''New Miserable Experience'' is the second studio album by

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Gin Blossoms Gin Blossoms is an American alternative rock band formed in 1987 in Tempe, Arizona, Tempe, Arizona. They rose to prominence following the 1992 release of their first major label album, ''New Miserable Experience'', and the first single released ...

, released on August 4, 1992. The album was released to little fanfare and relatively lackluster reviews. However, nearly a year after its release the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

Hey Jealousy "Hey Jealousy" is a song by American rock band Gin Blossoms. The song was included on the group's debut album, '' Dusted'' (1989), and was re-recorded on their breakthrough 1992 album, '' New Miserable Experience''. It was written by lead guit ...

" entered the top 40. With "

Found Out About You "Found Out About You" is the fourth single from American rock band Gin Blossoms' second studio album, ''New Miserable Experience'' (1992). Written by lead guitarist Doug Hopkins, who was fired from the band after the album, it first appeared on ...

" following a few months later, the album eventually reached multi-platinum status.

Background

The band's original lead guitarist,

Doug Hopkins Douglas Owen Hopkins (April 11, 1961 – December 5, 1993) was an American musician and songwriter. He co-founded Gin Blossoms, a popular modern rock band of the early 1990s, with Richard Taylor. He was the band's lead guitarist and a princ ...

, was fired near the conclusion of the recording sessions for the album, ostensibly for his persistent alcohol problems. His replacement, Scott Johnson, is listed as a member of the band in the liner notes, but did not play on the album. Just as the album was becoming a success at the end of 1993, Hopkins died by suicide. ''New Miserable Experience''s initial release had completely different packaging. The album's original cover artwork depicted the Arizona desert. Several songs on the album were written with references to the area, people, and events surrounding the band at the time, such as "Mrs. Rita", which is a song about a local psychic from the Gin Blossoms' hometown of

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

. The majority of the songs rely on a melody-driven pop style, while the final track, "Cheatin'", leans into country. The album was re-released with a new cover without the original Arizona desert photo, in late summer 1993, in conjunction with A&M's newfound support of the album. Wilson specifically requested artistic control over the new release, recalling, "I did insist that I have total control over the new cover. So what you see on ''New Miserable Experience'', those are all my photographs. I did the layout, I handwrote all the lyrics and I made sure that I had control over that."

Musical style

The album's music has been described as

, and

jangle pop Jangle pop is a subgenre of pop rock or college rock that emphasizes jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop melodies. The term originated from Bob Dylan's song " Mr. Tambourine Man", whose 1965 rendition by the Byrds became considered one of the g ...

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' praised the album, saying it "sounds both fresh and highly personal."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called the album "a tight and lean collection of brilliant, edgy pop music."

Track listing

#"Lost Horizons" (

) – 3:20 #"

" (Hopkins) – 3:56 #"Mrs. Rita" (

Jesse Valenzuela Jesse Valenzuela (born May 22, 1962) is an American rock musician and singer who is perhaps best known as a member of the alternative rock band Gin Blossoms. Valenzuela was originally the vocalist in Gin Blossoms when the band first formed in ...

, Jim Swafford) – 4:25 #" Until I Fall Away" ( Robin Wilson, Valenzuela) – 3:51 #"Hold Me Down" (Hopkins, Wilson) – 4:50 #"Cajun Song" (Valenzuela) – 2:56 #"Hands Are Tied" (Valenzuela) – 3:17 #"

" (Hopkins) – 3:53 #"

Allison Road "Allison Road" is a song by the American alternative rock band Gin Blossoms. Background In 1989, Robin Wilson passed by a sign on his way to El Paso that read "Next Exit Allison Road." The friend with whom he was riding had a sister named Alli ...

" (Wilson) – 3:18 #"29" (Valenzuela) – 4:18 #"Pieces of the Night" (Hopkins) – 4:33 #"Cheatin'" (Valenzuela, Hopkins) – 3:25

Reissue

To celebrate the album's tenth anniversary in 2002, a deluxe edition containing an extra disc of

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

outtakes An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DV ...

and live performances was released by the label. The Rarities Album was released separately in Abbreviated form in 2010 as Rarities, missing the three cuts from Dusted.

Reissue track listing

#"Something Wrong" (Valenzuela) - 2:40 #"Slave Dealer's Daughter" (Hopkins,

Bill Leen Bill Leen (born March 1, 1962) is an American musician from Tempe, Arizona. He is the bass player of the band Gin Blossoms, which he co-founded in 1987 with his longtime friend Doug Hopkins. Leen graduated from McClintock High School in Tempe, ...

