GenX'ers that grew up in the 90's, with all the 'cool' guitar bands - have you since come around to loving the 80's power ballads and synth music?
Posted by triscoe@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 100 comments
Hated 80's music as a teenager in the early 90's. Rebelled against my family playing it, cos they weren't playing Nirvana or Pearl Jam or Blur or Radiohead.
Fast forward all these years, and I can't get enough of the 80's power ballads. Bonnie Tyler, Foreigner, Starship, Cyndi Lauper etc and loads loads more I haven't mentioned. We really had the best music in the 90's and 90's.
gangofone978@reddit
Late Gen X and I loved 80s and 90s music at the time, and still do.
51line_baccer@reddit
OP - Metallica 80s albums crushed all yer pop lol
Mikethemechanic00@reddit
Used to be the same why. I do appreciate 80s hair bands and rock. But I still struggle with recalling enjoying them. I hated the message of the 80s music. My hate is for the hair bands early 90s.
Any-Video4464@reddit
good question! to my surprise I like a lot of the 80s music I didn't like much back then a lot more now. I heard some def leopard the other day and was like, ya know...this actually sounds great. Mutt Lange for the win. I couldn't really identify with the hair bands back then, or the ones where all the dudes wore women's clothes. But I like some of them more now. I did like some of the pop stuff back then, and still do now.
bjtg@reddit
The cool guitar bands that I grew up with are all 80s. Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Mudhoney. Lush, Ride, and Breeders bled into the 90s. Nirvana was dope. Rest of that grunge shit, is just pre-butt rock. Best music to come out of the 90s was the rave scene and Wu Tang.
ONROSREPUS@reddit
Sort of. It isn't something I seek out but if its on I don't change the channel anymore. I prefer harder metal then power ballads.
Admirable-Currency89@reddit
Great artists, great bands transcend time. Cyndi Lauper, great. Starship, shitty. Def Leppard, great. Poison, shitty.
Deep-Lecture5412@reddit
Mmm. I'll agree with Starship, but Jane by the previous incarnation is an all time epic
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LJCuB-uhNgM
Hot-Butterfly-8024@reddit
TF are you talking about? NEOBHM? Bay Area Thrash? Hardcore? Bad Brains? Anthrax? Shrapnel Records shredders? Living Colour?Van Halen, ffs.
TigerLilly_Tink43@reddit
I've overcome a lot my biases that were based on cliques and social hierarchies. But the number of power ballad and synth pop bands that are really good is pretty small. To be fair, most of the guitar bands from back then sucked too.
Most radio friendly music sucks regardless of era
crashin70@reddit
Fuck are you talking about? 80s hair bands and power ballads were the cool bands.
phatsackocrap@reddit
I hated "freestyle" dance music that was popular during the late '80s and early '90s. I've really grown to appreciate it lately. I like to think of it as Latino Depeche Mode or New Order. Heartfelt lyrics with pounding synth music.
CitizenChatt@reddit
We're through being cool.
phatsackocrap@reddit
Sweet DEVO reference
heatherLovesbrandon@reddit
Kid in the 80s and teenager in the 90s. I liked both then and I like both now. 90s also had an appreciation for rock music in the 70s so I like that too.
2000's is where I stopped liking most of the new music.
Today's music - I feel bad for these kids...
Altrebelle@reddit
I'm a music fan...first and foremost. I didn't restrict myself to just a few genre specific bands then...sure as hell not doing it now.
Duke-of-Glenmont@reddit
Synth sucks. Perfect example? Van Halen when the went synthesizer.
Duke-of-Glenmont@reddit
Starship? Fucking Starship? You gotta be shitting me Private Pyle!
SenseNo635@reddit
Graduated HS in ‘92 and hated grunge at the time. Give me hair metal any day of the week.
claytionthecreation@reddit
🤘
Simplekin77@reddit
Graduated in 95. I'm totally the opposite lol 14-18 is a hell of a drug.
sane-asylum@reddit
I’m born in 1970, love hair metal and absolutely hate ballads, maybe Home Sweet Home being the exception. Every band had to have a MTV ballad on their record and I skipped them all. Two ballads that I’ve begun to listen to again are Silent Lucidity by Queensryche and Still Loving You by the Scorpions, I find myself softening a bit in my old age.
