🎶 ALBUM VAULT #236 🎶
Back to the concert journey…
Gin Blossoms – New Miserable Experience — 10/10
💿 Black Vinyl
I LOVE THIS ALBUM.
I LOVE THIS BAND.
I saw Gin Blossoms years ago at a bar gig here in Illinois, and what a show. No giant production needed. Just song after song after song and you suddenly realize how many great ones these guys have.
New Miserable Experience was the album that broke them wide open. It came out in 1992, eventually reached #30 on the Billboard 200, and went on to sell millions.
And this track list…
“Hey Jealousy” — #25 Hot 100
One of those songs where the first few seconds come on and I’m immediately in.
“Found Out About You” — #25 Hot 100 and #1 Alternative
Maybe even better.
“Until I Fall Away” reached #13 on the Modern Rock chart, and I’ve always loved it.
Then there’s “Allison Road,” “Mrs. Rita,” “Pieces of the Night,” “Hold Me Down”…
And “Lost Horizons.”
Oh hell.
IT’S ALL GOOD.
There’s also a sad piece of the story behind this album. Guitarist and songwriter Doug Hopkins wrote “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You,” but was out of the band before the album became huge. He died in 1993, just as those songs were taking off.
That jangly guitar sound, Robin Wilson’s voice, those hooks… this album is basically early-’90s alternative/pop-rock perfection for me.
And hearing these songs live in a BAR?
That was FUN.
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