The 90’s were home to some of the biggest artists of all time! Artists such as Linkin Park, Notorious Big and the Foo Fighters all came from this era in time. This era also saw a huge difference in the general public’s taste in music, with Pop, Rap, Grunge and Hip-hop dominating the charts and general publics listening.
British Pop was one of the most popular genres at the time. It was actually a response to America’s grunge music. This genre combined elements of 60’s and 70’s rock, both of which was incredibly popular so it was inevitable that British Pop would also become popular with these being the bases. Some of the biggest bands from the 90’s were Oasis and the Stone Roses.
I can hear, I think, two electric guitars, a tambourine, vocals and drums. These would have been such a basic set of instruments if the tambourine didn’t add like a secret undertone to the song. It was so catchy, which the structure of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, outro, did kind of help. It’s in the key of E major with 116 BPM in the time signature of 4/4.
This song sounded so similar to “cigarettes and alcohol” with it even including vocals, guitar and drums. Instead of a tambouring for it’s undertone, they had keys, bass and shakers. The structure, like “cigarettes and alcohol”, was super catchy and probably had some inspiration. It went verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, outro. It’s in the key of F major with a 125 BPM.
This song also had a similar set of instruments with drums, guitar, bass, vocals, a talk box or synth and bongos, but their sound was totally different to the previous two songs. This one didn’t really have a strong structure as it seemed to repeat a lot yet it sounded good, in a chilled way. It’s in the key of G major with a time signature of 4/4.
Besides British Pop, Dance was a huge genre! Dance was a massive hit because it hit different to how other music had previously been produced. Like Disco, Dance had a lot of new rhythmic sounds, such as arpeggios, which created new vibes and just all round made people want to get up and dance. This had previously been experimented with but only really hit massively in the 90’s. However, in the 80’s, warehouse raves were very popular. Within the Dance genre, there were many sub-genres such as drum and bass, jungle, hardcore and acid house.
This song was incredibly massive in the 80’s/90’s and it had a really good dance type beat so it often got played in nightclubs a lot. As well as the dance type beat, it has vocals, guitar and synths I believe. It’s in the key of E minor with 84bpm.
Strangely enough, this song doesn’t actually have lyrics so it’s just all music, which fit well for nightclubs with it’s dance type beat. It also includes piano, synths and an acoustic guitar. It’s in the key of E minor and has 137 BPM.
Grunge was another big hit in the 90’s. Nirvana and Pearl Jam was some of the biggest names, and many people still know/listen to them today! Grunge has a unique sound of distortion and unpolished lo-fi sounding records which seemed to sit very well with the general public. It was a huge hit, especially in the USA, but was kind of in competition with British Pop for the UK. Grunge was home to some of the biggest and most talented producers such as Butch Vig and Steve Albini.
This has quite an underwater sound on it’s bass, but that might just be because of how powerful the drums and vocals were. This song has a very unique structure because it goes verse, refrain, chorus, solo, refrain, chorus, refrain. The song has a lot more refrains than any other sector of the song, therefore giving it quite a unique sound. It’s in the key of G major with a 4/4 time signature and 117 BPM.
This song has a lot of solo’s in it, especially the electric guitars riff, therefore, it doesn’t have much of a solid structure. There is audibly and visibly an electric guitar, alongside, a bass, drums and vocals. It’s in the key of E flat, which is different to the rest because all the others are in major keys, and has 151 BPM. I think it’s also in a 6/4 time signature.
Later in the 90’s, Rap hit off, with rappers such as Tupac, Rodney King and Eminem starting to break charts. Rap music had a lot of influence from issues that were going on in current times, such as politics. Many raps would be about race or about their personal lives, like how Eminem wrote a lot of raps for his daughter, which he didn’t see or have custody of. Death row records signed some of the hugest artists in hip-hop such as Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur. This label, at it’s peak, was making $100,000,000 a year.
Pop music is one of the biggest genres in todays music but it actually only kicked off in the 90’s. Some of the biggest bands like NSYNC and Backstreet Boys and some artists like Mariah Carey are still massively popular today. “All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey” still hits top 10 in the charts every December, even though it was released in 1994. 90’s Pop music has had a significant influence on Pop music today, when comparing, you can hear the similarities such as the basic 5 vocals that are typically always used, guitar, drums, keys, vocals and bass.