I think 'objectively worse' is a bit much. There were a few things about the 90s festivals that I think were better, and they are the festivals that made me fall in love with the place.
The diversity of the crowd seemed greater back then, I remember in 2008 - my first visit after they built the fence - it was quite noticeable that the crowd was more white than it used to be.
It was also a lot easier to get in, score, find somewhere to camp.
For sure I'd agree that it couldn't stay that way, and there are more improvements than compromises today, but it's definitely not all one way traffic.