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Ever Fallen Out Of Love With A Band?
(Even Though You Shouldn't)
by Pete Crigler
What happens when you fall out of love with a band? A band that stops making good music or begins making poor decisions that make them look not so great anymore. It’s happened to most of us before, I’m sure. I’ve experienced it firsthand with several bands and even now with bands that are no longer relevant to me, I still find myself tied to them, buying records and giving them a spin even if I know they’re gonna suck. What a conundrum…
Once I was in college in 2004, I devoted myself to music. It was my end-all be-all and I quickly started finding more bands to add to my all-time repertoire, which at that point included Faith No More, Dead Milkmen, Primus, Fishbone, Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam. By the end of my freshman year, I had added the likes of Suicidal Tendencies, Suicide Machines, System of a Down and more to the stack. During this time, these bands were still releasing music, more or less, and most of it was still notable and good. By the time I left college in 2008, I had a more than steady list of bands that I kept up with and would buy every record as it came out, but as time went on, some of these bands would fall by the wayside and some of them wouldn’t come back into steady rotation.
By 2010, I had fallen out with Coldplay. I was a massive fan around 2003 and went back and discovered the rest of the catalogue; I wasn’t that interested in 2005’s X&Y but came back onboard for the follow-up, Viva La Vida. That was a decently good record. Then the next one, 2011’s Mylo Xyloto, came out and I had absolutely no interest at all. None. That’s the moment when I lost the thread with this band. I’ve periodically picked them back up if I found used, cheap CDs or had discs at the library, but I didn’t find anything I liked again such as I did in 2003. Damn shame because they were really, really good for a particular moment.
Similarly with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who became huge in 1997 with “The Impression That I Get.” I was the right age to get hooked onto them and then when they reunited and started putting out records again in 2009, I was on board completely. But by 2011, after two lackluster reunion records, I was gone. It was literally seven years before they came back with another record and I had nothing to do with it. Probably listened to it on streaming and then was like “the hell with this” and that was it with them.
There are plenty of bands that most of the general public have essentially moved away from such as Foo Fighters or Green Day. Yet here I am, album after album, still buying whatever comes out and generally feeling lackluster about each particular one, especially the Foo Fighters lately. I haven’t been thrilled with the Foos since around 2014. Their 2023 album was better, because it was built on grief and mourning, but 2026’s Your Favorite Toy was a huge step backwards. Lousy production, bad cover art, weird (not great) songs and just a general “ehhh” vibe all over do no favors for an album this tacky… but I still went out and bought it at Target the day it came out. C’est la vie.
I fell out with Green Day after 2009. The 2012 trilogy was terrible and where most fans got off the ride but I still kept going; 2016’s Revolution Radio was excellent, 2020’s FOAM sucked ass and might be one of the worst records ever made. 2024’s Saviors was a nice step up but still contained some uninteresting tracks. They can fill stadiums to their hearts’ desire but they really need to refocus in the studio. I’ll still go and buy whatever record comes out, but that’s me.
I can’t say the same about Dave Matthews Band anymore. I became a much bigger fan around 2009 and stuck around all the way until 2018’s Come Tomorrow. I can’t remember being excited about it in any capacity nor did I rush out to buy it immediately. By that point, I had really begun utilizing streaming to listen to a record before I decided to buy it—trying to save money, and it has helped in quite a few places. DMB’s recorded output has been spotty at best since the 2010s and I had lost total interest.
The same can be said for Barenaked Ladies; loved them in high school and then they released “Another Postcard” in 2003… a song about postcards with monkeys on them, it was a kiddie single and I had no interest in that damn song; still don’t. Didn’t listen to the album it came from for years and was justified in my disinterest; it’s not very good. I picked up a few new songs while in college, then got interested in 2010 when frontman Steven Page left. I picked up their album All in Good Time as I liked the first single “You Run Away,” one of their best ballads and best songs in general. Album was okay but the next one, 2013’s Grinning Streak was another I checked out on streaming and wasn’t interested in. I subsequently checked in periodically as new albums were released, but found nothing of note. I had loved this band heavily in 2002 and 11 years later, they were nothing but a footnote.
What happens when you fall out and it’s not because of musical output? I used to love Rage Against The Machine when I was in high school. They were amazing and then over time, I began to ask questions like “What did they do with the money they made?” and “I wonder what types of houses these guys live in?” It stopped feeling authentic to me, it stopped meaning anything. Over the years, guitarist Tom Morello has become his own personal pitchman and it has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way because of how much he likes to talk. I am one of those people and nowadays, if a Rage song comes on that I like, I will still listen to it, but I no longer go out of my way to find Rage to jam to.
Similarly with System of a Down; I didn’t become a big fan until 2005 and that’s when they essentially ceased to be. For years after that, they effectively became a so-so touring attraction, collecting paychecks whenever they felt the coffers were a bit low. They finally got their act together for a 2020 benefit single that was average at best, but I wouldn’t consider myself a diehard fan anymore. Too much time has passed without new material to make me interested anymore.
There are plenty of bands such as Primus, Fishbone, Suicidal Tendencies or the Dead Milkmen that I’m still gung-ho for, even though the new material they do release is scattered and you never know when stuff might come out. I still support them even if I’m not a huge fan of the whole album and that’s the way it’s going to be. They are part of my musical DNA, unlike Dave Matthews or Coldplay.
It’s interesting to see in 2026 that this whole thing of falling out of love with artists has affected their ticket sales. Once-huge artists such as Meghan Trainor, Black Keys and Pussycat Dolls have had to scale back or cancel entire tours because a portion of their fanbase moved on and didn’t want to pay top dollar for overpriced tickets. A lot of media folks are talking about ticket prices and too much for not enough value, but I think a lot has to do with fans moving on. Meghan Trainor’s album sales have shifted dramatically downwards in the last three or four years; Post Malone had done the same until he shifted to country to resurrect his own career, but even he’s suffering low ticket sales. It’s been fascinating to look and see whose fanbase is shrinking and why. Sometimes it’s due to lack of interest; sometimes people move on and just find new things to listen to.
People change and grow up, and so do their musical tastes. It’s always been fascinating to watch an artist’s career with all its ebbs and flows. To be at the peak and then three albums later to not chart at all. I worry what’s gonna happen to the bands that I love. I’ll still buy the next Foo Fighters or Green Day album even though I can’t guarantee it’s going to be as good as their classic stuff. I sure as hell know I won’t be buying anymore Coldplay or even Smashing Pumpkins records, but I might be in the minority in that fanbase. What’ll happen if a Pearl Jam album fails to chart; does it mean it’s time to move on to another band or would you just keep supporting a band or artist because they’ve meant so much to you in your own musical journey?