5 Responses to “Whatever: The ’90s Pop and Culture Box”

1. Mark Hellman 10/03/09 20:57

   

   im usually a big fan of the 80s music (thats when MTV used to play videos )the 90s decade was musically ruined by garage bands that couldnt sing for ****. quite to the contrary, the 90s had some decent songs …. its just not featured on this box set (whatever)
   Rating: 2 / 5

2. LITTLE RICH KID 10/03/09 20:58

   

   Were was unsane’s “Scrape” Or Tupac. There missing on this box:(

   Only good songs

   Thunder Kiss 65: White Zombie
   
   Buddy Holly: Weezer
   
   O.P.P: Naughty By Nature
   
   Under The Bridge: The Red Hot Chili Peppers

   Bad songs

   Too many to list, Come on “Birthday cake” “Jump” What the!!!!! This is a list of 1 hit wonder losers, Come one these songs were bad when they first came out. Theres hardly any jazz or blues. Hardly any rap. Why were there no non-hit bands on here. Faith no More should have been on here, So should have Sublime

   And why is Duran Duran on here?????
   Rating: 3 / 5

3. Dorrie Wheeler 10/03/09 22:23

   

   I think that the idea of this set is good. Being that it is titled “Whatever-The 90’s Pop and Culture Box,” I felt that it would aim to embody the culture of the 90’s more. Okay, grunge killed the hair bands. I couldn’t find any Nirvana, Pearl Jam, or even Sound Garden on the set. Then the alternative groups like Green Day, or Smashing Pumkins weren’t here. Rap also got big. Hammer is here with “U Can’t Touch This,” but the rap artists who defined the 90’s–Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Puff Daddy, Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. are nowhere to be found. Back the the pop culture thing. The later 90’s were ruled by the pop artists–The Backstreet Boys, *Nsync, Britney Spears, 98 Degrees and Christina Agularia are not here. Neither is Sugar Ray.

   Okay now that I have harped on what’s not here I will discuss what is here. There are some very cool songs by groups that can be considered one hit wonders. “Love Fool” by the Cardigans which was featured on the “Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack,” “Steal My Sunshine” by Len, “I Touch Myself,” by the Divinyls, and “Sex and Candy” by Marcy Playground.

   There are also a lot of party favorites here like, “Jump Around” by House of Pain, “Groove is in the Heart” by Dee-Lite, and “Opp” by Naughty By Nature.

   This is a pretty cool 90’s set. It also includes songs by Red Hot Chili Peppers, REM (although not a real popular song like “Losing My Religion”), Jewel, Tori Amos, and En Vogue.

   Another tidbit–the set includes the song “I’ll Be There For You,” by the Rembrandts, the theme song from “Friends.” If you think about how much money you would spend buying these one hit wonder songs on there own this set doesn’t even seem that expensive.
   Rating: 4 / 5

4. Kevin Wollenweber 10/03/10 00:47

   

   Well, although my opinions and assumptions are always inaccurate, I thought I’d comment on what I’ve heard thus far of the 7-CD WHATEVER; 90′S POP CULTURE BOX, which still has me reeling from the overpowering aroma of coffee beans strewn all over its strange front cover!!

   Actually, the only comment I could make here is, well, what happened to Rhino’s sense of humor? When they looked at the 1970’s, their collective tongues were jammed so far into their cheeks that, well, I bought it just because the track list of the first two or three disks was thoroughly laughable, emphasized further by the advertising line on the sticker for the shag carpeted cover, stating something like “the decade that just won’t go away!” Even moments of the ’80’s box had me snickering!

   But, I have to again boldly restate my original assumption that those doing the compiling here were too emotionally attached to the decade to step back and find those sometimes embarrassing one hit wonders and include ‘em hereon. Instead, we have disks full of material that definitely powered the playlists of alterna-rock stations and, now, will keep such stations going, powered on mere nostalgia. Instead of having fun with the output of the decade, it seemed as if Rhino’s people just couldn’t step on any toes at all…or maybe they were so charged with the aroma of those coffee beans! Wow, that smell was embedded in my nostrils all night long, and yesterday was an extremely hot ‘n, so you could imagine my reaction as I peeled back the shrink-wrap!!

