Awesome Music: The entire "Planets" album is severely underrated, but features some of the band's best works with notable mention going to "Until Now". Seriously, just listen to Tim Fluckey lay down those guitar solos and the outro....pure ear-gasm.
Base-Breaking Character: Planets generally divided the base in two; those that thought it was a gross departure from the band's identity and complained that Luke's vocals paled in comparison to that of Mark Chavez's. Then there are those that thought the album was a beautiful and vastly different take on the Adema formula and greatly featured some wonderful traditional rock sounds that weren't featured on the previous two albums. Then there are those that didn't care all together.
Luke Caraccioli is vastly the poster boy of this trope for the band. Coming up on the depature of Mark Chavez as the new vocalist, he was quickly crucified by many of the hardcore older fans for sounding too different and for not having the same dynamic, aggressive sound Mark had. Of course, there were others that thought he had more range and generally a more pleasant voice to listen to and brought a more traditional rock sound to the band. He was also herald as sounding much like Brandon Boyd and Maynard Keenan, a comparison that was either frowned or smiled upon.
Surprisingly, Mark Chavez himself has become divisive within the fandom. There are still many old fans that believe him to have been the embodiment of the band and to have had a dominant presence on the band and for having a great voice. Now however, there are those that can't stand him for leaving the band three times and for generally possessing a questionable attitude towards his handling when it comes to making promises to fans or upholding his duties to the band.
Broken Base: To this day the debate has gone on as to which incarnation of the band people most prefer. There's the Mark era base that still run's prominent to this day, there's the Luke base that in fact exists, there's the Bobby Reeve's era base and then there's the current Tim/Dave/Kris circa that's being upheld by their remaining fan base. Please withhold your opinions which base you're with on Youtube or Facebook as you may find yourself in a massive flame war.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Despite his divisive status today and his questionable attitude, it cannot be denied that Mark Chavez to this day still remains popular in the hearts of many fans. Some fans still hold out hope one day....one day...perhaps he and the band members can get along.
Tim, Dave, and Kris themselves are perhaps the music industry's most prominent examples of the trope. They've stuck it out with the band since it formed, endured not one, but two lead singer departures, being dropped from not one, not two, but THREE record labels, and still standing strong and keeping the fort up. For the money? Nope. For the fame? Nope. For the fans.
"Kill the Headlights" as an album, and Bobby and Ed.
Fan reception to the band's fourth lead singer, Ryan Shuck, has been immensely positive. Fans dig the positive energy Ryan brings to the band, and not to mention the chemistry he has with the band, going way back with Dave and Tim. Ryan's vocals are generally seen as a step up from both Bobby and Luke, and some fans even say he rivals Chavez.
Funny Moments: A majority of the scenes from their "Behind The Making of Unstable" video. Perhaps the funniest moment is Mike Ransom's Precision F-Strike on a broken amp.
"You know what? When other people don't do their fucking job, it's not my fucking fault! I play the motherfucking guitar! Otherwise how would I know what the fuck works? What the fuck? (audible laughing in the background as Mike starts to smile) "You think this is funny don't you? I'm glad you think this is fucking funny."
Mark Chavez singing "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes"
The entire "The Way You Like It" music video. Notables include Tim being asleep the entire video and getting a french fry in his ear and face with ketchup, Dave attempting to get into his own rock concert, Kris's attempts to get into the men's bathroom only to end up in the women's (and peeing in a sink with a girl right besides him), and Mark Chavez springing out of his car during a red light unto a car with two girls and driving away leaving behind his band members. Somehow that feels like a Harsher in Hindsight moment considering he's left the band three times now.
Harsher in Hindsight: Try to watch Kris' Potty Emergency scene in the music video for "The Way You Like It" after the controversy over transgenders and gender-specific bathrooms 15 years later (one girl even smiles at him while he's using the sink as a urinal, making it a little more cringe-worthy).
Memetic Mutation: Unfortunately, even with his controversial status with fans, one will be hard-pressed not to find several comments across any social media the band is on asking "Where's Mark?!" or "Bring Mark back!" and "Adema is no good without Mark!!!!"
Misattributed Song: Some people actually believe it was Linkin Park, not Adema, who sang "Giving In". The fact Linkin Park appeared in the music video for "The Way You Like It" somehow makes this worse. Many Adema fans express their desire to punch anyone in the face that says Linkin Park sang the song when it wasn't them.
Narm Charm: The hilariously awful album art for "Topple the Giants".
Nausea Fuel: The song "Needles" is clearly detailing a heroine addict and constantly talking about sticking needles into their veins. Those squeamish about needles will have difficulty listening to this song. It doesn't help when this is the one song Mark is constantly screaming in an angry voice.
Tear Jerker: "Betray Me" is a pretty heartbreaking track detailing with break up and it sounds like a very one sided relationship at that. "I cannot change the fact, that you're not coming back, so depressed I'm your slave"
"Do You Hear Me" is a song that details someone clearly distraught and bitter about the passing of someone they loved. The last verse leading to the final chorus is pretty soul crushing: "Worked harder for nothing to find you, YOU'RE NOWHERE!!!"
"Remember" is a beautiful but sad song detailing the passing of Dave Deroo's mother who apparently was a very influential figure not just for him, but for that band as a whole.
"Chel" is apparently about Kris Kohl's daughter who seems to have been dealing with quite a troublesome life.
"Speculum" is hands down the most depressing song in the band's track list. It's a somber, haunting, and melodic track about one of the band members' (never specified) situation of a love in their life's decision to abort a child and how they dealt with the problem.
Most tragically, the band itself is one of the most heartbreaking stories of the music scene. It's very apparent the group was very well loved and they did achieve a success most bands like them could only ever hope of achieving, but for all their success, too much got in the way of the band achieving the stardom they deserved from their constant switching of lead singers to being dropped from one too many record labels. The saddest part of it is the band's (Tim, Dave, Mike, and Kris) relationship with Mark Chavez and how the two parties will probably never rectify their once good relationship due to obvious differences. It's a sad tale of what could have been.
What Happened to the Mouse?: The band's second vocalist Luke Caraccioli dropped off the radar after his departure from the band when he returned to his indie band of Rewind Yesterday from 2006 to about 2008 and then flat off the face of the earth when the band split up. No one has heard from him since.
Third vocalist Bobby Reeves was slated by the band to "appear in future projects" with them, but following the band's departure with Chavez and Tim taking over vocalist duties, Bobby hasn't collaborated with them since. However, it appears he's rejoined his old band, Le Ve L and in late 2022, the band re-released their most famous tracks remastered.
Following Mark Chavez's third departure from the band, Ryan Shuck personally spoke with him (the two go way back), and Mark flat out told him he "didn't want to sing the songs anymore". However, it appears via his wife's Instagram that Mark is doing just fine and seems to have settled into his life as full-time father and is happy. This is something, going way back to the days of Unstable, that Mark seemingly wanted most.
