The 90s produced so much good music, but some of the biggest songs from that era are hated today. In fact, there are plenty of songs from that particular decade that became big hits, but I strongly disliked them from the start.
Keep in mind that this list is purely a matter of opinion! I won’t yuck your yum, especially when it comes to songs that clearly tickled the fancy of a lot of listeners back in the 1990s.
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“Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice
This one-hit wonder was a big deal for a reason, don’t get me wrong. I totally understand why people were all about “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice for a hot minute back in the summer of 1990. However, a few seconds into the song, when the bassline from “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie started to play, I was already over it.
“Under Pressure” is, to me, a perfect song. Capitalizing on the success of another artist’s tune isn’t a good thing, in my opinion. I feel like Vanilla Ice could have turned “Ice Ice Baby” into a charting success without stealing another song’s iconic bassline.
“Every Morning” by Sugar Ray
Alright, maybe I’m a hater. But by the time this song hit the airwaves, similar opening samples had been used by (arguably better) hip-hop artists long before Mark McGrath decided to start making alt-rock flamenco pop tunes with his band.
It’s a little bit overdone. And in my opinion, that intro doesn’t really hit the rest of the song that well, and the rest of the song is pretty solid. Still, I’m apparently wrong for that, as “Every Morning” hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1999.
“Summer Girls” by LFO
The sharp tone of the guitar, Rich Cronin’s little “yeah” at the beginning, the overall production… I really don’t love this song. LFO has more than a few songs on my most-hated list from the 90s, but “Summer Girls” takes the cake for me.
Maybe I’m just salty because this song was the go-to for all the cool kids with frosted tips and Abercrombie & Fitch, and I was a weird little loser who was listening to grunge music far after its heyday was over. Either way, this tune nearly topped the Hot 100 back in 1999, so clearly a lot of people loved it.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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