Most uniquely distinctive years
May 1, 2021 19:02:32 GMT 10
Post by astropoug on May 1, 2021 19:02:32 GMT 10
Whilst most years belong to a distinct cultural era, other years are...weird, to say the least. Often, these years have short-lived trends/fads and other such things that make them feel...weird. So I'm going to be overviewing years that I think are the weirdest and most distinct.
2000
The year when Windows 2000 and ME came out and were relevant for a brief period of time. 2000-2001 school year was the ONLY school year you could see computers being sold with Windows ME. The Dreamcast only existed in the years 1999 and 2000, and the latter year was probably the console's peak in popularity. This was the peak of the Y2K aesthetic with games like Space Channel 5 and Jet Set Radio. This year had a very futuristic, somewhat dark, cyberpunk-influenced aesthetic. The Super Bowl that year had so many internet-related commercials it was referred to as the "dot-com Super Bowl". This was the year the dot-com bubble peaked and burst. The AOL Time Warner merger happened this year. The peak of AOL's dominance soon to come crashing down. This year had so many failed and short-lived tech products like the Mac Pro G4 Cube, Kerbango Internet Radio, and 3Com Audrey. 2000 was also the peak of the whole macho "nu metal/extreme sports" culture that began in 1997, exploded in 1999, and peaked in 2000. You had games like SSX, Jet Set Radio, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 legit becoming some of the most popular and beloved games of the year. Rocket Power peaked in ratings. WWE Attitude Era was at its height. At the same time, this year had a very gritty/dark vibe compared to the lighthearted kid-friendly atmosphere of 1997-1999 (the golden age of teen pop). You had movies like Requiem for a Dream and American Psycho, and music-wise, you had bands like Eminem and Linkin Park blowing up. Even Radiohead had a no. 1 album this year with Kid A. 2000 just had a dark, but also macho kinda vibe to it unlike any other year. Plus, even the year itself felt special being the first year of the millennium.
2006
The only year in history you could get away with using Zunes and watching movies on HD DVD. The rapid rate of technological innovation gave rise to tons of weird things that were popular in, and ONLY in 2006. Even Cartoon Network had their weird and distinct "Yes" look in this year. The Miguzi block also had a rebrand this year (which I personally REALLY don't like, it looked really cheap). The PS3 was in its awkward infancy with PS2 backward compatibility and being the joke of the internet. 2006 was also like the year where Facebook just launched to the public and some people heard of it, but like, it was ACTUALLY obscure and only a few people actually used it. Same goes for Twitter. These platforms would later blow up the following year. Also you had lots of weird phones. The BlackBerry Pearl, T-Mobile Sidekick 3, and LG Chocolate both came out this year. We also had tons of weird-ass videos get big like the smiley Boulevard of Broken Dreams video and Charlie the Unicorn. This truly was the wild west era of YouTube. YouTube was purchased by Google this year. Ironically, their own video service, Google Video, was arguably almost as popular, the 2nd most popular video sharing platform at the time, and a viable competitor, before swiftly declining as Google focused more on YouTube. 2006 also had this really dark vibe. It was like the peak of emo, and you had songs like Welcome to the Black Parade and I Write Sins Not Tragedies, but even songs in other genres like The Funeral (yeah, a hit song LITERALLY CALLED that) by Band of Horses, an indie group, had a very dark and depressive mood.
2007
I've heard John Titor refer to this as the "Dark and Digital" era, and whilst I don't entirely agree with this description (I consider 2004-2006 much darker, ESPECIALLY 2006), I do agree 2007 felt very distinctive. This was the year the iPhone came out. It was weird back then because it didn't have an App Store. It wouldn't get this functionality until 2008. 2007 branding-wise was the weirdest year for Cartoon Network. They got rid of Fridays and replaced it with Friday Night Thunder in mid-2007, which then became Fried Dynamite in late 2007, and then finally Har Har Tharsdays in 2008. They also switched from the Yes branding of 2006-2007 school year to the VERY short-lived Summer 2007 brand, and then the Fall 2007 brand that lasted during the 2007-2008 school year, before switching to Noods during the 2008-2009 school year. Toonami also got rebranded to TOM 3 this year, which was quite divisive. This year continues the Wild West vibe of YouTube, arguably the peak of amateur content on YouTube IMO. Facebook and Twitter were getting more popular; Tumblr just launched, but it still had an old-school vibe. This was like the peak of MySpace. This was also the start of scene culture with bands like 3!OH!3 and Metro Station getting big in this year, but it coexisted with emo culture which was still popular.
2009
This was like the final year of MySpace being popular. IMO, this is the ultimate MySpace/Facebook coexistence year. What makes this year so odd is the mixture of proto-2010s culture like Angry Birds and 3D movies, with clearly 2000s ones. This was the peak of scene culture and crunkcore with artists like Blood on the Dance Floor and Brokencyde being huge. This was also the infamous year of CN Real, which was VERY short-lived due to backlash. The 2009-2010 school year was also like the year you could see Windows XP, Vista, and 7 machines in one day, and it was normal. I guess 2009 is just weird due to it being such a transitional year. Like Pepsi and Nickelodeon changed their logos in this year. Yet there were still 2000s vibes to it. Windows 7 for example still feels like a 2000s operating system (unlike the VERY 2010s Windows 8, which IMO 2012-2013 school year was the DEATH of 2000s culture).
What do you think, and what other years do you consider distinctive, weird, or what have you. Let me know!
2000
The year when Windows 2000 and ME came out and were relevant for a brief period of time. 2000-2001 school year was the ONLY school year you could see computers being sold with Windows ME. The Dreamcast only existed in the years 1999 and 2000, and the latter year was probably the console's peak in popularity. This was the peak of the Y2K aesthetic with games like Space Channel 5 and Jet Set Radio. This year had a very futuristic, somewhat dark, cyberpunk-influenced aesthetic. The Super Bowl that year had so many internet-related commercials it was referred to as the "dot-com Super Bowl". This was the year the dot-com bubble peaked and burst. The AOL Time Warner merger happened this year. The peak of AOL's dominance soon to come crashing down. This year had so many failed and short-lived tech products like the Mac Pro G4 Cube, Kerbango Internet Radio, and 3Com Audrey. 2000 was also the peak of the whole macho "nu metal/extreme sports" culture that began in 1997, exploded in 1999, and peaked in 2000. You had games like SSX, Jet Set Radio, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 legit becoming some of the most popular and beloved games of the year. Rocket Power peaked in ratings. WWE Attitude Era was at its height. At the same time, this year had a very gritty/dark vibe compared to the lighthearted kid-friendly atmosphere of 1997-1999 (the golden age of teen pop). You had movies like Requiem for a Dream and American Psycho, and music-wise, you had bands like Eminem and Linkin Park blowing up. Even Radiohead had a no. 1 album this year with Kid A. 2000 just had a dark, but also macho kinda vibe to it unlike any other year. Plus, even the year itself felt special being the first year of the millennium.
2006
The only year in history you could get away with using Zunes and watching movies on HD DVD. The rapid rate of technological innovation gave rise to tons of weird things that were popular in, and ONLY in 2006. Even Cartoon Network had their weird and distinct "Yes" look in this year. The Miguzi block also had a rebrand this year (which I personally REALLY don't like, it looked really cheap). The PS3 was in its awkward infancy with PS2 backward compatibility and being the joke of the internet. 2006 was also like the year where Facebook just launched to the public and some people heard of it, but like, it was ACTUALLY obscure and only a few people actually used it. Same goes for Twitter. These platforms would later blow up the following year. Also you had lots of weird phones. The BlackBerry Pearl, T-Mobile Sidekick 3, and LG Chocolate both came out this year. We also had tons of weird-ass videos get big like the smiley Boulevard of Broken Dreams video and Charlie the Unicorn. This truly was the wild west era of YouTube. YouTube was purchased by Google this year. Ironically, their own video service, Google Video, was arguably almost as popular, the 2nd most popular video sharing platform at the time, and a viable competitor, before swiftly declining as Google focused more on YouTube. 2006 also had this really dark vibe. It was like the peak of emo, and you had songs like Welcome to the Black Parade and I Write Sins Not Tragedies, but even songs in other genres like The Funeral (yeah, a hit song LITERALLY CALLED that) by Band of Horses, an indie group, had a very dark and depressive mood.
2007
I've heard John Titor refer to this as the "Dark and Digital" era, and whilst I don't entirely agree with this description (I consider 2004-2006 much darker, ESPECIALLY 2006), I do agree 2007 felt very distinctive. This was the year the iPhone came out. It was weird back then because it didn't have an App Store. It wouldn't get this functionality until 2008. 2007 branding-wise was the weirdest year for Cartoon Network. They got rid of Fridays and replaced it with Friday Night Thunder in mid-2007, which then became Fried Dynamite in late 2007, and then finally Har Har Tharsdays in 2008. They also switched from the Yes branding of 2006-2007 school year to the VERY short-lived Summer 2007 brand, and then the Fall 2007 brand that lasted during the 2007-2008 school year, before switching to Noods during the 2008-2009 school year. Toonami also got rebranded to TOM 3 this year, which was quite divisive. This year continues the Wild West vibe of YouTube, arguably the peak of amateur content on YouTube IMO. Facebook and Twitter were getting more popular; Tumblr just launched, but it still had an old-school vibe. This was like the peak of MySpace. This was also the start of scene culture with bands like 3!OH!3 and Metro Station getting big in this year, but it coexisted with emo culture which was still popular.
2009
This was like the final year of MySpace being popular. IMO, this is the ultimate MySpace/Facebook coexistence year. What makes this year so odd is the mixture of proto-2010s culture like Angry Birds and 3D movies, with clearly 2000s ones. This was the peak of scene culture and crunkcore with artists like Blood on the Dance Floor and Brokencyde being huge. This was also the infamous year of CN Real, which was VERY short-lived due to backlash. The 2009-2010 school year was also like the year you could see Windows XP, Vista, and 7 machines in one day, and it was normal. I guess 2009 is just weird due to it being such a transitional year. Like Pepsi and Nickelodeon changed their logos in this year. Yet there were still 2000s vibes to it. Windows 7 for example still feels like a 2000s operating system (unlike the VERY 2010s Windows 8, which IMO 2012-2013 school year was the DEATH of 2000s culture).
What do you think, and what other years do you consider distinctive, weird, or what have you. Let me know!