   Yet, when you think of big chart yuks of the decade, you certainly don’t think of Michael Penn, Ani DiFranco, They Might Be Giants or even Sinead O’Connor covering Prince, no matter what you think of her politics!! And where oh where are all the real “pop culture” references? Did someone just think that the theme from “FRIENDS” was enough? What happened to “THE SIMPSONS”, “BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER” and so many other bits of media? I buy these expansive, expensive things so that I could have that treasury that tells me much about the decade, like VH1’s smartass wrap-ups of decades past. Oh, I do recall that, during that decade, there seemed at times to be such a cause-consciousness and need to “understand” each other upon coming out of the excesses of the Me decade; so I get the hint of a more serious approach to this set, but the Me of the ’80’s did indeed continue and we got some songs on the pop charts that were the complete opposites of what is included on these disks!! If the ’70’s box, for example, was compiled with these sensibilities, we would have instead gotten seven disks that included songs that were played on the more inventive sides of radio, including how rock slowly morphed into prog, then punk and post-punk as the ’70’s closed. But, as I’ve said, that was not the aim of that collection and paying homage to the ’90’s should *NOT* have been the goal of this box either!!

   Oh, and forgive my cluelessness, but what *WAS* the pungent coffee-flavored jacket supposed to represent? I heard snickers from the J&R Music World staff as I brought the set up to the checkout, and I felt the cover and just returned a weak snicker or two, but wow, I finally understand now *WHY* they were laughing!! It’s a shame, therefore, that the ’70’s box didn’t have an incense-scented cover instead of the matted shag smiley face design!! I’m pondering how long it will take before the crystals or actual coffee beans lose their scent entirely. Maybe this is a rare instance where I should have waited until the original cover was phased out!! Caffeine addicts take note!
   
   Rating: 2 / 5

5. Graboidz 10/03/10 01:13

   

   You know the old saying “If you remember the 60’s, you probably weren’t there”? I don’t remember the 60’s and I wasn’t there. I do however remember the 90’s very well, but for the life of me, don’t remember the majority of the tunes found in this box set.
   
   I loved the “Have a Nice Decade” 1970’s box set, and the “Omigod” 80’s box set. They really brought back some great memories, and introduced me to some new music I missed the first time. I expected more of the same with the 90’s, but was horribly disappointed.

   This isn’t a “greatest hits” box, actually you could boil all of the hits down to 1 CD with what is presented here. You may recognize several bands found here, but rest assured you won’t be hearing any of their major tunes, usually the B-side….if your lucky. For the most part the music that is not considered a Billboard hit is utterly forgettable, usually falling into three catagories:
   
   1. Screechy-nails-on-the-blackboard female vocalist accompanied by punk band
   
   2. Tired sounding Prozac addict barely awake for recording session.
   
   3. Rap and Hip Hop “sampling” 1970’s tunes and adding new lyrics.
   
   The screechy sound wears real thin, real quick!
   
   The tired sounding Prozac guy sound can work for some bands/songs…but after 3 disks of steady listening, you want to jump off a building.
   
   Rap…..seriously, can someone please tell me how the songs presented here by Busta Rhymes and Ice-T fall into what anyone would call “music”?? I felt as if I were being punished and yelled at when any of these songs popped on. I don’t think the audience for a Busta Rhymes tune is dropping any cash for this box set, so why include it?

   I tried to convince my wife that the 90’s weren’t a bad decade musically before ordering this box set. After listening to this box, I’m almost inclined to agree with her. But, I remember so many great songs and artists from the decade, most of which aren’t included here, that I still hold out some hope for a great 90’s compilation. Save yourself the $$$$ and just order some Billboard Greatest Hits, or NOW That’s What I Call Music disks instead.
   
   
   Rating: 1 / 5