This is what I came here to say. I had missed all of their early mass-media exposure, but one day I stumbled across them (via the [pre-YouTube] Internet…I might have had a completely different reaction if my first exposure was the “Bring Me To Life” video) and completely fell in love with the Fallen album. I learned more about them and was intrigued about how they had started out as two kids (Amy Lee and Ben Moody) who met on a Christian retreat and went on to record a few EPs and an album on an indie label before hitting it big, which I also enjoyed, if a bit raw and darker.
The duo were (supposedly) not a romantic couple, but within a few months I found out that Ben Moody left the band after Amy Lee became involved with the lead singer of Seether. What little I bothered to learn about the situation seemed extremely juvenile, and it just completely put me off. And The Open Door sucked.
I still listen to Fallen and the early indie stuff every now and again, but I couldn’t care less about what they’ve been doing recently.
10,000 Maniacs - whom probably a few younger dopers have never even heard of. At that time they first got (mildly) popular in the mid-80s, pop music was awash in synthesizers, samplers, and snarky irony. This band was one of the first neo-folk rock bands (a genre that later became known as “alternative” or “college radio”) featuring lots of jangly guitar work and super-earnest social commentary lyrics. It was different, fresh, unique. I loved it.
Only trouble was… I grew up in western New York, in Buffalo (where the Maniacs orginally played as a bar band before they went national) and went to college near Jamestown (where all the band members were from.) And seeing as neither Jamestown or Buffalo are huge towns (and have few nationally known pop groups come from there), you run into a lot of people who’ve known the band or seen them at their early performances. The one thing everybody agrees on is that lead singer Natalie Merchant is one first-class, grade-A beee-yatch. The “C” word actually got used, even by women (whom I tend to think use that word a lot less frequently than men.) And then I go see the band in concert a few times, and happen to meet Natalie a few times, and she does nothing to dissuade me of that assessment. I lost interest in them.
As for TV shows, I absolutely loved Robot Chicken when I first saw it, but it got old fast. Currently, my interest in the Chelsea Handler Show is waning fast.
I never got so far as trying to follow these as a series, but I read one of them and, although I did not love it (and did not warm to the heroine much) I found it fairly enjoyable and well plotted - so I started to read another, and absolutely hated it! I gave up in disgust after just three or four chapters. I am afraid that I cannot remember the actual titles, but maybe it is just some this series are a lot better than others. (I detested the second one so much, though, that I have no desire to explore them further.) I do not think the problem had anything to do with the heroine’s boyfriend (I don’t recall her having a steady in either). So far as I can recall, my main problem with the second was the absurd nature of the crime being investigated.
I also gave up on Patricia Cornwell. The boyfriend dead/alive/dead/alive bit, the lesbian helicopter pilot niece with the 250 IQ who’s bored by the FBI so she starts her own private security company and is a bazillionaire by the time she’s 25 – what’s her name again? Mary Sue?
When Pulp Fiction first came out, I literally could not get enough of the film and its director. I saw the thing seven times in the theater, and when it came out on VHS, I probably watched the thing at least another ten times within the span of a year. It also spurred me into checking out Reservoir Dogs, and again, in a year’s time I probably watched that movie a bare minimum of twenty times. Of course, when they first came out on DVD, I snatched them both up immediately, and watched each another couple of times. Jackie Brown was released on DVD at the same time, and I watched it once, and enjoyed it, though not to the same degree as I did his first two features.
And then, about a year later, some friends wanted to watch Pulp Fiction, and I found it actually grating to watch. It was as if every single character’s lips were moving, but the voice coming out of their mouths was that of QT. I started wondering why literally every one of his characters had to be maniacally obsessed with obscure kung fu movies and women’s bare feet. From then on, I pegged Tarantino as a depressing one trick pony, and started actively hating on the man’s oeuvre.
And then: Cut to not quite a year ago, I sat down to grudgingly watch Inglourious Basterds, and something unexpected happened: I found myself compelled and charmed. In short, I was tentatively climbing back on the QT bandwagon. And just two weeks ago, I finally sat down and watched both volumes of Kill Bill, two movies I had literally no desire to ever see upon their initial release, and I really, really enjoyed the heck out of them (especially the first volume). Now I’m officially once again a Tarantino backer, and am rather looking forward to seeing Django Unchained when it’s released to theaters.
