What songs do you think would best represent the decade of the 90s? Not necesarrily your personal favorite songs from then, but the songs that when you hear, make you say "That's so 90s!" I realize the sound was quite different from 90 as it was from 99, but still...

I find it's easier to list bands that epitomize the 90s. Hootie, Sheryl Crow, Nirvana, Metallica, Sound Garden, Spice Girls, Real McCoy, Alanis Morrisette, Pearl Jam, Shania, Biggie, TuPac, Puffy (aka Sean Combs, P-Diddy, Diddy). But it's much harder to narrow a list of 12 or 15 SONGS that, for better or worse, scream 90s. There are so many one-hit-wonder ear worms that would make the list. Top of my head, again, for better or worse, I'd have to start with:

Hootie--I wanna Hold your Hand
Sheryl Crow--All I wanna do
Nirvana--Smells like Teen Spirit
Los Del Rio--Macarena
Spice Girls--Wanna Be
Biggie--Big Poppa or One More Chance
Puffy--{pick one}
Dre and Snoop--Nothing but a G-thang
NIN--closer
Joan Osbourne--If God was One of Us
La Bouche--Be My Lover
Britney--Baby, one More Time
U2--Beautiful Day
Fiona Apple--Criminal
Blur--Song 2
Rembrandts--I'll be there for You
Pearl Jam--{pick one... or two}

And I'm already at 17! With loads more I could list. So what do you think are the most iconic, quintessential 90s songs?

Filter - Hey Man, Nice Shot.
The Verge - Bittersweet Symphony.
Snow - Informer.
Hanson - MMMBop (sadly).
Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca.
Korn - Freak on a Leash.

The 90s was a clusterfuck of a decade. We had the early rap thing, we had the middle grunge thing and we had the late rap/rock combo thing. In the middle was a bunch of soft rock and random styles of music that hadn't been popular in 60 years, like faux-swing.

Alice in Chains - Man in the Box
Bush - Machinehead
Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
House of Pain - Jump Around
Lit - My Own Worst Enemy
Metallica - Enter Sandman
N 2 Deep - Back to the Hotel
Pearl Jam - Black
Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name
Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy (Obviously written for me!)
Skid Row - 18 and Life
Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
Sublime - Santeria
Sugar Ray - Every Morning
The Toadies - Possum Kingdom
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
Young Mc - Bust a Move

These were some of the songs I grew up with in the 90's.

Was U2's 'Beautiful Day' in the 90's?  I just remember it solely from the movie 'Bandits', which was made in 2001, I think.

One band I hate with a passion is Flaming Lips, but they have a great song that epitomizes the early-mid-90's alternative culture for me:

Flaming Lips - She Don't Use Jelly
Weezer - 'Undone' and 'Buddy Holly' and 'Say It Ain't So'
Screaming Trees - All I know
Blessid Union of Souls - I Believe
Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmmmm
Warren G and Nate Dog - Regulators
Coolio - Fantastic Voyage
Sponge - Plowed (and I like 'Molly')
Hayden - 'Bad As It Seems' and 'Trees Lounge' for Steve Buscemi's film
Smashing Pumpkins - 'Today' and 'Disarm' and 'Rocket' and 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings'
Aerosmith - Crazy (I know they're a 70's and 80's band, but that video is also the epitome of the '90's.)  I was a good lay in high school because I would always think of that video in the back of my head whenever I was doin' it and doin' it wild.

Oh yeah.

LLCoolJ - Doin' It

The late-90's is when I kind of tuned out of music and still haven't gotten back into it since then.

(I know a lot of those songs can't be considered legit radio anthems of the 90's, but they always put me in a 90's frame of mind.)

Ace of Base - The Sign
The Macarena
Sugar Ray - Fly
Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart (you didn't say no country)
Will Smith - (any song)

I'm a huge hip hop fan, so I've got to represent with some classics...

Biggie- Hypnotize.
Eminem- My Name Is.
Dr. Dre- Nuthing But a G Thang.
Coolio- Gangsta's Paradise.
A Tribe Called Quest- Can I Kick It?
2Pac- California Love.
Wu Tang- CREAM.
ODB- Got Your Money.
Blackstreet- No Diggity.

And some great non hip hop stuff:

Radiohead- Creep.
Elliott Smith- Needle in the Hay.
Portishead- Sour Times.
Massive Attack- Unfinished Symphony.
Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah.
Weezer- Buddy Holly.
Rage Against the Machine- Killing in the Name.
Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Pulp- Common People.

Quoted from Toby_E I'm a huge hip hop fan, so I've got to represent with some classics... Biggie- Hypnotize. Eminem- My Name Is. Dr. Dre- Nuthing But a G Thang. Coolio- Gangsta's Paradise. A Tribe Called Quest- Can I Kick It? 2Pac- California Love. Wu Tang- CREAM. ODB- Got Your Money. Blackstreet- No Diggity. And some great non hip hop stuff: Radiohead- Creep. Elliott Smith- Needle in the Hay. Portishead- Sour Times. Massive Attack- Unfinished Symphony. Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah. Weezer- Buddy Holly. Rage Against the Machine- Killing in the Name. Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit. Pulp- Common People.

What about the theme music to Saved by the Bell! lol.  ;D

I think you'll find that's technically an 80's song, as that show aired in '89 :D :D :D

Brilliant song regardless ;-) (I still remember all the lyrics...!)

for me its all Seattle (nirvana pearl jam stp soundgarden etc etc)...mixed in with a healthy dose of the big 4 (metallica megadeth slayer anthrax)

The Beloved - The Sun Rising
Prodigy - Everybody in the Place
Shamen - Ebeneezer Goode
Dee-Lite - Groove is in the heart

They'll take some beating for the early 90's crown.

Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "They don't make em' like they used to."
Cassidy: "Fuckin' 80's man, best shit ever" !
Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "Bet'chr ass man, Guns N' Roses! Rules."
Cassidy: "Crue!"
Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "Yeah!"
Cassidy: "Def Lep!"
Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "Then that Cobain pussy had to come around & ruin it all."
Cassidy: "Like theres something wrong with just wanting to have a good time?"
Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "I'll tell you somethin', I hate the fuckin' 90's."
Cassidy: "Fuckin' 90's sucked."
Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "Fuckin' 90's sucked."

Name the movie!  :)

No mention of Oasis?

Live Forever is in some lists of the best songs ever and Wonderwall was an anthem of the nineties.

Quoted from B.C. Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "They don't make em' like they used to." Cassidy: "Fuckin' 80's man, best shit ever" ! Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "Bet'chr ass man, Guns N' Roses! Rules." Cassidy: "Crue!" Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "Yeah!" Cassidy: "Def Lep!" Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "Then that Cobain pussy had to come around & ruin it all." Cassidy: "Like theres something wrong with just wanting to have a good time?" Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "I'll tell you somethin', I hate the fuckin' 90's." Cassidy: "Fuckin' 90's sucked." Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: "Fuckin' 90's sucked." Name the movie!  :)

The names didn't give it away as "The Wrestler"?

And, Stevie, I was going to mention Wonderwall, too, but I didn't see the point. =)

Quoted from Mr. Blonde The names didn't give it away as "The Wrestler"? And, Stevie, I was going to mention Wonderwall, too, but I didn't see the point. =)

Yeah, it was sort of sad that Oasis didn't go big in the US but that says a lot about the US I guess. I suppose Liam and Noel's antics were too much for them to be endearing despite the high quality of the music.

A lot of people bag Oasis but their ten best songs stack up against any other of the big bands of the 70's, 80's and 90's. I rate them in the third tier of groups of all time:

1. The Beatles, The Stones, the Who and Led Zep

2. Pink Floyd, The Eagles,  U2(even though they havent been relevant for 20 years),some others I can't recall now but you get the gist

3. Guns N Roses, Oasis, Cheap Trick, etc

Watch the live versions of Live Forever on YT and you can see how good Oasis were.

Don't forget the hilarious garbage that closed the 90s out and brought us into the new millennium!

