You're are right it was actually a busy decade, but I am with Devilsson, you are just basing it all off the US market.

These Days was a monster in Europe, it scored 5? top 10 hits in the UK, it was a huge record. Keep The Faith was big worldwide too. I am not trawling for figures but the albums much have sold upwards of 12 million between them, and I am probably being modest with the figure. Of course Cross Roads in between was a giant seller too.

I really think they were on the cusp of becoming a truly different band, in that I mean something that appealed to the fans and was favoured by the critics. It's My Life changed that, whether for the worse I don't know, but probably.

I am not going to bash the post 2000 output because I can take enough songs I like from it and be content with the past too. However, in the late 90s they could have been anything they wanted, they chose a specific kind of longevity over another that is all.

They are from the US, so I totally get them wanting continued success in their homeland, but without it they may have been better off. Maybe.