New Miserable Experience

The band's original lead guitarist, Doug Hopkins, 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. 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."{{cite web |last1=Ryan |first1=Jim |title=Robin Wilson On New Gin Blossoms Album Mixed Reality, Celebrating New Miserable Experience On Tour |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimryan1/2019/02/14/interview-robin-wilson-gin-blossoms-new-album-mixed-reality-new-miserable-experience-tour/?sh=23ee04daa312 |website=Forbes |access-date=7 April 2021 |language=en}}

The album's music has been described as alternative rock,{{cite news|url=http://www.longislandernews.com/life-and-style/2018/6/7/gin-blossoms-come-full-circle-with-latest-record|title=Gin Blossoms Come Full Circle With Latest Record|work=Long-Islander News|last=Beach|first=Connor|date=June 7, 2018|access-date=November 3, 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/gin-blossoms-new-miserable-experience-the-dark-history-of-a-nineties-classic-126566/|title=Gin Blossoms’ ‘New Miserable Experience’: The Dark History of a Nineties Classic|date=2017-03-29|access-date=2021-12-27|website=Rolling Stone|last=Hudak|first=Joseph|quote=While Hopkins’ presence is all over New Miserable Experience – he wrote several cornerstone tracks, including autobiographical opener “Lost Horizons,” the Byrds-like “Pieces of the Night” and the Modern Rock Number One “Found Out About You” – Wilson and Valenzuela provided their own songs that further cemented the album as a Nineties alt-rock favorite.}} jangle pop,{{cite news|url=http://www.salina.com/0705c738-cddf-59c2-9a20-b363e43c2953.html|title=The Gin Blossoms define sound of jangle pop|work=Salina Journal|last=Meuth|first=Gary|date=April 27, 2017|access-date=November 3, 2018}} and power pop.

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |last=Anderson |first=Rick |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/new-miserable-experience-mw0000081872 |title=New Miserable Experience – Gin Blossoms |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=May 19, 2024}}

| rev2 = Blender

| rev2score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Young |first=Jon |date=January–February 2003 |url=http://www.blender.com/reviews/review_612.html |title=Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience (Deluxe Edition) |magazine=Blender |location=New York |volume=2 |issue=1 |access-date=May 19, 2024 |page=110 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040220234132/http://www.blender.com/reviews/review_612.html |archive-date=February 20, 2004 |url-status=dead}}

| rev3 = Chicago Tribune

| rev3score = {{Rating|2|4}}{{cite news |last=Herrmann |first=Brenda |date=August 20, 1992 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/08/20/gin-blossoms-4/ |title=Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience (dad/A&M) |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065204/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-08-20/features/9203160160_1_new-miserable-experience-star-gin-blossoms |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite news |last=Rosenbluth |first=Jean |date=August 15, 1992 |title=Gin Blossoms, 'New Miserable Experience,' A&M |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}

| rev5 = Music Week

| rev5score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|first=Alan|last=Jones|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1994/Music-Week-1994-05-07.pdf|title=Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums - Pick of the Week|magazine=Music Week|date=May 7, 1994|page=17|access-date=May 9, 2025}}

| rev6 = Pitchfork

| rev6score = 8.1/10{{cite web |last=Rytlewski |first=Evan |date=March 3, 2024 |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/gin-blossoms-new-miserable-experience/ |title=Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience Album Review |website=Pitchfork |access-date=March 3, 2024}}

| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev7score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |last=Gross |first=Joe |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |year=2004 |chapter=Gin Blossoms |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |edition=4th |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/332 332]}}

| rev8 = The Village Voice

| rev8score = C+{{cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=November 29, 1994 |url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/ts94-94.php |title=Turkey Shoot |newspaper=The Village Voice |location=New York |access-date=September 23, 2015}}

}}

Rolling Stone critic Paul Evans praised New Miserable Experience, saying it "sounds both fresh and highly personal."{{cite magazine |last=Evans |first=Paul |date=December 23, 1993 – January 6, 1994 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ginblossoms/albums/album/109676/review/5943404/new_miserable_experience |title=Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience |magazine=Rolling Stone |location=New York |issue=672–673 |access-date=July 27, 2013 |page=146 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230064400/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ginblossoms/albums/album/109676/review/5943404/new_miserable_experience |archive-date=December 30, 2007 |url-status=dead}} In his review for AllMusic, Rick Anderson called the album "a tight and lean collection of brilliant, edgy pop music". Evan Rytlewski of Pitchfork described it as "a tender and sincere record that made the band famous while they grappled with tragedy."

