Were the late 90s the best of times?

SEPT 23 1989

TheShow wrote: »

Double doves and Mitsubishis!

if only we had the foresight to hoard them

realitykeeper

Try_harder wrote: »

Everything seemed better then. Things were on the up, positivity reigned and little doomsday talk

The late 80s were the best of times. I recall the collapse of Communism fondly in November 89. Those 1980s Coca Cola ads were awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4qf5wbIgjQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8GHchvvzms

Then, like now, most music was dire but the good stuff was better then.

Up until Hill Street Blues started, there were some great TV series. Hill Street Blues heralded the start of bad tv. Gritty i.e. cheap, started with Hill street blues but before that there were so many great shows.

fxotoole

Make the 90s great again

For me the late 90s will forever be associated with the best hurling ever. The best of the best years as Clare arose from nowhere to beat all and sundry. Limerick, too, was on the rise as was Offaly. With no connection to Clare but regular breaks to Doolin for the trad, I decided to attend as many Clare matches as possible just to see them beat all the goliaths. I remember the excitement of being in Cusack Park for a match against Gaillimh and all sorts of strangers offering me sandwiches out of tin foil along with a cup of tea from their flask. The Net Nitrate fertiliser bags in the Clare colours used as flags!

The craic, music and characters everywhere. The sense that all of Ireland bar Cork, Kilkenny, Tipp etc were behind them. The characters like Ger Loughnane and his soundbites and of course Davy Fitz. The big fight in 1998. Ollie Baker. Jamesie O'Connor, Anthony Daly, Brian Lohan...

This song and video captures those years so well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN_KRTaDJoM

Try_harder

1998 was the best year ever! I was 18, coincidence?

zapitastas

zapitastas wrote: »

The asylum and UFO were the highlight of the 90s

Just after thinking of another 90s club. Small place at the top of McGraths on O'Connell street. I think it was called the 13th floor. Great little place

briany

Star Bingo wrote: »

left me disillusioned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIqbdnaPcT8

Very exciting if you’re 13 I’d imagine but I was into my 20’s at that point?! Cavalera’s reemergence with pink hair and Adidas stripes was the final nail for me. Hanneman thought he could adapt to it too - fail.....

Metal was suddenly music for kids instead and made me feel like I was getting on. I couldn’t aspire to those guys no more but here’s no doubt metal hit a rut and officially ceased to be thee definitive street culture at that point

Nu Metal was mostly terrible. There's a small handful of songs out of it that I'd still listen to, but the rest has been consigned to the trash heap of history, and good riddance.

Titzon Toast

I remember the 90's fondly. I was in my teens, pre 911, The Prodigy, Oasis, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins. I had a Fiesta XR2.
T'was a good time for me anyway.

Agricola

We all have a soft spot for that time when we were coming of age, but despite the fact that time was the mid to late 90's for me too, I think that time was objectively great.

It's probably got something to do with Irish society still being "old Ireland" - The time before the ostentatious wealth of the tiger years changed us forever. The times when people still holidayed in a caravan in wexford and drove older cars. When kids spent their summers making their own fun outdoors. When people went to Feile in baggy jumpers and jeans and just lived in the moment at a concert. No hipsters gurning into camera phones for the perfect social media selfie every 3 minutes.

I'm not knocking cheap flights, new cars, and people having disposable income but there was something to be said for those innocent days.

Lorelli!

Around 1998 I was about 14, my best pal and i were experimenting with cigarettes a bit and we were always worried about the smell of it so we'd buy chewing gums but that didn't stop it from getting on your hands Anyway one day she came up with the ingenious idea to use a peg from a washing line to hold it!

I remember some lads that were friends of ours coming down the lane and saying "wtf are yas doing with the smoke in a peg???" and we were like "yea well the jokes on you when you get caught" :pac:

Ah no I did love the 90's. I think it was a good decade for us. Also we made some good movies, did well in the Eurovision and alright in the World Cup!

Star Bingo

Titzon Toast wrote: »

I remember the 90's fondly. I was in my teens, pre 911, The Prodigy, Oasis, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins. I had a Fiesta XR2.
T'was a good time for me anyway.

