When I broke up with my favorite band

Recently, NPR Music asked a question of its readers: When did you break up with your favorite band?

A lot of the comments centered on bands that have been considered pioneers of their genres, but had had some minor (or major) missteps at some point in their careers; bands like The Beach Boys, Radiohead and Weezer.

I started thinking about what act or band really jumped ship for me and my life and one really popped out in my mind.

Mariah Carey

I know, I know, she’s not really that great but, when I was a little girl, I was in awe of her and her music.

I got into Carey around the time that Daydream came out; I was about eight years old. I had fallen in love with the song “Always Be My Baby” and its music video (back when MTV was still showing those). I quickly acquired all of her album, on cassette since this was the ‘90s, and spent the next few years listening to them all on loop, singing along in my living room (back then, I could hit most of those high notes).

Her next album, Daydream, wasn't my favorite; I never loved it quite as much as her earlier work, but still wore it out. Where things really changed for me, though, was on the release of Rainbow. Gone was a Carey that seemed approachable and down-to-earth. All of a sudden, she was a diva and it was all about glitz and glamour. Also, her voice seemed to change. In all likelihood, it probably didn’t, but she was no longer showing off how powerful her voice was, but singing like the pop princesses that were starting to gain popularity.

Someone bought me Charmbracelet either for my birthday or Christmas the year it came out, I only listened to it once. My interest Carey at that point was completely gone. I wasn’t even listening to her old stuff anymore. I think it was the summer after my freshman year of college that I purged myself of all of the music I was no longer listening to, everything I had of Mariah Carey left at that time. The interest has not returned.

With some artists (and this seemed to be the theme of many of the comments to NPR's question), when you fall out of love, you still love and appreciate what they released when they were still good, but ignore new material. With Carey, though, I think I equally outgrew the style of music she performed in the ‘90s as developed distaste for her work in the new millennium. There are a lot of artists that I similarly outgrew, mostly my pop punk phase (think Simple Plan and All-American Rejects).

I can only really think of one case where I've liked a band for a while, hate their new stuff, but still really appreciate what made them great. That band is Weezer. Two years ago, I would have also said Green Day, but I've grown quite weary of all of their work.

So, that's who I've fallen out of love with, do y'all have any artists you've drifted away from?