Summary

The article discusses the incredible Gin Blossoms album from 1992, "New Miserable Experience," which, despite containing the mega-hit "Hey Jealousy," remains little-known but is worth exploring in its entirety.

Abstract

The article begins with the author's response to a writing prompt about great, little-known songs or albums to listen to. Although initially planning to write about 10,000 Maniacs' "In My Tribe," the Gin Blossoms' album "New Miserable Experience" took precedence. The author recounts their first encounter with the hit single "Hey Jealousy" in 1992 and provides background on its multiple releases. Despite its popularity, the author argues that the rest of the album is also noteworthy and often overlooked. The album's history is intertwined with the tragic story of guitarist and songwriter Doug Hopkins, who struggled with alcoholism and mental illness, ultimately leading to his departure from the band and suicide in 1993. The author expresses admiration for the album's enduring quality and encourages readers to listen to it.

Opinions

"New Miserable Experience" is an incredible album by the Gin Blossoms that is often overlooked despite containing the mega-hit "Hey Jealousy."
The author first heard "Hey Jealousy" in 1992, and despite its multiple releases, the song remains popular to this day.
The album's history is intertwined with the tragic story of guitarist and songwriter Doug Hopkins, who struggled with alcoholism and mental illness, ultimately leading to his departure from the band and suicide in 1993.
The author expresses admiration for the album's enduring quality and encourages readers to listen to it.
The band's lineup for "New Miserable Experience" was Robin Wilson (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Doug Hopkins (guitar), Jesse Valenzuela (guitar, mandolin, background vocals, and lead vocals on "Cheatin'"), Bill Leen (bass), and Phillip Rhodes (drums).
Half of the twelve songs on the album were written or co-written by Doug Hopkins, who was a founding member of the band.
Despite the band's lower popularity compared to contemporaries like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the author argues that "New Miserable Experience" will live forever and is worth listening to in its entirety.

‘New Miserable Experience’ is the Amazing Album You Only Know for One Song

Get to know the whole thing

My first response to merry prankster Buddy Gott’s latest writing prompt, “The Shed a Little Light Music Challenge,” was unsurprisingly about Bruce Springsteen: “Five Springsteen Songs You Don’t Know But Should.” In that piece, I said that my next entry in the challenge would be about the superb 10,000 Maniacs album In My Tribe, but a different album pushed it out of the way, insisting that it come next. If a hunk of vinyl talks to me when I’m stone-cold sober, I listen.

Thus, today I want to highlight a little-known album that, ironically, contains a song everyone knows: the incredible Gin Blossoms record from 1992, New Miserable Experience. If, like me, you still think 1992 was ten years ago, some quick math will shock you: this album turns 32 this year, making it older than both of my children. Time is a cruel master, but while time has taken a toll on me, the album has aged like fine wine.

You may not have ever heard of New Miserable Experience, but you have heard the mega-hit from the album: “Hey Jealousy.” I remember the first time I heard it like it was yesterday. I was at my Army roommate’s parents’ house in Atlanta in 1992, listening to the University of Georgia college radio station on the first Thanksgiving morning I ever spent away from my family. From the opening chords, I was hooked.

A quick side note: some of you fact-checkers may protest that “Hey Jealousy” was released in June 1993, seven months after I claim to have first heard it. A little further research will show you that my memory is not faulty (at least when it comes to important things like music): the band’s most famous song was actually released three different times. The first was on their indie debut album Dusted in 1989, a record that received little attention outside their hometown of Tempe, Arizona. The song was then released twice after the release of New Miserable Experience, first in 1992 (when I heard it) and again in 1993, when it finally caught on.

Their tenacity certainly paid off; if you were around at the time you know the song exploded during the summer of 1993. It was literally inescapable, from constant radio play to heavy rotation on MTV (back when they still played videos) to late-night talk shows from Late Night with David Letterman to The Jon Stewart Show. Yes, Jon Stewart had a show before The Daily Show, as evidenced by the clip of the Gin Blossoms below:

“Hey Jealousy” has retained its popularity up to the present day, to the point of becoming a standard on those dreaded retail store playlists. Even Gin Blossoms guitarist Jesse Valenzuela has commented on this, joking to Rolling Stone in 2017 that “you can hear it at Lowe’s hardware.”

The commitment the band showed toward “Hey Jealousy” was true of the entire album as well. When New Miserable Experience hit record stores in August 1992, it suffered much the same fate as Dusted, going basically nowhere. In response, they did what every band has done since the beginning of the rock and roll era: they toured relentlessly in support of the album. It got enough early traction on college radio that A&M Records did something almost unheard of, essentially giving the album a second release in 1993 complete with new cover artwork (hilariously dubbed the “New Miserable Cover”).

This time the album took off, to put it mildly. New Miserable Experience reached #30 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. Five singles from the album were released between 1993 and 1994, all reaching the Top 40 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts: “Hey Jealousy” (#4), “Found Out About You” (#5), “Allison Road” (#20), “Mrs. Rita” (#36), and “Until I Fall Away” (#40). Somehow, though, only “Hey Jealousy” is remembered by most today, and that needs to change. In case you were curious, my favorite from the album (and favorite from their entire catalogue) is “Allison Road.”

The band lineup on New Miserable Experience was Robin Wilson (lead vocals. acoustic guitar), Doug Hopkins (guitar), Jesse Valenzuela (guitar, mandolin, background vocals, and lead vocals on “Cheatin’”), Bill Leen (bass), Phillip Rhodes (drums). However, by the time the album was released Doug Hopkins had been fired from the band, and there is no way to tell the full story of New Miserable Experience without telling that story as well.

Exactly half of the twelve songs on New Miserable Experience were either written or co-written by Hopkins, who was a founding member of the band. He has sole songwriting credit on the album’s two biggest hits, “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You.” Tragically, he was also in the midst of a battle with alcoholism and mental illness.

His ongoing struggles, battles with other members of the band, and increasingly an inability to even play guitar intensified to the point that the band made the decision to replace him with Scotty Johnson. His battle with alcohol and bipolar disorder would ultimately end on December 5, 1993, when Hopkins committed suicide. Robin Wilson told Rolling Stone years later that it was “still heart-wrenching to think about what could have been.” Wilson went so far as to change the line in “Hey Jealousy” from “you can trust me not to drink” to “you can trust me not to think” because he just couldn’t take another reference to drinking in one of Hopkins’ songs.

Doug Hopkins’s story is truly a tragic one, but the final album he was a part of is a monument to his incredible talent, a talent cut down in its prime. It’s a monument to the talent of the rest of the Gin Blossoms as well. From the opening chords of “Lost Horizons” to the final strains of “Cheatin’” it is an exceptional album all the way through. Like Counting Crows’ August and Everything After (another amazing early 90s album), there is not a song I would take off the album.

The band never reached the level of popularity of contemporaries like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but New Miserable Experience will live forever. The Gin Blossoms continue making records and touring today, with the same lineup they had in the ’90s except for drummer Phil Rhodes (current drummer Scott Hessel joined the band in 2012). If all goes well, I will see them on April 7 at the Total Eclipse of the Heart Festival in Greenville, Texas (I missed them in Dallas last year). Try to hide your jealousy and give New Miserable Experience a listen below:

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