymore. It was a welcome change at the time but not sure most of it holds up. Pearl Jam does zero for me when I hear it now. Nirvana and Soundgarden are still great.

Lots of good R&B I didn't appreciate at the time as much as I should have. All that Dr Dre/Snoop era hip-hop still holds up.
There's a weird revisitation of the Gin Blossoms happening right now. People want them to get more respect. Rob Harvilla is one guy working on it. I heard the same sentiment in at least two other places but would have to dig it up to name.

So I've re-listened. It's just not very good. Especially beyond the radio songs.


I'm more sympathetic to the same thing also happening with Hootie and the Blowfish. They made some great power pop. At least one great album's worth. The cover of Cracked Rearview cracks me up though. "We're grunge! Swear to God we are!" That misdirected was totally unnecessary ultimately.

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Smith Corks One
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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by Smith Corks One »

go birds wrote:
September 14 22, 10:23 am
Popeye_Card wrote:
September 13 22, 8:02 am
I think this goes in the TV thread. I've started watching the Trainwreck documentary on Netflix, about the Woodstock '99 festival. It has made me realize a few things.

1.) Every once in a while I like to think that the 90's are a top 3, maybe top 2 music decade, mostly on the strength of hip hop but also on alternative offerings from the early 90's. Then I remember that a 1999 concert features Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, and others as supposed headliners, and realize the alternatives at the time were boy bands and jiggy-era hip hop. I need to rethink my musical decade rankings. ~1996-2006 may be the worst 10 year run of popular music in history.

2.) Maybe the reason the world is going to hell is not in fact the boomers, and not the millennials or gen z. This was a late Gen X festival, and the behavior of everyone involved was just horrific. This is the generation of frat boys that are now high level managers at most corporations. Thankfully Gen X has somehow ducked out of politics at the federal level, though maybe they are more entrained at state levels where they are eff'ing everything up.

3.) I said recently on this board that I miss college. After seeing this festival again that is a microcosm of college life in those days, I immediately retract that statement.
oh please---everyone in high school at the time had limp bizkit and kid rock jammed in their cd player.

those guys don't define the 90s though
Guess it's a good thing I was several years out of high school at that point, because man did they suck huge ass donkey balls from day 1.

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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by heyzeus »

The Gin Blossoms have two things going for them:

1. A few absolutely undeniable singles from that Big Star-influenced power pop tree that also gave us, like, Matthew Sweet and the Lemonheads. Sunshiney, jangling guitars and lyrics mixed with a tinge of sadness. Which, on that note:
2. The Tragic Story. Their principal songwriter drank himself out of the band. He allegedly sold his songwriting credits for $10,000 in the throes of alcoholism, then watched as the album he wrote became a massive hit. Then he committed suicide.

Anyway, take a fairly sunny sounding pop band and give it a tragic backstory and people will create a bit of a mystique/aura around it. The music at the time was pretty unremarkable, but they had better pop instincts and thus more staying power than peers like, I dunno, Better Than Ezra or Marcy Playground.

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Jocephus
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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by Jocephus »

don't forget matthew sweet in Ming Tea

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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by heyzeus »

Jocephus wrote:
September 15 22, 10:51 am
don't forget matthew sweet in Ming Tea
I stan Matthew Sweet. Did you know that this is the best pop song ever written? Because it is.

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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by BottenFieldofDreams »

heyzeus wrote:
September 15 22, 10:46 am
The Gin Blossoms have two things going for them:

1. A few absolutely undeniable singles from that Big Star-influenced power pop tree that also gave us, like, Matthew Sweet and the Lemonheads. Sunshiney, jangling guitars and lyrics mixed with a tinge of sadness. Which, on that note:
2. The Tragic Story. Their principal songwriter drank himself out of the band. He allegedly sold his songwriting credits for $10,000 in the throes of alcoholism, then watched as the album he wrote became a massive hit. Then he committed suicide.

Anyway, take a fairly sunny sounding pop band and give it a tragic backstory and people will create a bit of a mystique/aura around it. The music at the time was pretty unremarkable, but they had better pop instincts and thus more staying power than peers like, I dunno, Better Than Ezra or Marcy Playground.
Ooh! Give me Good and Desperately Wanting against any two Gin Blossoms songs. I don't own a Better Than Ezra shirt or anything, but they had some jams. ...yeah, that's right*.

I don't know how Sex and Candy ever got on the radio. I have always hated it.

*I hope someone appreciates this.

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Jocephus
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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by Jocephus »

i dont think i ever listened to a single song by better than ezra but i will always remember this joke

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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by mikechamp »

I've got 2 songs for you all to compare, but I'm posting that in the music thread because otherwise, we're getting close to a...

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ghostrunner
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Re: TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

Post by ghostrunner »

Man I wrote a whole response to that 90's thing and didn't mention Trip Hop. That's easily my favorite genre from that decade and what I would have been listening to when Kid Rock and all that stuff was big. I heard Hooverphonic and Portishead on the Stealing Beauty soundtrack and that got me hooked for the next several years. I might have listened to Mezzanine by Massive Attack more than any other album. Still listen to all that stuff semi-regularly, so maybe that's why I didn't think of it as specifically 90s.

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