Nerd True Confessions

[Tuck]

I have nothing in my iTunes library beyond 1990. In my opinion, popular music died a messy death when the 80's ended and grunge took over as the sound of choice.

Not even from pre-90s musical acts that were still producing new material?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Not even from pre-90s musical acts that were still producing new material?

There wasn't much that interested me.

[Zero Hunter]

I have nothing in my iTunes library beyond 1990. In my opinion, popular music died a messy death when the 80's ended and grunge took over as the sound of choice.

I loved grunge. I was the perfect age when it hit right at that 21-22 age so all that angst and anger was appealing. Plus after that we had the coming of the 3rd wave Ska bands for a few years in the mid to late
90's which I loved. After 2000 though when the overproduced pop took over I kind of agree with you.

[From The Shadows]

There's a lot of great 90s music IMHO and alternative wasn't just grunge and 90s wasn't just alternative, though, I enjoyed that as well. If you are talking pop itself quality started to dip that decade and beyond where now its completely unlistenable so top 40 forget it, but I think if you dig a little you may find something more you like. I quite enjoy some current alternapop/indypop bands. Other genres were fine and survived like R&B and Rap and they actually flourished in the 90s. Its pops fault itself. Its like hearing about the supposed death of metal - no "hair metal" died while bands like Metallica, Anthrax, Pantera were doing fine. Then you had bands like Aerosmith which were definitely not that type of metal but they weren't the hair metal either even though you could tell they were trying to appeal to that genres fans in the 80s. People were sick of the hair stuff before the "grunge movement" even started IMHO. Rock just became grunge, plenty straight up rock enthusiasts supported grunge in radio.

[GOLGO 13]

… Its like hearing about the supposed death of metal - no "hair metal" died while bands like Metallica, Anthrax, Pantera were doing fine...

People were sick of the hair stuff before the "grunge movement" even started IMHO. Rock just became grunge, plenty straight up rock enthusiasts supported grunge in radio.

I found the death of hair metal quite delicious. What rose to destroy (Nirvana/STP/Soundgarden etc) it was infinitely better & is still influencing "hard music" today. Loving all this interesting atmospheric black metal, melodic death metal, Stoner Rock/metal.

Don't tell me there no good "new music" out there. It's out there, but you gotta find it on your own. Corporate radio is still garbage.

[4saken1]

I loved grunge. I was the perfect age when it hit right at that 21-22 age so all that angst and anger was appealing. Plus after that we had the coming of the 3rd wave Ska bands for a few years in the mid to late
90's which I loved. After 2000 though when the overproduced pop took over I kind of agree with you.

Most of the songs that I liked from the 70s-90s were ones that I heard on the radio. Since 2000, about half of the songs that I have liked have been by artists that have come up on my Pandora lists, that I've heard on TV shows or in movies, or have been recommended by friends. A lot of it doesn't ever get played on the radio.

[Jack Dracula]

I found the death of hair metal quite delicious.

Yes, Hair Metal was an abomination.

[batnbreakfast]

Is Bon Jovi Hair Metal? I love 80s/90s Bon Jovi, Gun'sN Roses, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age...

What I wanted to say is I am a nerd when it comes to True Crime, serial killers and True Detective. I love the dark stuff and balance it out

[Jack Dracula]

Is Bon Jovi Hair Metal? I love 80s/90s Bon Jovi, Gun'sN Roses, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age...

What I wanted to say is I am a nerd when it comes to True Crime, serial killers and True Detective. I love the dark stuff and balance it out

I recommend a book called Bloodletters and Bad Men by Jay Nash.
I think it's your cup of tea.

[C_Miller]

Music is 100% perhaps more than any other type of media, a generational thing. I think most people, especially music fans just get to a certain age where they can no longer stomach music changes. People can go backwards, like for example, I do enjoy Sinatra, The Beatles, Springsteen, etc. which all were around before I was born, so I grew up in a world where that was music.

Through my teenage and college years, I discovered a lot of bands that were making music at the time that I loved and love to this day (Frank Turner, The Hold Steady, Drive By Truckers, Lucero, The Weakerthans would make a top 5). However, it's been almost five years since I have found a new band that I've really enjoyed and I think I'm starting to get to the age where my favorite music is locked in. I try not to complain about modern music, because I do believe it's a taste thing.

[SJNeal]

My comic collection is poorly maintained.
Only approximately 80% are bagged and boarded and the boxes are falling apart. Many are just in loose stacks.

Same...

While I have about 30+ long boxes that are nice and organized (bags & boards, alphabetized), I also have another 30 paper ream boxes that are completely haphazard. Some of the contents is bagged, most of it isn't. Predominantly more recent stuff (2010-now). I guess at some point it got overwhelming and I gave up when I ran out of space.

I feel like such a bad nerd...

[Joker]

I think music is really a personal thing, and some people have no problem with new styles and sounds, while some people are the meme that it peaked when they were in High School.

I know that my favorite music is from formative years, because, well... it was a formative part of those years! D'uh.

But I still seek out and enjoy new music across a vast range of genres and styles. I'm much more interested in looking forward than going backward.

[WillieMorgan]

Some of the alternative rock from the 1990's was decent enough. Pearl Jam recorded good material, as did Soundgarden and a few others. Here in the UK, The Verve and Radiohead made some pretty good albums.

A huge percentage of the 'angst' and 'anger' themes omnipresent in music from that period was really just play-acting though. A ruse to sell records to messed up teenagers. This was a tactic that the industry increasingly perfected during the decade until it had reached it's lamentable nadir with nu-metal. Miserableness was the order of the day, 'Nevermind' by Nirvana was effectively a blueprint for it, and many musicians just jumped on the 'Grunge' bandwagon. It often makes me chuckle seeing people decry the 80's as formulaic whilst similarly ignoring it just a few scant years later. Those post-Grunge bands were particularly guilty of manufacturing music to an 'angst ridden' formula.

'Strike up your best angst ridden posture, whoa
Manufactured anger.' - Just Let Me Breathe, Dream Theater, 1997.

There's no question that hair metal was a 'dead scene walking' towards the end. The world really wasn't gonna miss the likes of Warrant, Winger and Slaughter. Let's not ignore how cynical the 1990's was too though. The musicians from that period may have had more socially conscious lyrics but many of them were just as much the womanising drug addicts that the hair metal musicians had been.

[Joker]

many of them were just as much the womanising drug addicts that the hair metal musicians had been.

Applies regardless of decade being discussed.

[From The Shadows]

Is Bon Jovi Hair Metal? I love 80s/90s Bon Jovi, Gun'sN Roses, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age...

What I wanted to say is I am a nerd when it comes to True Crime, serial killers and True Detective. I love the dark stuff and balance it out

Bon Jovi is considered hair metal but he's the least "offender," I think.

Some say G&R is hair metal. I've never considered GandR to be hair metal. The lead singer had pin straight hair, still does I think, no make up or pink fog anywhere. The only time I remember Axel having biggish hair was in "Welcome To The Jungle" and it was only in part of the video. He didn't do much, if any, singing about partying. I'm assuming this is from younger people.