) - 2:32 #"Fireworks" (Hopkins) - 3:05 #"Keli Richards" (Hopkins, Leen) - 3:04 #"Just South of Nowhere" (Valenzuela) - 3:26 #"Angels Tonight" (Hopkins) - 3:33 #"Blue Eyes Bleeding" (Hopkins) - 2:30 #"Soul Deep" (

Wayne Carson Thompson Wayne Carson (born Wayne Carson Head; May 31, 1943 – July 20, 2015), sometimes credited as Wayne Carson Thompson, was an American country musician, songwriter, and record producer. He played percussion, piano, guitar, and bass. His most fam ...

) - 3:05 #"Heart Away" (Wilson) - 2:21 #"Cold River Dick" (Wilson, Valenzuela, Leen, Phillip Rhodes, Scott Johnson) - 1:16 #"Christine Irene" (Wilson, Valenzuela) - 2:42 #"Number One" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the Mon ...

) - 2:35 #"Idiot Summer" (Wilson) - 4:13 #"Back of a Car" (

Alex Chilton William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s ...

Andy Hummel John Andrew Hummel (January 26, 1951 – July 19, 2010) was an American bassist and singer-songwriter best known as the bass player of Big Star.

) - 2:43 #"Allison Road '94 (remix)" (Wilson) - 3:22 #"Hold Me Down (live)" (Hopkins, Wilson) - 4:55 #"Hey Jealousy (live)" (Hopkins) - 3:57 #"Mrs. Rita (live)" (Swafford, Valenzuela) - 4:20 #"29 (live)" (Valenzuela) - 4:07 #"Movin' On Up (live)" (

Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kiss ...

Ja'net Dubois Jeannette Theresa Dubois (August 5 – February 17, 2020), known professionally as Ja'Net DuBois, Ja'net DuBois, and Ja'Net Du Bois (), was an American actress and singer. She was best known for her portrayal of Willona Woods, the neighborhood g ...

) - 2:57 #"Folsom Prison Blues (live)" (

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

) - 3:08 #"Pieces of the Night (with piano ending)" (Hopkins) - 4:20 * Tracks 1-3: from '' Dusted'' (1989) * Tracks 4-6: from ''

Up and Crumbling ''Up and Crumbling'' is an EP released by the American alternative rock band Gin Blossoms on October 8, 1991. It was released after the Gin Blossoms signed with A&M Records and, while attempting to create a full-length album, ran into a creati ...

'' (1991) * Track 7: outtake from ''New Miserable Experience'' * Tracks 8-11: from '' Shut Up and Smoke'' (1994); "Soul Deep" also appears on the soundtrack album from the movie ''

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

'' * Track 12: outtake from ''Shut Up and Smoke'' * Track 13: from '' Music from the Motion Picture Wayne's World 2'' (1993) * Track 14: previously unreleased; intended for a

Big Star Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guiar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). The group broke up in early 1975, and reorganized with a new l ...

tribute album * Tracks 15, 22: alternate versions of songs from ''New Miserable Experience'' * Tracks 16-21: recorded live on May 13, 1993 at Solana Beach, CA

Personnel

Gin Blossoms

* Robin Wilson -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

- guitars (Credited for performance and writing, uncredited as an active bandmember) *

- guitars,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, background vocals, lead vocals on "Cheatin'" *

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Phillip Rhodes -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Additional Personnel

*Robert Becker -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "Until I Fall Away" and "Pieces of the Night" *

C. J. Chenier C. J. Chenier (born Clayton Joseph Thompson, September 28, 1957 in Port Arthur, Texas) is the Creole son of the Grammy Award-winning "King of Zydeco", Louisiana musician, Clifton Chenier. In 1987, Chenier followed in his father's footsteps an ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

on "Cajun Song" *

Robby Turner Robby Turner is an American pedal steel guitarist, best known for his work with Waylon Jennings and his contributions to recordings by many other artists. Biography Early years Turner grew up in a musical family; his parents Doyle and Bernice ...

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

on "Cheatin'" and "Cajun Song"

Production

*Producers: Gin Blossoms,

John Hampton John Stephen Hampton (c. 1806 – 1 December 1869) was Governor of Western Australia from 1862 to 1868. Early life Little is known of John Hampton's early life. His death certificate states that he was born in 1810, but other evidence suggest ...

*Engineer: John Hampton *Assistant Engineer: James "Left Of" Senter *Mixing: John Hampton *Mastering: George Marino *Art direction: Barrie Goshko *Design: Barrie Goshko *Photography: Jay Blakesberg, Robin Wilson *Crew: Jim Coleman, Scott Guess, Mike Chappell *Recorded at: Ardent Studios (Memphis, TN), except: "Allison Road" and "Mrs. Rita", recorded at: AB Recorders (Phoenix, AZ) By: Andy Barret ''Original 1992 release'': *Art direction and design: Rowan Moore *Photography: Dennis Keeley *Radiator: Kelly Ray

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Gin Blossoms albums 1992 albums A&M Records albums Albums produced by John Hampton (music producer)