Pop Music 1990s Youtube

[Silvana Fleischacker]

Popularmusic in the 1990s saw the continuation of teen pop and dance-pop trends which had emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. Furthermore, hip hop grew and continued to be highly successful in the decade, with the continuation of the genre's golden age. Aside from rap, reggae, contemporary R&B, and urban music in general remained popular throughout the decade; urban music in the late-1980s and 1990s often blended with styles such as soul, funk, and jazz, resulting in fusion genres such as new jack swing, neo-soul, hip hop soul, and g-funk which were popular.

Similarly to the 1980s, rock music was also very popular in the 1990s, yet, unlike the new wave and glam metal-dominated scene of the time, grunge,[1] Britpop, industrial rock, and other alternative rock music emerged and took over as the most popular of the decade, as well as punk rock, ska punk, and nu metal, amongst others, which attained a high level of success at various points throughout the years.

Electronic music, which had risen in popularity in the 1980s, grew highly popular in the 1990s; house and techno from the 1980s rose to international success in this decade, as well as new electronic dance music genres such as rave, happy hardcore, drum and bass, intelligent dance, and trip hop. In Europe, techno, rave, and reggae music were highly successful,[2] while also finding some international success. The decade also featured the rise of contemporary country music as a major genre, which had started in the 1980s.[3]

With the breakthrough of bands such as Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and many alternative bands became commercially successful during the 1990s.

By the start of the 1990s, the music industry was enticed by alternative rock's commercial possibilities and major labels actively courted bands including Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Jane's Addiction, Dinosaur Jr, and Nirvana.[4] In particular, R.E.M.'s success had become a blueprint for many alternative bands in the late 1980s and 1990s to follow; the group had outlasted many of its contemporaries and by the 1990s had become one of the most popular bands in the world.[5] Mazzy Star had a top 40 hit with "Fade into You" (1993) and Smash Mouth recorded hits "Walkin' on the Sun" (1997) and "All Star" (1999).[6]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers became an important band in the rise of alternative rock with their album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Combining funk rock with more conventional rock music, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were able to achieve mainstream success, culminating with the release of their 1999 album Californication.

Some of the top mainstream American alternative rock bands of the 1990s included Hootie and The Blowfish, Collective Soul, Creed, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Dinosaur Jr, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Green Day, Weezer, Live, 311, The Wallflowers, Toad the Wet Sprocket, R.E.M., The Offspring, Matchbox Twenty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soul Asylum, Liz Phair, The Lemonheads, Soundgarden, Counting Crows, Spin Doctors, dc Talk, Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth, The Smashing Pumpkins, 4 Non Blondes, Beck, The Breeders, The Cranberries, Gin Blossoms, Foo Fighters, Sublime, Marcy Playground, No Doubt, Hole, Cake, Blind Melon, Eels, Stone Temple Pilots, Garbage, and Pearl Jam. These bands were variously influenced by ska, punk, pop, metal, and many other musical genres.

During the early 1990s a new style of alternative music emerged, which combined elements of alternative rock with heavy metal. This new genre, dubbed "alternative metal", is considered a precursor to the nu metal movement of the late 1990s. This style was typified by bands such as Tool, Helmet and Jane's Addiction. Other bands including Faith No More, Living Colour, Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine also blended funk and hip hop elements, creating subgenres of this style such as funk metal and rap metal.

A subgenre of alternative rock, grunge bands were popular during the early 1990s. Grunge music, and its associated subculture, was born out of the Pacific Northwest American states of Washington and Oregon in the 1980s. They delivered a more direct, less polished rock sound.[7] Artists such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam brought alternative rock to popularity in 1991. Nirvana's Nevermind reached the Billboard number one, and Pearl Jam's Ten reached number two a year later.[8]

During the mid-1990s, many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. The death of Kurt Cobain in early 1994, as well as the touring problems for Pearl Jam marked the decline of the genre. By the end of 1996, Soundgarden had broken up and Alice in Chains had played their final live shows with lead singer Layne Staley.[9]

At the same time as the original grunge bands went into decline, major record labels began signing and promoting bands that were emulating the genre.[10] The term post-grunge was coined to describe these bands, who emulated the attitudes and music of grunge, particularly thick, distorted guitars, but with a more

In 1995, former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl's new band, the Foo Fighters, helped popularize the genre and define its parameters, becoming one of the most commercially successful rock bands in the US, aided by considerable airplay on MTV.[12] Some of the most successful post-grunge acts of the 90s were Candlebox, Bush, Collective Soul, Creed, Matchbox Twenty, Our Lady Peace, Foo Fighters, Everclear, Live and others. The genre would have another wave of successful acts throughout much of the early part of the next decade which includes bands like Nickelback, Lifehouse, 3 Doors Down, and more. Although, some of those bands were formed during the late 1990s, many would not see a commercial breakthrough until the early years of the following decade.

