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

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

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

, 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 (or first 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. A similar term, "debut ...

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 for their 1992 album, '' New Miserable Experience''. It was written by lead guitarist Doug Hop ...

" entered the top 40. With " Found Out About You" 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 princip ...

, 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 Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

. 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 in late summer 1993 with a new cover without the original Arizona desert photo. This re-release in conjunction with A&M's newfound support of the album. Lead singer Robin 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

jangle pop Jangle pop is a Music subgenre, subgenre of pop rock and college rock that emphasizes jangle, jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop music, pop melodies. The "jangly" guitar sound is characterized by its clean, shimmering and Arpeggio, arpeggiated ...

, and

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

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, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' critic Paul Evans praised ''New Miserable Experience'', saying it "sounds both fresh and highly personal." In his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Rick Anderson called the album "a tight and lean collection of brilliant, edgy pop music". Evan Rytlewski of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' described it as "a tender and sincere record that made the band famous while they grappled with tragedy."

Track listing

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''. * 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 crea ...

'' (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 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 non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

'' * 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, guitar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). They have been described as the "quintessential American ...

tribute album * Tracks 15, 22: alternate versions of songs from ''New Miserable Experience'' * Tracks 16–21: recorded live on May 13, 1993, at Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California

Personnel

Gin Blossoms

* Robin Wilson – lead vocals,

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) *

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. He was originally the vocalist in Gin Blossoms when the band first formed in 1987. In ...

– guitars,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, background vocals, lead vocals on "Cheatin'" *Bill Leen – bass guitar *Phillip Rhodes –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, drums

Additional personnel

*Robert Becker – piano on "Until I Fall Away" and "Pieces of the Night" * C. J. Chenier –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"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 (mou ...

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 with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

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 sugge ...

*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, Tennessee), except: "Allison Road" and "Mrs. Rita", recorded at: AB Recorders (Phoenix, Arizona) 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)