Mysterions@reddit
Great question because in my mind, this was always a clear sub-generational split. As a younger Gen X, who didn't really listen to those power ballad bands, I have to admit, I still don't really like them. But I do like "synth music" bands (and always did). Overall, as I've aged, my favorite era is really 70s.
armblessed@reddit
With the exception of Tom Petty, Not really.
However, been rediscovering 70s funk, proto-punk, and classic country. Lots of gems.
Hello_Hangnail@reddit
I loved it back then, and through the 90's when it was the epitome of uncool to love Duran Duran or the Cure
Western-Calendar-352@reddit
The Cure were never uncool especially in the ‘90s.
armblessed@reddit
Early 80s, the music was so odd compared to what was being played (Rush, Asia, Yes, AC/DC), the reaction was what you expected. It wouldn’t be until the late 80s until they became more popular.
Look at the early videos of Depeche Mode and then look at how their look changed by Violator. They were too strange and too “gay” looking for most until MTV got them to change it up.
DaveFoucault@reddit
Nah mare. I still need the grunt.
Sumeriandawn@reddit
Been doing that since the 2000s. About 20 years ago, I bought this album
Altoidman33@reddit
Fuck no.
Darkdutchskies@reddit
Concur.
paulrin@reddit
I was super into Hair Metal in my tweens (~1986-1989). Shifted and got all into grunge and goth and industrial. Now I cannot stand any 80’s power ballads, it somehow always reminds me of my dentist when I was 20.
No-Ambition7750@reddit
The problem is that hair stuff has zero integrity. None, nada,zip.
paulrin@reddit
I mean, a song literally titled “Cherry Pie” by Warrent was completely ok???
MaherMcCheese@reddit
Jani Lane hated that song.
FlatSixFun@reddit
I did attune to some synth, but metal, hard rock & punk never clicked for me. Maybe it’s because I was a band geek in high school in the 90’s.
IMTrick@reddit
Not I. I'm a rock guy, and synth in the 80s was the bane of my existence, and if you were to look at my streaming history these days there's a whole lot of stuff from before the 80s, and even more after it, but not much from that decade. There's some of it, for sure, but it definitely runs more toward The Smiths, The Cult, and The Cure than it does to what people usually think of when they hear "80's music."
ORF1Live@reddit
I was a kid in the 80's and a teenager in the 90's. I have always preferred the 80's for music. Probably because I was hanging out in my sister's room listening to music. She moved out in 1991.
Uranus_Hz@reddit
I used to hate hair metal and power ballads as a teen in the 80s.
I still do, but I used to too.
BartStarrPaperboy@reddit
This is the same joke, but with different ingredients.
OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit
Come around? There was never a time that I didn't love '80s power ballads and synth music, along with punk, new wave, heavy metal, corporate rock, rap, hip-hop, R&B, country music, reggae, adult contemporary, and more. I've always had an eclectic taste in music of all genres.
bleepsndrums@reddit
Grew up in the 90s and ended up DJing at raves and clubs in the late 90s/00s... so yeah, I got into synth music.
Mr_Stike@reddit
I usually really like the guitar solos on those 80s power ballads but that's about it. It was such a cliche back then that the 3rd and/or 4th single off an album would be a ballad. It was almost guaranteed air play and they usually seemed formulaic and phoned in.
Simplekin77@reddit
Disclaimer: I was in highschool from 92-95.
Not talking shit on personal taste, but fucking HATE hair metal/drag rock or whatever you want to call it.
All that 80s glam rock grates on me like no other. Only pop country is worse. IMHO.
grateful_john@reddit
Older GenX here (class of ‘65). I was a Deadhead/classic rock guy. ‘80s power ballads have never done anything for me. Most new wave/synth stuff wasn’t really my thing. Talking Heads, Television, Stevie Ray Vaughan were more my style.
whatgives72@reddit
All good choices
Weekly-Batman@reddit
Bon Jovi - No
INXS - Yes
remarkablewhitebored@reddit
Kick is a god tier record.
