The 80s for the most part seems to be a really upbeat time, pop culture wise. Bright, loud, colorful and upbeat; poppy. Then you come to the 90s and you get pessim, realism, grunge and a general sense of "Meh"--sort of like the hangover after the decade long party of the '80s. When did this dark, cynical sense set in in the 90s, and why? I ask cause like the early 90s or so seem like real holdovers from the 80s and I'm not really sure when the "90s" as a separate cultural period from the 80s really showed through

I know we have posted about this but to go find an old thread is a pita.

I think we agreed it was with the 'Seattle Sound' emergence. Year? Gah. Perhaps '91?
I know someone like whistledog or Brian or Davester can definitely give you more info. ;)

The 80's weren't all bubble gum and good times.  There was the New Wave scene, which definitely has darker undertones.  Goths were everywhere in the 80's, and groups like The Cure and Depeche Mode became superstars because of it.

It usually got dark at night time.

The 80s forgot to pay the electric bill.

1992/93. Grunge and gangsta rap exploded around that time, and the fashion got darker too.

1992-1996. music from that era just seems to have a way more darker tone compared to the music of 1990-1991 (which is just one big 80s holdover) and 1997-1999 eras. (pop and boy bands)

Hmmm... I think of the 80s (till 86/87) as a dark era. Because of gloomy, synthetic music and a general cold, egoistic, materialistic feel. While 88-aug01 feels warm and happy to me, sometimes into the extreme. Despite things like grunge.

Maybe it's because I'm living in the Netherlands. :)

Hmmm... I think of the 80s (till 86/87) as a dark era. Because of gloomy, synthetic music and a general cold, egoistic, materialistic feel. While 88-aug01 feels warm and happy to me, sometimes into the extreme. Despite things like grunge.

Maybe it's because I'm living in the Netherlands. :)


I always thought the late 80s/early 90s were probably the most innocent time as a kid.  Though in 1991, things were starting to change.  That said, family programming was much more clean back then, and thought the 90s were pretty dark in all aspects.

I was actually somewhat happier in the 90's, now I just don't care.

This is a subjective thing to consider. You can make a case that the 80s had dark times, especially in hip-hop, when the culture was being slowly corporatized against the interests of the artists creating it. I understand what you are saying in that the 90s had dark vibes.
As I remember, it was in the Fall of 1991 when pop culture icons became less mortal. Magic Johnson began living with HIV/AIDS and Freddie Mercury died of it. Nirvana cut into the mainstream with something more substantive and edgier, representative of changing times. The economy hit a recession and George Bush's failed efforts (Bush senior, that is) made way for Clintonian big-business politics. There were a series of school shootings starting to happen all over the country. Heroin and cocaine trafficking became more prevalent around the world and it found its way into the inner circles of musicians, models and movie stars. River Phoenix, Shannon Hoon, Hillel Slovak and Chris Farley were just a few of the stars who fell from the grip of drug addictions and it was this heroin chíc that became exposed as a problem of destruction and great influence to the people in the industry and to its consumers. Then Kurt Cobain was found dead and no matter how you believe his death occurred, this ended the realist grunge rock era and shifted gears for a new time where record companies were in search for the next big "alternative" act to pick up the pieces. It never happened. 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. were murdered. The economy got better. Better enough for record companies to deal with low-risk investments in pop music again. That was 1997. The Backstreet Boys and The Spice Girls were the two initial teen bubble-gum acts to break through to the mainstream, and once that happened, there were a few dozen more to come in time. Titanic also came out at the end of 1997 becoming the biggest box-office hit in a long time. I can confidently state the dark 90s were 1991-1997.

1993 is the year that comes to mind the most when reading this topic.

The 80's weren't all bubble gum and good times.  There was the New Wave scene, which definitely has darker undertones.  Goths were everywhere in the 80's, and groups like The Cure and Depeche Mode became superstars because of it.

Now you can barelly find us.

Nirvana breaking onto the scene follwed by Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Stone Temple Pilots. It was a magical time in music. I was in my mid twenties during that time, and I couldn't get enough of the new bands appearing out of apparent "thin air" during the early 90's.
Gangsta rap ruined everything, along with all of the movies glorifying the lifestyle. Boyz in The hood, which took it's name from the Eazy E song, sticks in my mind. Suddenly everyone HAD to own a 64 Impala lowrider, carry an AK47 in the trunk, and drive around like the world owed them something. It was pretty pathetic. The music moved from how well you could rhyme and create worthwhile music, to how many people you shot while Slangin rocks(selling crack)  We were being warned about crack in high school in the late eighties, so I guess it just finally came into it's own.


The "dark 90's" was just everyone getting sick of the fake pop culture happiness of the eighties ;)

The 'dark 90s' in my opinion set in around 1993 and started to fade after the Columbine shootings in 1999.  Columbine had a huge impact on many of the things that were popular at the time, such as goth fashion, shock rock like Marilyn Manson, etc.  By 2000, it seemed the "in" thing started to become preppy clothing, such as Abercrombie & Fitch.  Jncos and knock-offs started to fade from popularity around this time too.

On January 26, 1990.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_January_26,_1990