The following three songs from the 1990s were big hits when they were released, but many would likely agree that if they had been released today, they would have flopped. The music world is just too different from what it was like several decades ago. Let’s revisit some classics, shall we?
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana (1991)
This song was so raw and so rebellious in 1991. And it was on the more pop side of what Nirvana had been doing. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” came about during the height of the grunge movement, and it definitely became massively popular because of it. Sadly, the grunge era died with Cobain in the 1990s. I just can’t imagine today’s audiences really resonating with this classic as a “new” song. Though I will say, I hear this song on TikTok enough to know that Gen Z sees the appeal of Nirvana today.
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“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was a Top 10 hit internationally when it was first released, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears (1998)
This entry hurts to include, but there’s no denying it. This is the most late-90s pop song with a sound that is very indicative of the era. I really don’t see “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears making it big as a new song in the 2020s. Pop music just sounds way too different nowadays.
“…Baby One More Time” was nothing short of a megahit back in 1990, though. This pop song hit No. 1 in dozens of countries, including the US, UK, a number of European and South American countries, and many others.
“Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice (1990)
“Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice was a huge hit back in the day, but it makes it to our list of 1990s songs that would have flopped if released today for a reason. This jam came out during the era of early mainstream rap, and it found its success by being at the right place at the right time. Compare this song to modern hip-hop, and everything from the flow to the rhyming schemes just sounds dated. If “Ice Ice Baby” dropped today, it would get dogged on, probably.
Still, this catchy hit was a big deal back in the early 1990s. “Ice Ice Baby” was a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100.
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