Loads going off it was a great time. I did nearly every all of them festivals across the water back in the late ‘90s they were booming back then was always stealing into places n spaces the type of scenarios people pay through the teeth for packages nowadays but I didn’t spend a dime.....

freeloading doesn’t even begin to describe had a game of basketball with the beastie boys backstage at reading and all sorts. Tim wheeler can’t handle his drink; mani’s an animal for it. Always ended up stealin the train back to base in Kilburn too

Baron Kurtz

Donald Trump wrote: »

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Glad no one liked this. And there usually is at least one.

gormdubhgorm

The late 90s was the best of times, I was an absolute ride back then (I think).

Greyfox

They were, Man United were playing such amazing football.. god I miss those days
Using the internet for the first few times was amazing. Also buying a playstation and playing Tombraider, Resident Evil 1-3, MGS and final fantasy 7 remain the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences of my life

DEFTLEFTHAND

2000s were good too. It's only really since 2012 or so that the culture turned weird.

sicknotexi

They were great because I was a teenager, had my first job, took all the drugs, my team won the treble(technically not my team) and had a new bird in my bed every weekend. I might have made the last bit up.

Sleeper12

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote:

2000s were good too. It's only really since 2012 or so that the culture turned weird.

I agree & disagree here. In the 0s most of the country was so far up their own backside it was horrible. You couldn't go to the pub or dinner party without a conversation on the value of your home & how many holidays you would have. I'm genuinely sorry that people got hurt in the crash but as a nation we needed the kick in the pants that we got

2 Scoops

Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, man when I broke I could never picture this

JupiterKid

Yep it was a good time. Good music, good club/dance scene and a good time to be in your early 20s. Finished college and started my first proper job. The gay scene was thriving too.

Some good shows on TV but a touch of pre millenial tension.

Some great music videos - Aphex Twin's Come To Daddy and The Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up.

Wipeout 2097 on Playstation 1 - fantastic game on the happy baccy.

sicknotexi

All the 90's were the ****. Happiest days of my life. The 80's sucked balls(emigration and mass unemployment) and the 00's were basically the 90's come down. The 90's were the the best, end of ****ing story.

shakeitoff

As someone said, society in the west starts to become strange around 2012 but we're only really seeing the effects now 6 years later. The 90's/2000's were a much more extroverted time, in an era before social media, In Ireland you could see the seeds of this with Bebo and MSN, slowly but surely young people were retreating indoors and interactions were becoming way less spontaneous. We went too far in embracing the internet, it's peak years were like 98-2006, the smartphone ****ed society up, a truly overrated invention.

Omackeral

Mongfinder General wrote: »

Literally boxing the head off each other in traffic

Straight to the morgue so.

Mongfinder General

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I agree & disagree here. In the 0s most of the country was so far up their own backside it was horrible. You couldn't go to the pub or dinner party without a conversation on the value of your home & how many holidays you would have. I'm genuinely sorry that people got hurt in the crash but as a nation we needed the kick in the pants that we got

I was absolutely delighted when the gloaters got toasted post 08. Sickening having to listen to them pre crash.

Mongfinder General

Omackeral wrote: »

Straight to the morgue so.

And I’m sure that happened to some poor sod. I think I rememember RTE doing a documentary on it at the time

facehugger99

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of chunky runners, it was the season of boot-cut jeans, it was the spring of Britpop, it was the winter of grunge, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Tripod, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

kunst nugget

That period between the Berlin Wall falling and 9/11 seems unnaturally optimistic looking back on it. Positive vibes and good drugs helped paper over a lot the cracks but we were just setting ourselves up for a fall.

In the background, Clinton deregulated the markets which contributed to the global recession of 2007 and the NeoCons were looking for a new enemy to fear after the vacuum created by the collapse of the USSR.

Still, I had a blast and there was plenty of great music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfH8qHFvEEY

Blazer

facehugger99 wrote: »

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of chunky runners, it was the season of boot-cut jeans, it was the spring of Britpop, it was the winter of grunge, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Tripod, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

did you not learn from the first op who posted this rubbish?
It was the age of none of that ****..., that sounds more like the rubbish going around today.

Yer Da sells Avon

I always think of the late '90s as the period immediately before everything in the entire world went to shite.

tmabr

If you can remember the 90,s
you weren't there

shakeitoff

Try to imagine Eminem, Blink 182, WWF and Stone Cold, outrageous goalkeeper jerseys and My Cousin Skeeter in today's society. Remember when there was a bit of mystery about new places and things, now you can get anything in the blink of an eye. I'd opt for the former way because so far I've really noticed nothing absolutely incredible that new wave technology and communication has brought. Its cool you can speak to people who are far away instantaneously but in ordinary circumstances(no deaths or illnesses in a family) it takes away the buzz of travelling.

partyguinness

I was born in 1978 so I hit my teens in 1991 and 20s in 1998.

