Long thread and haven't read every post so forgive me.

Pretty clear to me though it was just the music. They went away from their melodic rock roots and became an adult contemporary band. Seemed like half their albums turned into terrible ballads. They just lost their rock edge.

I stuck with them up through about Have a Nice Day until things started falling off the cliff for me.

It's a shame. Back in the late 80's/early 90's, I'd have listed them in my top 3 favorite bands. Today, I refuse to listen to anything they've done in the past 15 years and I honestly don't think I'd go see them live if they were playing across the street and I could go for free. I just have zero interest these days.

I'll just listen to Slippery and New Jersey and remember the great band they used to be.