Published on Oct 24, 2002
I don’t know about you, but my experience has been that
quote-unquote “special editions” generally aren’t that special, and
“deluxe” is often a euphemism for “overpriced.” The good news is,
there’s always room for exceptions, and that’s exactly what this
album is, because at the moment I’m writing these words,
New Miserable Experience (Deluxe Edition) feels like the
best $26 I’ve spent this year.
Most special editions involve three components: remastering the
original album tapes — maybe even well enough to tell a
difference; adding a handful of rare and/or unreleased songs —
just enough to force the true fan to buy the album a second time;
and repackaging the album — usually not very imaginatively. Plus,
in many cases the historical significance of the album is
exaggerated by the label and/or the band in a further effort to
boost sales.
The
NME Deluxe Edition outdoes expectations by a substantial
margin on all counts.
First off, it does so by re-releasing a set of songs with actual
historical value. The rock world was still in the midst of a grunge
hangover in 1992, the market flooded with Nirvana clones and
wannabes, the only “alternatives” on the charts being rap and
sugary pop. Straight-ahead rock was as rare then as a botox-free
actress is at the Oscars today. Enter the Gin Blossoms, a
hard-working, hard-living club band out of Tempe, Arizona armed
with nothing but a barrage of memorable, guitar-driven,
four-minute, utterly sincere rock and roll songs.
It took a year after the August 1992 release of
NME for the album to catch on, but when it finally did, the
results were nothing short of stunning. First “Mrs. Rita” made a
brief foray onto the charts in spring ’93, hitting #36 on “Album
Rock” before fading. Then “Hey Jealousy” launched a full frontal
assault, finishing at #4 in July, followed by “Found Out About You”
(#1 on the new “Modern Rock” chart), “Until I Fall Away” (#13), and
“Allison Road” (#39). The Blossoms’ sound was exactly what had been
missing on the scene, matching tight, melodic, classic rock-style
songwriting with muscular guitar lines and lyrics brimming with
genuine emotion. A new genre – alternative rock – was busy being
born, and the Blossoms were at its forefront.
Fast-forwarding to the present, not only are the aforementioned
alternative rock classics given a loving remastering, highs and
lows tweaked within an inch of pure sonic perfection, but this
release actually restores the band and producer’s original intent.
Somehow in the original mastering process the channels were
switched, swapping left for right. This release corrects the error,
and you can hear it immediately, from the first propulsive notes of
the desperately sad opener “Lost Horizons.”
Because Universal wisely authorized an entire second disc for
unreleased material, the original
NME is re-issued here without a blemish. The driving guitar
lines of heavy rockers like “Hands Are Tied” and “Hold Me Down”
have never sounded better, nor has the ocean-deep melancholy of the
songs of ill-fated lead guitarist Doug Hopkins ever been more
affecting. (By the time this album was released, Hopkins had been
fired from the band as a result of a singularly brutal battle with
alcoholism and depression; by the time his searing elegy for the
dumped “Found Out About You” became a #1 hit, he was dead by his
own hand.)
And then there’s the second disc!
Here you’ll find a virtually perfect mix of rare early tracks,
unreleased outtakes and live material clocking in at a very
generous 71 minutes. An early highlight is the
NME outtake “Blue Eyes Bleeding,” a rollicking, sweetly sad
tale of “two white boys on the wrong side of town” that was maybe
just a touch too frivolous for the original album (my guess is it
was between this cut and the sly, chuckle-inducing “Cheatin'” for
the final track, and the latter got the nod). Another is the
inclusion of four strong tracks from the hard-to-find ’93 EP
Shut Up And Smoke, plus the EP outtake “Number One,” a
remake of a Rutles (Beatles parody/homage) tune that manages to be
both on-target funny and quite hummable.
Two more nice rarities are a never-before-heard track from an
unreleased Big Star tribute album (“Back Of A Car”), and a version
of “Pieces Of The Night” that includes the Springsteen-like piano
coda Hopkins had originally intended for it. Throw in three strong
tracks from the band’s early DIY disc
Dusted, three from their first EP
Up And Crumbling, and six live tracks from May 1993
(including the theme song from “The Jeffersons”…!) and
you’ve got quite a musical package. When they’re not putting their
strong musical roots on display, the Blossoms are demonstrating
their remarkable versatility as a unit, veering from somber and
serious to tongue-in-cheeky without missing a beat.
Last but not least, the packaging itself is top-notch, featuring
a vastly expanded booklet with lyrics, full liner notes on the
bonus disc, and a gallery of
NME-era cover art that includes all the relevant singles and
EPs plus the album’s original cactus-blossom cover art. There’s
also a very appropriate and respectful tribute to Hopkins.
Deluxe in every way that matters, this is a package that puts
the special back in special editions. If you’re a fan, you have to
have this; if you aren’t, you will be after listening to it.