Weekly-Batman@reddit
Absolutely. I had 2 cassettes as a kid, Kick & Hysteria
Ok-Swordfish7837@reddit
They better make it into the RRHoF.
Frosty-Unit8707@reddit
RRHoF is a gimmick. Kick is a part of us. They can't bestow any greater accolade than that.
Ike_In_Rochester@reddit
I totally agree. But I think Welcome to Wherever You Are is criminally overlooked. Is it the watershed moment that Kick was? Absolutely not. Is it as solid as an album from a band that had established itself? Absolutely.
Few_Explanation1170@reddit
Watching the “The One Thing” for the first time was a sexual awakening for young me. Good lord, Michael Hutchins was sexy. The One Thing
heelslover_1@reddit
Pet. Shop. Boys.
Few_Explanation1170@reddit
West End Girls
Frosty-Unit8707@reddit
What have I done to deserve this
flicmeister@reddit
i don't listen to music anymore unless i'm getting paid. it happens that 80s music pays me the most, on an annual basis, at the moment, so i fucking love it.
RubeHalfwit@reddit
You're going to have to elaborate.
flicmeister@reddit
i work in live music
Frosty-Unit8707@reddit
Well, not so bad as a career thing. Could be worse.
Decent-Ad-5110@reddit
What genres are paying the most? (Curiosity)
anakitenephilim@reddit
I don't mind any of it because it's all ultimately pop music from my childhood. While I recognised that certain bands had more credibility at the time, I was only a child for most of it, so GnR and Duran Duran are really just adults in stupid clothes playing very different music. Kinda how the obsession with pretending Grunge wasn't just a refreshing of Rock for a new decade. All the people in flannel would have been in spandex, and plenty of 90s Alt bands have a very amusing history.
yarn_slinger@reddit
Love might be overstating it but for sure I feel warm nostalgia when I hear some of the tunes that might not have been my jam back then.
Free_Interaction9475@reddit
Nursing homes are going to be so fun by the time we all get there!
Frosty-Unit8707@reddit
Sure, but only if someone finally starts converting malls into retirement communities, complete with arcades, food courts, Sam Goodys and an ice rink. Oh, and a theater that has midnight showings of the RHPS.
Decent-Ad-5110@reddit
80s power ballads? Sure, In a tounge in cheek way.
But I've always loved Pat Benatar.
doknfs@reddit
My Apple Music can easily switch between Green Day and Air Supply at the drop of a hat
Suspicious_Story_464@reddit
Same. My library is all over the place. I thought about making playlists, but that would take so much more time than I am willing to delve into, so I just roll with it. Today was the Killers, the Cars, Sweet, Joe Keery, Marvelous 3, Missing Persons, and Jefferson Starship before I pulled in with my coffee.
doknfs@reddit
Marvelous 3 and Butch Walker are so underrated!
Suspicious_Story_464@reddit
Lol, I remember when Southgang was up and coming in the hair metal scene. He's made and produced some great stuff since then.
oh_wll_whtvr_nvrmnd@reddit
ELO and Limp Bizkit, followed by Heart and NIN
PossiBlyeGoWrong@reddit
I’ll let my synth collection do the talking.
jmthomas87@reddit
Graduated in 87, so my teen years were right smack in the middle of the best music, dead stop. Ballads I could take or leave. Synth was an acquired taste that I slowly warmed up to by the early 90s. Some of it is good, a lot of it is repetitive garbage over and over.
Sorry, but most 90s music really sucks. Nirvana, Chilli Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins. Grunge is basically a bunch whiners in flannel. After about 1992, I tuned it all out and started listening to instrumental works and some old folk music.
GenerAsianX1992@reddit
No
DontStepOnMyManHood@reddit
100% my appreciation will only grow stronger as AI becomes more prevalent in music.
The vocal purity, the creation from scratch, the melodic genius.
Pat Benatar’s fire and ice is just vocally sublime. Absolutely love it. Phil Collins, Bryan Adams, Huey Lewis and hall and Oates. LOVE IT!
There’s quite a bit of music I let go of that I grew up listening to that just doesn’t resonate with me anymore. I listen once in a blue moon but it just doesn’t speak to middle age me.