I thought after the Berlin Wall (which I actually watched with my parents) would herald a new peaceful era but then the Balkans and Rwanda kicked off in the early 90s oh and Iraq.

Music wise it was great up to the end of 1995 but with the odd exception 1996- 1999 was total ****. It did pick up 2001-2004 maybe 2005 at a stretch but that's it. Rubbish since or I am just getting old.

I remember '99 being a good bloody year.

The best time I had was from 2002 to 2007. Living in Dublin and living the high life and there was a great buzz about the place and country in general...no shortage of Celtic Tiger money. Of course it helped a lot that I was earning decent wages, had a car, regular sex..oh and Cork were reaching All Ireland hurling finals on a regular basis so there was great Munster hurling games between 2002-2007.

I was at Oxygen in 2004 both days- Google the lineup. Ok it pissed rain and Bowie didn't show up but it was some line up.

Personally I do not regard the 90s as anything special- there was no major cultural movement in music, art, politics etc.Hell ABBA was already being regurgitated by the mid 90s.

Whether or not it was the 'best of times' is purely personal.

TBH it's been pretty crap since 2009.

Graces7

Actually late 40s and early 50s were the best of times. England recovering from the war, rebuilding, right priorities and valuing what we had which was little enough.. Great days

super_furry

The ten years between your 16th birthday at 26th are the 'best of times'. Nostalgia wise.

SharpshooterTom

2008-2016 were probably the golden years.

Many people regard Obama as the greatest president ever, certainly the greatest politician in the past 50 to 100 years. So presumably his era would have to be the most fondly remembered. Many academics and historians were saying we'll never experience a president to the grace the Earth like him ever again. So for millennial's they were the golden years, definitely not the next 20 or 30 years since they'll never have a president of his quality again, millennial's peaked in those years IMO.

SharpshooterTom

Also before 2000 most western societies lack diversity, certainly a lot less than it is now.

Many white American liberals would look back at life prior to 2000 and frown American society because it was a lot more white then, arguably too white and think diverse wise America is better now.

griffin100

Went to Trinity in the early 1990's....great time. Afternoons in the Buttery drinking £1.48 pints and having the odd spliff. No social media ****e and no mobile phones. No one was contactable, if you wanted to talk to someone you went looking for them in the usual places. It wasn't till people were at home in the evening that you could actually call them. Remember calling shared payphones in student flats and asking to speak to the lad in Flat No. 6 when someone answered? Life seemed slower with less pressure. Music was great, Nirvana and grunge was on the rise. Four of us going to Feile on the train with a couple of slabs and a two man tent. Catholic guilt and influence beginning to wane - you could even buy condoms in the Virgin mega-store on the quays. Not sure but there seemed to be less junkies on the streets, certainly I was happy to walk to Fibbers up O'Connell street at any time of day or night which I wouldn't do now. Probably due to the stage of my life but the early to mid 90's for me was the best of times (apart from meeting the wife and having kids just in case she's reading this).

DEFTLEFTHAND

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

2008-2016 were probably the golden years.

Many people regard Obama as the greatest president ever, certainly the greatest politician in the past 50 to 100 years. So presumably his era would have to be the most fondly remembered. Many academics and historians were saying we'll never experience a president to the grace the Earth like him ever again. So for millennial's they were the golden years, definitely not the next 20 or 30 years since they'll never have a president of his quality again, millennial's peaked in those years IMO.

The Democratic Party would strongly disagree with your assertion.

chopperbyrne

As someone else said, the ten years from 16 to 26 are generally your best, in terms of fun.

For me, that was 1999 to 2009.

Getting paid €150 to €250 daily rate for an IT contract job in your early twenties, with no debt, plenty of free time, and young enough to not get bad hangovers.

Cienciano

Computers in everyones house was starting. I remember getting a cd writer. Going from copying music from a double cassette deck with high speed dubbing to making mix cd's on your computer was amazing. I also had a zip drive on mine cos I thought it'd be the future. Innocent times.

partyguinness

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

2008-2016 were probably the golden years.

Many people regard Obama as the greatest president ever, certainly the greatest politician in the past 50 to 100 years. So presumably his era would have to be the most fondly remembered. Many academics and historians were saying we'll never experience a president to the grace the Earth like him ever again. So for millennial's they were the golden years, definitely not the next 20 or 30 years since they'll never have a president of his quality again, millennial's peaked in those years IMO.

