Not sure if this belongs in this section or the section about Devin Townsend, but to be safe, I'm putting it here.

Well...
I used to be obsessed with Devin Townsend. Like, to the point that it was the only music I was listening to. And I was listening to it for several hours every day.
And it was great, I never got tired of it, and I just thought it was the best music there was. Ocean Machine was my definite favourite; when I heard Seventh Wave, it was just like... wow. Inevitably though, I began listening to other artists and less Devin. I still liked it, and listened to it on a daily basis, but my attention had shifted away from it.
Now I'm barely listening to it at all. Until the other day, when I listened to Physicist the whole way through to get me through one of the last periods of school, I hadn't listened to any for several weeks. I can't it enjoy the way I used to, I mean, I used to get a real kick out of listening to Funeral/Bastard/TDOM, now I can't stand to listen to it at all. I thought a while ago that maybe not listening to it would allow me to enjoy it again, but it's done nothing.

My question is this (and also for people who think the above is tl;dr): have you ever really enjoyed an artist's music, but then stopped being able to enjoy it after a while? If you have, did you manage to find a way to resolve the problem?
I don't know why this bothers me so much... I mean, there's always SYL. I still enjoy SYL as much as I used to, if not more. It's just the solo stuff that's the problem, I think because of his production style.
So, halp plz?

[Octillus]

I definitely go through phases of listening to pretty much only dev and then anything else that touches my whims, but I almost always come back to Dev.

If you don't, man that's your choice and taste, but as a Dev fan, I feel really bad for you

[swervedriver]

Tastes change. I've had the same with Rush, Hammerfall, Nightwish, Boston and some other bands. Eventually I'll either come back to them or not, and it doesn't really matter whether I do or not. If some music doesn't give me what I'm looking for, then I listen to something else.

I don't know why this is a problem for you. If some music stops resonating with you, why is that a bad thing?

Yeah, I've had the same thang happen, but the last 3/4 years I've been stuck to what I listen to. Sometimes I put on music I listened to ages ago and find it awesome. I've barely listened to Devin/SYL the past few months but I still love his music even if it's super-rare. You can't force yourself to like music, take a break for a few weeks from his music and then try again. For example I can't listen to OM if the weather is good and shit, so I have a complete listen-through only like every second month or something. All different kinds of music have different energies and moods. Take a break and listen to something else, yo.

I often abuse Devin's music and especially SYL to the point I can't enjoy it for a very long while. The longes perioid was six months, I think. I often worry too if it will come back ever. But it always has, sooner or later, with other music too.

And like swerve said, tastes change. I've discovered new music that takes more of my attention. And when I saw Dev live I realize he is only human too (although with some godly attributes nevertheless). That took something away from my relationship to Devins music but it also gave something new to it.

ANYWAY, I've noticed if I listen to music when I run or bicycle, that music starts to give me a really good feeling every time I hear it. Maybe my brain associates it with the adredaline rush I get when I'm doing that stuff, I dont know.

Once I hadn't listened to Terria for quite a while. I hadn't been running for a while either. I put Terria playing and went for a run and I ran the whole thing (4,5km) as fast as I could and didnt feel tired a single second. Not even after it. And Terria hadn't never sounded so great.

Swervedriver:
It's a problem because I still like the music, but I can't enjoy the same way I did. Yeah.
Thanks for your responses, everyone.

I think it really depends on where you're at in life. Dev fans are a complicated breed. Our moods change constantly. I think that's why we like his music so much, because it covers so much ground. Sadly, it doesn't cover ALL ground.

I rarely listen to OM. The mood has to be perfect, because it's probably the most emotionally complicated record for me to listen to...ever. Take some time off. You'll learn to appreciate it again when you pick it back up. The sucky thing is, it will never sound as cool as it did the first few times you heard it.

It's normal, it happens. I'd still be spinning Neil Diamond, Simon & Garfunkel, ABBA, The BeeGees & Hall & Oates vinyl non-stop on my record player if my musical tastes remained the same throughout the years.

It's good to grow and discover new music.

By the way, Bridge Over Troubled Water is one of the most beautiful songs ever. EVER.

I'm probably echoing the same response an extra time, but tastes change. Typically (I don't remember where I've heard this or even if the stats are reliable), women continue to change their tastes gradually and by significant degrees throughout their lives, while men tend to change their tastes frequently as teenagers, but eventually settle on a particular taste-range in their early twenties and stick with that for most of their adult lives. That having been said, it hasn't really been my experience.

I like lots of different styles of music, and I hadn't listened to Dev for maybe a month or two until the other day. I find that the music in which I got very emotionally involved tends to come back up every now and then, because actually I still like it a hell of a lot. It's just not an every day staple anymore. Don't force your tastes--you'll (probably) regret it.

[swervedriver]

Swervedriver:
It's a problem because I still like the music, but I can't enjoy the same way I did. Yeah.
Thanks for your responses, everyone.

Well yeah, exactly. I still like Nirvana but I don't enjoy it the way I used to 15 years ago. Like soundsofentropy says above, don't force your tastes. It'll come back again. Pretty sure Dev won't be offended if you skip listening Earth Day for a couple of days.

I have a similar issue in that I will obsess over the same artist and listen to their music for long periods at a time, and then move on to another artist (regardless of genre) to full in the desire for something new. Even if I have a bunch of new albums to listen to and enjoy, eventually I just go back to that repetitive comfort zone, and I find this has become all the more true in the last couple of years where I will buy a new CD (even one I've looked forward to) and I'll be lucky to listen to it more than twice (maybe three times) over the course of the year; so much for variety.
There are some bands I can go easily back to, and find that their impact isn't lessened. Likewise, there are some bands that I can no longer listen to the same ever again, as either I’m impatient or worse - bored.
Metallica and Slayer are (and in a way always will be) my favorite bands; yet with Metallica I grow more apathetic to them every day, and find their albums pre-1995 less as essential art than relics upon my shelf (let’s not mention the rest; I did not bother with Death Magnetic to be honest – a teenage me would hate this, but it was too little, too late, and I cannot care less about what they have to offer in future); Slayer I was just as crazy about, but they too seem to become more banal with every release, and if concerts are as bad (if not worse) than the one I saw in 2007, then I’ll stay at home.
Half the black metal bands I was so obsessed with I don’t care about anymore, come to think of it.
Devin however, I cannot seem to be bored by him. Occasionally I’ll find myself listening to one of his works, stopping it midway and finding something else, or perhaps just listening to one song to satisfy; still, I don’t foresee disillusionment, and I certainly hope it never happens. Celtic Frost/Triptykon are also in the same boat presently.
Anyway, everyone has mood swings, and one’s choice in music is not immune; you just have to make sure to pace yourself with your favorites so they don’t become ordinary. Should take my own advice, really.

If nobody obsessed to that kind of degree in the first place, no-one would ever be disappointed about getting bored. Pretty simple. Or perhaps my mind is too small to appreciate music so fully?

^No, you have a point, but like many things addictive, it's difficult to let obsession go.

It is true that Slayer doesn't perform live so well. Slayer was the band that got me into metal but when I saw them live, and heard Hanneman play so lazy solos even I could have done better, it just killed everything. I wanted to leave but not without my friends so I just stood there for the rest of the show I still like their classics though, and Dave is a great drummer.

Okay. Thanks, all.