BillHansfer4FClub@reddit
Grew to appreciate the synth/new wave stuff; power ballads not so much.
Blue_Henri@reddit
Ok, firstly I was mostly in my late teens/twenties during the nineties so the growing up was during all of the eighties crap. I loved the eighties crap in the eighties, but unfortunately my city’s local radio stations have worn if the fuck out. Give me all of the 90s but please, unless and only it’s Prince or the Police, give me a break from the eighties.
squarebody8675@reddit
Ya I can really dig some yacht rock these days
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
I hated 80s music as a teen in the 80s (and as a 20-something). Haven't really changed much on that, though I do sometimes feel nostalgic for my emotional reaction against 80s pop.
That said, I saw Cyndi Lauper in concert before COVID and she was pretty damned good.
R0gu3tr4d3r@reddit
No
Cahuita_sloth@reddit
God no
IceExile@reddit
slightly... I liked 80s music in the 80s (Rock It by Herbie Hancock was extra legit at the time,same with SOME LIKE IT HOT by Power Station). I also appreciated Pet Shop Boys, and Who's Johnny by El Debarge for that movie Short Circuit, and CRUSH ON YOU by The Jets... I liked rap music more, though, starting in about 1985.
The guitar bands of late 1980s were actually gasping for air, but it was all there was (Warrant, Bullet Boys, White Lion)... I liked Hendrix and CREAM as 1960s holdovers and preferred that over what was on MTV. Guns N Roses was actually pretty great then. Black Crowes also had some groovy stuff.... right before grunge got huge.
EverythingScrolling@reddit
I was born in '79, and I love both 80s and 90s music. Just depends what I'm in the mood for.
SweetHeartMaxxing@reddit
Born 78, listening to disco and everything else along the way. What a time to be alive.
triscoe@reddit (OP)
Same year. Ain't that the truth. We've been blessed with all of the different eras
happycj@reddit
Hm. The 80s for me were metal, punk, and grunge.
But I did have a soft spot for The Human League and Thomas Dolby.
Local871@reddit
80s meta head here. And I absolutely loved Howard Jones.
RedditSkippy@reddit
I was 15 in 1990, so my teen years straddled both decades. I’ve always been more partial to the mid-80s stuff than the 90s. Was never into grunge. Some of the early 90s pop stuff has some nostalgia value for me, but doesn’t hit like the mid 80s stuff does for me.
tacosandtheology@reddit
Nah. But I love the 80s underground metal scene. Anything cooler than Bathory or Celtic Frost?
jeffnorris@reddit
Celtic Frost is a name that I haven't heard in a very long time
Taskerst@reddit
Yes, but not seriously. More like in an ironic cheese kind of way. Great for karaoke night but not something I’d put on alone.
DoookieMaxx@reddit
I was embarrassed by the 80’s when I was younger (50M) …. Especially being in high school for the early 90’s
Sometime over the last 10 -15 years something changed. The songs took a major nostalgia turn and dropped my heart back into grade school. My childhood memories flooding back with every song.
I am now proud to have my formative youth years in the 80’s.
earinsound@reddit
i was into 80s Top 40 until i was about 14 (1984). i couldn’t stand the ballads and have no nostalgia from them if i have to hear them, say, in a grocery store. my early 90s were catching up on all that missed from the 60s-80s underground music and new weird stuff
MidwestAbe@reddit
Meh. A few here and there but I could lose the 80s all together and really only miss Public Enemy, NWA and Eric B and Rakim.
oh_wll_whtvr_nvrmnd@reddit
Absolutely. Disliked New Wave and Soft Rock when dad was driving us around in the 80s. Now I do it to my kid
punkdrummer22@reddit
No
triscoe@reddit (OP)
Put Bonnie Tyler Total Eclipse on, and see if it stirs anything
punkdrummer22@reddit
Ive heard that song a million times. Its a good song but not one I'll put on my Playlist.
jlo_1977@reddit
No.
ILoveLipGloss@reddit
I always liked it all, and I wound up getting into punk/hardcore/metal as a teenager, and then more britpop type shit. good music is good music and as someone who came of age in the 90s, I am forever grateful that I had all of that and was born / raised in NYC which was THE COOLEST PLACE to be a kid.