Editor’s Note: We got a note from another voter regarding the 90’s Bangers Bracket. We neither endorse nor opposite-of-endorse the stance within. Regarding our chosen title for this post: We’re under the impression All Star is going to maintain its lead and advance to the Semifinals. Could still be proven wrong, though.
Hello Stu and crew,
“Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Brackets grab our clicks, direct us where to vote
Guitar’s acoustic, and it is a catchy song
When we’re showerin’, we want to sing along!
Good Riddance doesn’t bang at all, but no one seems to mind
Ballads were the bangers of this time.”
“Good Riddance” and “Wonderwall” are acoustic ballads that have advanced to the Elite 8 of the 90s Bangers Bracket – top 10 for the decade! Let’s say that again: two ACOUSTIC songs are on the cusp of making the Final Four for 90s bangers. These results are in firm opposition to my personal definition of a banger: fills the dance floor with every wedding guest under 45 years old OR gets regularly played at night clubs and people scream the lyrics while drinking/dancing. A banger needs drums and a beat. These two songs basically don’t have drums. To play them, you don’t need drums; you only need a campfire and 3 or 4 guitar lessons.
Green Day has now upset three high level hype-inducing contenders. I personally voted against their song at every turn:
“No Diggity” is a Dr. Dre-featured one hit wonder that still gets spun regularly at weddings and clubs.
“Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” is the most essential boy band party pop song of the late 90s/early 00s era. It is the epitome of a banger by my definition. I would have placed it at #1 overall.
“No Scrubs” is the most popular and biggest banger of the only artist/group that had THREE songs make the 90s Bangers final bracket.
While it’s not fair to strictly pigeonhole “Good Riddance” as an alternative high school graduation song to Vitamin C’s “Graduation,” it really doesn’t offer much beyond that. It’s a catchy campfire song, and people know the words. It makes me wonder what other acoustic songs would have at least won a round or two in this tournament. “Send Me on My Way” by Rusted Root? “All Apologies” (MTV Unplugged version) by Nirvana? “The Chanukah Song” by Adam Sandler?
I’m going to blame quarantine brain as the reason that voters have decided to support “which song would I put on my shower playlist?” instead of “which song is going to get the party raging?”
You need a beat to be a banger,
Eric H.
~ Denver, CO
