watch over each other out in the pit, we already lost a life." and "No lives lost, right?" Drummer Abruscato left Life of Agony after the accompanying tour. His successor was ex-Pro-Pain and ex-Crumbsuckers drummer Dan Richardson. Soul Searching Sun, Caputo's departure, and breakup (1997–2002) Life of Agony released their third album Soul Searching Sun in September 1997. It marked a slight change of style for the band. The album charted at No. 157 on the Billboard 200, slightly lower than the band's previous effort; however, the lead single "Weeds" peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, and lingered on the chart for over 3 months. The second single, "Tangerine", would peak at No. 37 on the same chart. Despite the growing success of "Weeds" and the band's mainstream attention, Caputo departed the band shortly after the release of Soul Searching Sun in September 1997. Caputo was struggling with internalised gender dysphoria and was becoming disillusioned with the masculine image of herself she was faking at the time. "What good is my success if I can't even enjoy my fucking soul and my body?' I wanted to come out then, but failed miserably and didn't have the courage or the knowhow. I didn't know what to do." Caputo decided to distance herself from the band completely; "It took me to quit the band because I wasn't being true to myself. I had to get away from my band, the label, everyone I worked with." At the time, the band did not understand Caputo's reasons for wanting to quit the band, with Alan Robert saying, "She just [told the band] she was in too much pain to continue." The band then toured with ex-Ugly Kid Joe singer Whitfield Crane, went back into the studio, and kicked Crane out of the band in the span of one year. They contemplated moving Robert to vocals and guitar and adding former Stuck Mojo bassist Corey Lowery, but decided they did not want to continue under the Life of Agony banner without Caputo; thus, they decided to split in 1999. Robert started Among Thieves with former members of Biohazard and the rest of the band started Stereomud with Erik Rogers on vocals, both not straying far from Life of Agony's style. A live CD with the band's unplugged performance at the Dutch Lowlands Festival from 1997 was released in 2000. First reunion