Following the immense success of alternative rock in the 1990s, the term "indie rock" became associated with the bands and genres that remained underground. Bands like Sonic Youth and Pixies set the stage for the rise of indie rock in the underground scene, with bands such as Pavement, Archers of Loaf, Sleater-Kinney, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Yo La Tengo, The Breeders, Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr., Cat Power, Guided by Voices, Sebadoh, The Jesus Lizard, Liz Phair, and The Flaming Lips gaining popularity throughout the decade. The B-52's made a comeback with their 1994 cover of Meet the Flintstones.

Punk rock in the United States underwent a resurgence in the early to mid-1990s. Punk rock at that time was not commercially viable, and no major record label signed a punk rock band until Green Day's breakthrough in 1994. Both these factors contributed to the emergence of a number of independent record labels, often run by people in bands in order to release their own music and that of their friends. The independent labels Lookout! Records, Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph Records achieved commercial success.

Skate punk broke into the mainstream in the mid-1990s, initially with the Northern California-based skate punk band Green Day and in the late 1990s with the Southern California-based pop punk band Blink-182 as well who all achieved massive worldwide commercial success. Green Day's album Dookie (1994) sold 10 million copies in the United States and another 10 million copies worldwide. Soon after the release of Dookie, The Offspring released the album Smash. The album sold over 14 million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent label. In 1996, Weezer released its sophomore album Pinkerton, which became a major influence for many 2000s emo bands, although failing to reach the commercial success of the band's debut Weezer (Blue Album). [14] Rancid's Let's Go and NOFX's Punk in Drublic were also released during this period and both of them went gold as well. By the end of the year, Dookie and Smash had sold millions of copies.[15] The commercial success of these two albums attracted major label interest in skate/pop punk, with bands such as Bad Religion being offered lucrative contracts to leave their independent record labels. In 1999, Blink-182 made a breakthrough with the release of Enema of the State, which sold over 15 million copies worldwide receiving multi-platinum status in the United States, Canada, Australia, Italy, New Zealand and platinum status in Europe and the United Kingdom. Green Day are seen as the biggest act in punk rock whilst Weezer and Blink-182 are seen to have the most influence on later bands like Fall Out Boy and All Time Low.

Many subgenres of metal developed outside of the commercial mainstream during the 1980s.[16] In the early 1990s the thrash metal genre achieved break-out success, mainly due to the massive success of Metallica's eponymous 5th album which was released in 1991 and brought thrash metal to the mainstream for the first time. Metallica's success was followed by Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction (1992) which hit number 2,[17] Anthrax, Pantera, and Slayer cracked the top 10,[18] and albums by regional bands such as Testament and Sepultura entered the top 100.[19]

In the later half of the decade industrial metal became popular. The top mainstream American industrial metal bands of the 1990s included Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, White Zombie, KMFDM, Ministry, and Fear Factory.

In the 1990s, there was a revival of the singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s. This movement lasted up to about 2004 with artists like Norah Jones, Dido and Sarah McLachlan. Important artists of this movement include Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Liz Phair, Amy Grant, Meredith Brooks, Juliana Hatfield, Edwin McCain, Duncan Sheik, Jewel, Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman, k.d. lang, Tal Bachman, Shawn Mullins, Sheryl Crow and Lisa Loeb. A famous album of the movement was the multi-platinum 1995 album Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette as well as Sheryl Crow's 1993 album Tuesday Night Music Club and her 1996 eponymous album.[20] Canadian artist Tom Cochrane got hit "Life is a Highway",[21] Marc Cohn had "Walking in Memphis", and 4 Non Blondes released hit "What's Up".

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