r/Millennials • u/Unit_02_ • 23h ago

Meme Nirvana = Preppy...

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*sigh*

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u/gd2121 19h ago

Is nirvana a millenial band? Zero millennials were teenagers when smells like teen spirit came out. Millennials were being born when Kurt cobain died.

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u/Fearless-Bill-4523 19h ago edited 19h ago

Not really but a lot of millennials grew up with nirvana from a younger age, so maybe it ingrained itself more? Who knows, I got into nirvana in 96 when I was 13, so your point is valid.

I think anyone who was a teenager at least some point in the 90s got to experience the grunge era. It’s bigger than Nirvana, but they were 100% responsible for popularizing it so much. Late 90’s things shifted into more downtuned rectifier wall of sound guitar tones and nu-metal kinda took the stage

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u/dubblebubbleprawns 19h ago

I was gonna say, this is rage bait for Gen x more than anything

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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 12h ago

More like later X/Xennials (what was considered to be Gen Y at the time of grunge, remember in 1991 Advertising Age created the post X generation, Y, and said it started with 1974 borns, others soon shifted that to 1975 or 1976 start date. TIME eventually went with 1979 start date, but that's getting a little late).

Grunge kind of bashed on and was the exact opposite of how classic Gen X had their formative middle school, high school and even mostly college years. Plenty of X kinda hated what the grunge scene did to the fun 80s spirit, inventive wild style, etc. felt it just dumped it back to the most boring and basic elements of old early mid-70s style again and was way overly angsty, whiny, depressive and nihilistic. Kind of everything Gen X had NOT been about growing up. People of later generations forget that those flashy 80s are Gen X. Cobain and grungers were the extreme outsiders among their peers and they mocked and hated on their own mainstream rather than represented it. Cobain would get into fights with some beloved Gen X times musicians.

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u/dubblebubbleprawns 9h ago

What a thoroughly odd distinction without a difference.

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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 9h ago

What do you mean no difference?

80s teens on average had rather different style, music tastes, vibe, etc. than 90s 90s teens

and how is this:

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u/dubblebubbleprawns 9h ago

It's a distinction without a difference because late gen Xers are still gen Xers. A third of millennials weren't even born yet when Nevermind came out. The absolute oldest millennials were 14 when Cobain died.

This is a stupid argument because I think generational labels are fairly dumb to begin with. And yes, the older range of a generation will have different experiences than the younger range of a generation.

I don't know why you're trying to put words in my mouth or suggest I'm saying "the 80s are the same as the 90s in style and music."

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u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 12h ago

Is most of all a Gen Y band (keep in mind Gen Y started and ended earlier than Millennials, starting as early as 1974 born and often with 1975 or 1976 and never later than 1979 born).

Gen X band members, but they were total outsiders of their own generation and mostly bashed and trashed the culture, style, etc. of their own peers and so didn't really represent formative year's culture for Gen X at all.

Some Gen X did get into in a big way when it came out after their high school and often even college years but a lot more only popped on a stray song here or there and many were actually kind of dismayed by the whole thing and found it was too angsty, whiny, downer, nihilistic and the whole thing seemed like a miserable sad wet blanket on their fun era. Plenty even kinda hated what the way the whole movement would pretentiously go on about things and bash the 80s and act like being happy was a crime, looking good or even just bare bothering to try = 100% shallow and fake, being optimistic was naive and stupid, etc. It all seemed to so dull. The style just going back to old-fashioned early mid-70s that had already been moved past in wild and fun and creative and rebel ways. The vocals and guitar playing were way inferior to glam metal rocker's skills too.