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What's wrong with 90s country?

V

vchimpanzee

My country station (which I can only hear in the car) plays a few 90s songs. Reba McEntire's "You Lie" and "Rumor Has It" are from 1990, if you go along with those who say a decade starts in a year ending in zero. And Randy Travis' "Better Class of Losers" and "If I Didn't Have You". But no Alan Jackson.

However, I'd rather they didn't add 90s music because they sound so good now. I have this memory of the 90s being a time when country sounded pop. The explanation was that country had become the latest flavor of the week for fans of top 40, which was declining, and a lot of stations were playing "new country" to appeal to these listeners, rather than the good country music we had enjoyed.

But now I'm having trouble figuring out what was so bad about 90s country. There are a few obvious songs that are bad: "Amazed" by Lonestar, "Shameless" and "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks (he was supposed to be the worst of the worst and the one who started it all), "Rock My World" by Brooks and Dunn, "God Blessed Texas" by Little Texas, "No One Else on Earth" by Wynonna, "Tell Me I Was Dreaming" by Travis Tritt (who I thought could do no wrong) and about half a dozen songs by Shania Twain, though "Honey I'm Home" goes from pure country to pure dreck and back. A lot of the other songs I thought were bad don't seem so bad now.

Regarding Shania, "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?", "Any Man of Mine" (except for the percussion in the introduction, which seems very synthesized), "No One Needs to Know" and "Love Gets Me Every Time" sound country enough.

I could do without "You're Still the One" but it's not too bad. Besides, it makes me think of Dharma and Greg, one of my favorite TV couples of all time.

"That Don't Impress Me Much" don't impress me much.

"(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!" was the song, according to a Billboard article, that finally made "real country" fans say they had had enough. I never thought it was that bad, but it's not good either.

"From This Moment On" is one of those songs I despise.
 
You mentioned the most pop sounding country songs of the 90s but there was plenty of traditional that decade as well. David Ball-Thinkin Problem just to name one of hundreds of examples. Plus today there is a lot of pop sounding country such as Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts. So I don't see a big difference both the 90s and this era have a full spectrum of country music from pop to traditional.
 
Jay F said:
You mentioned the most pop sounding country songs of the 90s but there was plenty of traditional that decade as well. David Ball-Thinkin Problem just to name one of hundreds of examples. Plus today there is a lot of pop sounding country such as Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts. So I don't see a big difference both the 90s and this era have a full spectrum of country music from pop to traditional.
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I mentioned only a few songs because my impression then was there was a lot of pop-sounding country, but now I realize compared to today it's not so bad.
 
The pop sounding country does not bother me nearly as much as the classic rock sounding "country".
 
jhguthlac said:
The pop sounding country does not bother me nearly as much as the classic rock sounding "country".
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and that's IMO the biggest change in country from previous decades. Pop sounding country has always existed. It's only in recent years where so many songs with a hard rock edge have charted..Jason Aldean-She's Country for example. Sometimes I wonder if too much of a rock sound drives female country listeners to AC....where they can hear plenty of country crossovers...Lady A being the most recent example.
 
I always thought Waylon and Hank Jr were all rock acts that were marketed as country. Hank credited Skynyrd and similar rock acts for his change of style in the 70s. Travis Tritt followed in that tradition. He credited Charlie Daniels. To me, Aldean is simply doing what Waylon & Hank did. And if you think female listeners are driven away by Aldean, then you've never been to one of his shows. More women than men.
 
Even if they had the outlaw image most of the Waylon and Willie hits sound more traditional country than rock to me.

I know Aldean has a large following among women, I don't mean to pick on him in particular, there are several songs and artists on country with a rock edge right now..more than I remember in the past.

Also it seems that country concerts are in a different universe from country radio listeners. An act like Kenny Chesney will fill the arena up with screaming young women (many hot looking ones I might add)..but the core country radio audience is so much older than what you'll find at the concerts. I know this is very much the case in the market I live in and I have read that this is becoming a national trend. I'm not sure if the middle aged P1 country lifegroup is as wild about the rock sound as much as the young active concert goers are,
 
Jay F said:
Even if they had the outlaw image most of the Waylon and Willie hits sound more traditional country than rock to me.
Click to expand...

How about Hank Jr? And Alabama was a rock band, no different from The Eagles or Poco.
 
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