In the US, homelessness per capita peaked in the 90s. It remained relatively high afterwards compared to the pre 1980 numbers, and has recently spiked higher in the wake of 2020 and following, but in the 1990s there were a lot of homeless people in the US.

Ah, a fellow 1984 release.

I'm pretty nostalgic for the 90s. Maybe everyone who had at least a halfway-decent childhood feels that way about their kid years, though.

There were a lot of millennials at the time. Still are, it's just that they're pushing 40 instead of 14.

> the poster's lament that he's nostalgic for a time he never knew is one I've heard a _lot_

For sure; the 2011 film Midnight in Paris is a great comedic exploration of this feeling as its central theme. (well, if you can set aside any well-justified reservations about writer/director Woody Allen.)

I agree with a lot of that person wrote. I'm a healthy white guy born in 1970 into a very supportive family in a middle-class town in Canada. I basically won the lottery.

I was a kid in the 1970s, a teenager through the 80's and turned 20 in 1990. I had everything I needed and most things I wanted (eventually). High school was easy and actually fun. University was cheap (compared to now) and I had a blast. Graduating with a degree in comp. sci. in 1995 was bonkers. Opportunities were everywhere.

There have been some ups and downs, but I really don't think I would have wanted to be born any other time or place.

They mention being a teenager then, so a lot of their feelings might come down to "it was fun being a teenager" sprinkled with some effects of late stage capitalism.

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It's interesting to me that many of the comments about not romanticizing the 80's and 90's across all forums reference 'it wasn't that good if you were gay' which would be like 3-5% of the population at the time? We had a society that 95% of people would say was ideal and the only knock is that it wasn't great for a small minority versus now we have a lifestyle that is universally panned...

Its true that it wasnt as good if you were gay, and im glad that its better now.

But, its also true that it was better in many ways that affect both gay & straight people!

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Here’s a list of albums just from 1998.

Mezzanine from Massive Attack, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Big Pun’s Capital Punishment, You’ve Come a Long Way Baby from Fatboy Slim, and Hello Nasty from the Beastie Boys. The K&D Sessions from Kruder and Dorfmeister. Stunt by Barenaked Ladies. Then there’s one of my personal favorites, Mermaid Avenue from Billy Bragg and Wilco.

You mentioned rock. How about Hellbilly Deluxe from Rob Zombie? Follow the Leader by Korn. The New Radicals released Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too. Garbage’s Version 2.0, and Lenny Kravitz 5, and Van Halen III. What’s more rock than Walking into Clarksville by Page & Plant?

Tool, Weezer, Sublime, RATM, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Blink-182 all put out amazing albums from 96-99.

Rose coloured glasses though - I was a teenager at the time.

OK Computer (1997). Mezzanine (1998). New Forms (1997). Peak trip hop and drum and bass. I remember it being pretty great. But yeah, I was like 17, so …

Edit: commenter below with Underworld - 100%.

It was such a great time for fringe musical subcultures.

Black metal was a 1992-1998 thing. It was dead (and many of the genre's leading lights were looking to move beyond it, mostly without success,) by the end of 1999.

Those six years also produced an explosion of experimentation in industrial, ambient, darkwave, and many other niche genres. In some cases, musical and aesthetic boundaries were pushed as far as they can possibly go.

From where I'm standing, the 26 year period from 2000-2026 absolutely pales in comparison to just those few years 1992-1998.

Endtroducing.... (1996)

Second Toughest in the Infants (1996)

In Sides (1996)

Homework (1997)

To name a few. The 90s were great for electronic music.

Wow I've never disagreed harder with an HN comment in my entire life. Counting Crows were a single band that got some radio time in the early 90s. Calling them the big megastars during '96-'99 makes you sound like you weren't alive then. That statement just sounds so utterly ridiculous to me. It's like a narrow-minded European claiming that everyone in the US just eats nothing but hot dogs. Timeless albums from that era:

- Odeley (Beck '96)

- Aenima (Tool '96)

- OK Computer (Radiohead '97)

- Homogenic (Bjork '97)

- This is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about (Modest Mouse '96)

- Stankonia (Outkast '99)

- Kid A (Radiohead '00; began recording in Jan '99)

You were just rage baiting, right? The late 90s were an absolutely legendary time in popular music history.

Edit: Yes, agree with commenter who mentioned Underworld. Didn't mention it because it seemed more niche. But I adore Underworld.

Underworld / Second toughest in the infants

NIN / The Fragile

Radiohead / OK Computer

Daft Punk / Homewerk

All of these are generation defining albums.