{{track listing

| title1 = Lost Horizons

| writer1 = Doug Hopkins

| length1 = 3:20

| title2 = Hey Jealousy

| writer2 = Hopkins

| length2 = 3:56

| title3 = Mrs. Rita

| writer3 = Jesse Valenzuela, Jim Swafford

| length3 = 4:25

| title4 = Until I Fall Away

| writer4 = Robin Wilson, Valenzuela

| length4 = 3:51

| title5 = Hold Me Down

| writer5 = Hopkins, Wilson

| length5 = 4:50

| title6 = Cajun Song

| writer6 = Valenzuela

| length6 = 2:56

| title7 = Hands Are Tied

| writer7 = Valenzuela

| length7 = 3:17

| title8 = Found Out About You

| writer8 = Hopkins

| length8 = 3:53

| title9 = Allison Road

| writer9 = Wilson

| length9 = 3:18

| title10 = 29

| writer10 = Valenzuela

| length10 = 4:18

| title11 = Pieces of the Night

| writer11 = Hopkins

| length11 = 4:33

| title12 = Cheatin'

| writer12 = Valenzuela, Hopkins

| length12 = 3:25

| total_length = 45:02

}}

To celebrate the album's tenth anniversary in 2002, a deluxe edition containing an extra disc of demos, outtakes and live performances was released by the label.{{Cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/ginblossoms-newmiserable-2495915568.html|title=Gin Blossoms: New Miserable Experience (Deluxe Edition)|date=2002-11-07|access-date=2021-12-27|website=PopMatters|last=Schabe|first=Patrick}} The Rarities Album was released separately in Abbreviated form in 2010 as Rarities, missing the three cuts from Dusted.

{{track listing

| headline = Reissue bonus tracks

| title1 = Something Wrong

| writer1 = Valenzuela

| length1 = 2:40

| title2 = Slave Dealer's Daughter

| writer2 = Hopkins, Bill Leen

| length2 = 2:32

| title3 = Fireworks

| writer3 = Hopkins

| length3 = 3:05

| title4 = Keli Richards

| writer4 = Hopkins, Leen

| length4 = 3:04

| title5 = Just South of Nowhere

| writer5 = Valenzuela

| length5 = 3:26

| title6 = Angels Tonight

| writer6 = Hopkins

| length6 = 3:33

| title7 = Blue Eyes Bleeding

| writer7 = Hopkins

| length7 = 2:30

| title8 = Soul Deep

| writer8 = Wayne Carson Thompson

| length8 = 3:05

| title9 = Heart Away

| writer9 = Wilson

| length9 = 2:21

| title10 = Cold River Dick

| writer10 = Wilson, Valenzuela, Leen, Phillip Rhodes, Scott Johnson

| length10 = 1:16

| title11 = Christine Irene

| writer11 = Wilson, Valenzuela

| length11 = 2:42

| title12 = Number One

| writer12 = John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Neil Innes

| length12 = 2:35

| title13 = Idiot Summer

| writer13 = Wilson

| length13 = 4:13

| title14 = Back of a Car

| writer14 = Alex Chilton, Andy Hummel

| length14 = 2:43

| title15 = Allison Road '94

| note15 = Remix

| writer15 = Wilson

| length15 = 3:22

| title16 = Hold Me Down

| note16 = Live

| writer16 = Hopkins, Wilson

| length16 = 4:55

| title17 = Hey Jealousy

| note17 = Live

| writer17 = Hopkins

| length17 = 3:57

| title18 = Mrs. Rita

| note18 = Live

| writer18 = Swafford, Valenzuela

| length18 = 4:20

| title19 = 29

| note19 = Live

| writer19 = Valenzuela

| length19 = 4:07

| title20 = Movin' On Up

| note20 = Live

| writer20 = Jeff Barry, Ja'net Dubois

| length20 = 2:57

| title21 = Folsom Prison Blues

| note21 = Live

| writer21 = Johnny Cash

| length21 = 3:08

| title22 = Pieces of the Night

| note22 = with piano ending

| writer22 = Hopkins

| length22 = 4:20

}}

• Tracks 1–3: from Dusted (1989)
• Tracks 4–6: from Up and Crumbling (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
• 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 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, California

• Robin Wilson – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Doug Hopkins – guitars (Credited for performance and writing, uncredited as an active bandmember)
• Jesse Valenzuela – guitars, mandolin, background vocals, lead vocals on "Cheatin'"
• Bill Leen – bass guitar
• Phillip Rhodes – percussion, drums

• Robert Becker – piano on "Until I Fall Away" and "Pieces of the Night"
• C. J. Chenier – accordion on "Cajun Song"
• Robby Turner – pedal steel guitar on "Cheatin'" and "Cajun Song"

• Producers: Gin Blossoms, John Hampton
• 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

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for New Miserable Experience}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|artist=Gin Blossoms|title=New Miserable Experience|award=Gold|relyear=1992|certyear=1994|access-date=November 7, 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|artist=Gin Blossoms|title=New Miserable Experience|award=Platinum|number=4|relyear=1992|certyear=1996|access-date=November 7, 2021}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

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Category:Gin Blossoms albums

Category:1992 albums

Category:A&M Records albums

Category:Albums produced by John Hampton (music producer)