Sisqo - The Thong Song
Vengaboys - Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom
S Club - S Club Party
Aqua - Dr. Jones
Cher - Believe (Okay, she probably doesn't deserve to be mentioned with all these people, but that freakin' autotune...)
LFO - Summer Girls
Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff
Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5

Quoted from Heretic Don't forget the hilarious garbage that closed the 90s out and brought us into the new millennium! Sisqo - The Thong Song Vengaboys - Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom S Club - S Club Party Aqua - Dr. Jones Cher - Believe LFO - Summer Girls Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5

Some classics there!

Don't forget this little gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ugkg9RePc

^^ Hahah man, I had totally forgotten how endearingly awful that video is.

Disgusting! I'm appalled not one mention of Stone Temple Pilots...come on!!

EDIT: I see Penoyer79 gave them a shout out.

STP was my favorite growing up!

Very broad topic. No mention of ska or pop punk either. Shit was rampant back then. No Doubt was HUGE and are regarded as legends in their own right. Same could be said for Green Day and their ilk.

...let the record show I don't listen to any of this music.

Everyone's lists reminded me of so many more songs, some good, some bad, some ugly, all of them very 90s. I see it would be impossible to have a single 15-song soundtrack for the decade. Might even be impossible to have a 15-song maximum for each genre, let alone the decade.

I'm sure VH-1 will tackle this topic if they haven't already. And I'm sure, like with their other lists, they'll disappoint.

Good subject.

I will always remember the 90s most for Euro 96 and the fantastic anthem from Baddiel and Skinner that everybody would sing at Wembley and at their homes.

But other than that, I would definitely stick to my British roots and listen to Oasis, Blur and Pulp (Although I believe they originally formed in the 70s, but only became big in the 90s) and I loved all of their music for different reasons.

This was also the generation for boy bands (Backstreet Boys, N’sync, New Kids on the Block, Five, Boyzone, Take That) and in my experience, all the chicks loved what they looked like so you needed a six-pack but I was never able to achieve such a feat so I gave up by 99 and turned to alcohol to pull the ladies… it never worked as I hoped!

At the end of the day, 90s felt like the 80s when I think about it – it was all cheese. Records stayed number one forever (none of this download rubbish with iTunes) and there was only one chart I watched and it was on Top of the Pops! Oh, the memories...

Quoted from Heretic Don't forget the hilarious garbage that closed the 90s out and brought us into the new millennium! Sisqo - The Thong Song Vengaboys - Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom S Club - S Club Party Aqua - Dr. Jones Cher - Believe (Okay, she probably doesn't deserve to be mentioned with all these people, but that freakin' autotune...) LFO - Summer Girls (I liked “Girl on T.V – remember Jennifer Love-Hewitt being in the video) Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5

Another great Aqua one would be:

Anything and everything by:

Better than Ezra
Counting Crows
Live
Pearl Jam
Nirvana
R.E.M.
Soundgarden

All grunge and post grunge rock. I love it all.

Greatest decade of music ever!

Quoted from Warren Anything and everything by: Better than Ezra Counting Crows Live Pearl Jam Nirvana R.E.M. Soundgarden All grunge and post grunge rock. I love it all. Greatest decade of music ever!

Lol Wazza obviously you haven't listened to the Sixties yet I take it?

Ha, think you might be showing your age there, Stevie:)

Some great music out of the sixties, but I'm standing by what I said.

Depending on your clique in the 90's, definitely need:


Liz Phair - entire Exile in Guyville Album

Hole - Live Through This album

Quoted from CoopBazinga Good subject. I will always remember the 90s most for Euro 96 and the fantastic anthem from Baddiel and Skinner that everybody would sing at Wembley and at their homes.

Best football song ever - though admittedly there's not much competition! Fantastic song though. Managed to be quite touching as well - "Jules Rimet's still gleaming" is really quite a poignant lyric though I doubt the footie fans shouting it realised.

Sadly I must say that most of the songs mentioned here I have never even heard of!

Quoted from stevie Lol Wazza obviously you haven't listened to the Sixties yet I take it?

Agree with your sentiment - bar Bowie, pretty much downhill after 1969.