'Wow' is all I can say to that...I actually read that few times to make sure I was not hallucinating.



2008-2016 were terrible (nothing to do with Obama) and still not over it. It was one step forward after Bush but now 10 steps back with Trump.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

If it's from a personal perspective then the best decade depends on your age to a large extent. For me the 60s were great fun and full of adventure, as I was young free and enjoying adulthood. The 90s were also the start of a great period that continues to today, as I retired, had my family reared and mortgage cleared with all the time in the world to enjoy life.


From the country's perspective the 40s to the 80s in Ireland was difficult with poverty, depravation and unemployment very prevalent. Only in the 90s did the average person begin to benefit from any level of prosperity.


Musically the 60s kind of washed over Ireland but the 70s and 80s were superb.

Sleepy

I did my Leaving Cert, turned 18 and started college in 1998 so yeah, I've extremely fond memories of the time.

Part-time jobs were plentiful, paid reasonably well and were easy enough to come by that you didn't have to stay anywhere you were treated badly for long...

Music was great: Radiohead, The Verve, Jeff Buckley, Massive Attack, Belle & Sebastian, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers, The Prodigy and Foo Fighters were all at their height of their powers... Blur, Oasis and most of the britpop scene were moving onto their "difficult third album" phase but the radio still played their good stuff from the previous few years, U2 were still coming out with decent stuff and even Bob Dylan released his first good album in decades in '97! Big name artists were getting used to adding a Dublin show to their tours and the memories of Feile had kick started a new festival culture that would see rise to Witness/Oxygen and Electric Picnic in the early 00's.

The late 90s and early 00s were probably the best times of my life, though, to be fair, I think most people think that of their college years.

SharpshooterTom

partyguinness wrote: »

'Wow' is all I can say to that...I actually read that few times to make sure I was not hallucinating.



2008-2016 were terrible (nothing to do with Obama) and still not over it. It was one step forward after Bush but now 10 steps back with Trump.

I'm only parroting what some of his supporters have been telling me, Obama had a filibuster majority (albeit brief) when will democrats have a guy with his charisma and those majorities again? Not for a while I suspect, it was once in generation, possibly lifetime, those 8 years were as good as it gets for liberals in America.

super_furry

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

I'm only parroting what some of his supporters have been telling me, Obama had a filibuster majority (albeit brief) when will democrats have a guy with his charisma and those majorities again? Not for a while I suspect, it was once in generation, possibly lifetime, those 8 years were as good as it gets for liberal America.

You do realise this is an Irish forum, right?

SharpshooterTom

super_furry wrote: »

You do realise this is an Irish forum, right?

I'm talking in context of the wider world, because America's wellbeing, particularly economically, does have an effect on us and Western Europe.

super_furry

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

I'm talking in context of the wider world, because America's wellbeing, particularly economically, does have an effect on us and Western Europe.

Nah, you're spouting on about "America liberals" and "diversity" when the rest of us are thinking MD 20/20, Woodies and Hooch and B*Witched. It's like you're obsessed.

partyguinness

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

I'm only parroting what some of his supporters have been telling me, Obama had a filibuster majority (albeit brief) when will democrats have a guy with his charisma and those majorities again? Not for a while I suspect, it was once in generation, possibly lifetime, those 8 years were as good as it gets for liberals in America.

'Obama supporters in 'Obama was the greatest' SHOCK!....:pac:

Sal Butamol

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

I'm only parroting what some of his supporters have been telling me, Obama had a filibuster majority (albeit brief) when will democrats have a guy with his charisma and those majorities again? Not for a while I suspect, it was once in generation, possibly lifetime, those 8 years were as good as it gets for liberals in America.

His presidency will not be remembered well.

Faith+1

Hindsight is one hell of a drug. I remember the 90's very well and everyone used to say it was sh*te and the 80's were the best.

In the 80's everyone said the 70's was the b*llocks. And so on and so on.

In years to come they'll be saying the 10's were the best years of their lives.

SharpshooterTom

super_furry wrote: »

Nah, you're spouting on about "America liberals" and "diversity" when the rest of us are thinking MD 20/20, Woodies and Hooch and B*Witched. It's like you're obsessed.

Erm no I'm not "obsessed", I've barely posted in this thread, just pointing some of the positives of this era, a black (or mixed race) president, LGBT rights, ethnic diversity.

None of which existed in the 1990s, but sorry I let you go back to enjoying b*witched. :pac: