The Hardcore Overdogs

Note: In this text, "Happy Hardcore" refers to the 4/4 dance genre of the Netherlands and central Europe; not the breakbeat-infused style with a similar name that was popular in the UK.

In the 90s, there was a common route for people who got into harder electronic music; first being into "radio approved" dance / euro-pop stuff, then getting into more "serious" techno, trance and "rave" music, discovering "happy hardcore" as a tougher variant of it; finally discovering the more popular variant of hardcore and gabber with the likes of Thunderdome and Raver's Night compilations - and then falling into the deep, deep underground of crazed hardcore techno done by stark raving lunatics; industrial strength, drop bass, fischkopf, epiteth, and the rest...

Once situated in this rabbit hole of the trve and disturbing hardcore speedcore and noizecore contingent, its fans rejected the "commercial poser crap" of the music genres they had listened to before, and swore to a steady diet of caffeine, self-isolation, and weekly trips to the few underground record stores (often traversing more than 100 kilometres) to get the 'good stuff' in rapid hardcore.
Because we were mean and evil hardcore freaks, right?

Over time, these "style wars" and their strict fences mellowed a lot, and most hardened gabberheads can admit that the sound of the early Thunderdomes was maybe not as bad at all, or agree to liking a few rave and trance classics.
yet in this acceptance and "reformation" of the hard styles, one particular style is usually left out, and being treated as the odd one out.
And that's the Happy Hardcore productions of the 90s.
Most people would not admit that one could *seriously* like these tunes. on an ironic level maybe, but rationally? isn't happy hardcore much too cheeesy, with the squeaky voices and oh-so-happy melodies and their lyrics of a paradise hidden somewhere, up in the skies of love and bliss?

so let's take a closer look at this.
initially, i would have seconded the amotion above. yet, if you think about it... people are also able to "seriously" revere a lot of pop and rock music, and i do, too.
still, acts like Madonna, the Beatles, New Order, Depeche Mode had some happy, cheerful, maybe even silly songs, too. no-ne would say that this music is just for teenagers and could never be enjoyed in an earnest way.

therefore - "cheese", happiness and trash are not an obstruction to sincere fascination.

and, if you take an even closer look, there are some peculiar particularities in the happy hardcore genre of the 90s.
first, a lot of happy hardcore songs are actually quite hard, rough, fast; for example, the drums sometimes hit harder than in their gabber counterparts, and some of most crazy/energetic/psycho hoover riffs can be found in these tracks.
happy hardcore is able to one up gabber in brutality.

2. all the swirling happy rave stabs and pitched-up vocals can be seen as cheesy trash; but they can also be seen in a different way: as psychedelic, and having a psychedelic feel / effect on the listener.
i think there is an aesthetic link to the 60s / 70s psychedelic, prog-rock and krautrock productions; because these as well often used "childish" sounds, ideas, noises, lyrics, nursery rhymes, novelty song concepts in their songs. yet it was still serious music.
"cheese in" doesn't equal "cheese out".

3. and while we are at the melodic level; believe it or not, but some of the melodies in happy hardcore are actually outstanding and interesting on a music theory level (the composers might have not been consciously aware of this, though). but more on this elsewhere.

so, there is a lot going for happy hardcore, and don't be ashamed to admit that you like these sweet and cute but also vicious and psychedelic songs.
because nothing is more ferocious than a happy and smiling psychopath, right?

10 interesting Happy Hardcore selections from the 90s:

1. Critical Mass - Burnin' Love (2 Da Core Mix)