Oh, and now I definitely need to watch Death Proof, though the reviews I’ve read have been decidedly mixed.
When I was just really discovering musical theatre beyond the stuff I knew as a kid (which was mostly Rodgers & Hammerstein) he seemed like the god of music. It was so dramatic and different from the stuff I was used to and seemed so much cooler. Evita was my favorite. Phantom of the Opera was probably second, then Sunset Boulevard, then Cats. I had a compilation that included some songs from other shows and I just about wore it out listening to it.
Now… well, I like better music, I guess. I see what all the theatre snobs were talking about. Andrew Lloyd Webber seems so, so cheesy and overwrought. I still like a few of the songs and will listen to the full shows occasionally out of nostalgia… and I still kind of love Evita, but not nearly like I used to. The rest, aside from a few songs, I can hardly stand them. I certainly can’t sing Phantom of the Opera in its entirety anymore.
Me too, partly because I really enjoyed her singing with the 10,000 Maniacs (although I don’t listen to them very often anymore) and partly because for a while, she was the most physically attractive woman in all popular music…
(I saw a photo of her recently, and she has put on a LOT of weight, but she is still a true stunner, albeit a pudgy, older-looking one)
Back before she went solo, it was pretty common to hear tales of her scolding her concert audiences for being too rowdy. Because god forbid someone actually vocalizing the pleasure they derive from one of her songs. I also kind of found it humorous when she publicly decreed that the Maniacs would no longer perform Cat Stevens’s “Peace Train” after he expressed sympathy for the Salman Rushdie fatwa. Wonder how long that lasted?
I think it was mostly because there was a huge gap of time between Fallen and The Open Door. I also discovered Nightwish in that gap, after which I could never listen to Amy Lee without thinking her a sad imitation of Tarja.
Pink Floyd for me. Huge fan in HS, (late 80’s), went to their Momentary Lapse Of Reason concert, also went to Roger Waters Radio K.A.O.S., had all the albums, etc. By the time college was over I stopped completely. Not even sure why, other than the OP’s simple “burned out” explanation.
Now? I think the only song I have on my iPod from them is Fearless.
I know they took track off of “In My Tribe” after that but I couldn’t tell you if they ever played it again live. It was just a cover anyway so I wouldn’t be surprised if they stuck with the boycott. I used to be a big Merchant fan and, while I’ve nothing against her, I get the impression that an evening with her would get tedious in a hurry once the initial novelty wore off.
Completely agreed about Piers Anthony. Getting turned off to him was like flipping a switch. I can’t even bother with the Incarnation books any longer – Death & War are okay but not good enough to keep around the house.
Back in the day, I went through the standard Pink Floyd phase. Albums, posters, books, etc. Then one day just sort of dropped it. I’ll still listen to a song on the radio but I haven’t put in a PF album or watched The Wall or anything in forever. I’m thinking this is the normal progression for most “fans”.
sigh Kenny G. Yes, you heard me. I was romantically involved with somebody when he first became noticed, the music seemed pleasant, and the soprano sax seemed unique. It became quickly apparent that every tune sounded exactly like the previous tune. Luckily, I only bought his first album.
The Doors. There was a period in high school – probably between junior year and senior year – where I thought Jim Morrison was definitely in touch with something mystical (“break on through” and all that). Then at some point, I got it in my head that he wasn’t mystical, merely a pretentious horndog, and once that thought entered it never left.
David Mitchell, the comedian. I could identify with his awkwardness and old before his time ranting over the state of things today, but in the past three months all i’m seeing is smug, privileged pedantry, and I can’t decide whether it’s overexposure or a side effect of a year under Conservative government reigniting class wars within me Probably both.
I want to mention Jerry Lewis in spite of the fact that it took me years to decide he was useless. Part of the reason was that I was growing up in the process and it took the breakup with Dean to prove to me how much the act was more Dean than Jerry. The telethon put the lid on it for me, though.
I also echo Dennis Miller, and will toss in Bill Maher to boot.
There may have been a brief period when I thought there was something to Joan Rivers, but it was momentary.
Probably both.