{"id":31142,"date":"2026-06-24T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T09:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=31142"},"modified":"2026-06-24T08:10:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:10:20","slug":"take-five-classics-from-gin-blossoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/24\/take-five-classics-from-gin-blossoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Five: Classics from Gin Blossoms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Exemplars of the 1990s melodic alternarock movement, Tempe, Arizona\u2019s Gin Blossoms scored a succession of hit singles with their tuneful take on rock. Against the backdrop of grunge, the band\u2019s approach won the band a following. Some observers may have thought that the group might lose its momentum with the death of lead guitarist and songwriter Doug Hopkins, but the group proved them wrong. While Gin Blossoms broke up in 1997, they returned to the scene five years later, resuming live dates and studio releases as well. The band\u2019s latest release is a live EP, <em>Live at The Song<\/em>, a five-cut set featuring some of their biggest hits. On the occasion of this year&#8217;s 30-year anniversary of their Platinum-selling third album <em>Congratulations\u2026 I\u2019m Sorry<\/em>, here are five classic tracks from Gin Blossoms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cHey Jealousy\u201d from <em>New Miserable Experience<\/em> (1993)<\/strong><br \/>\nGuitarist Doug Hopkins wrote or co-wrote seven of the 12 songs on Gin Blossoms&#8217; 1989 indie-label debut, <em>Dusted<\/em>. One of those songs was \u201cHey Jealousy,\u201d a tune that would go on to become Gin Blossoms\u2019 signature song. <em>Dusted<\/em> didn&#8217;t make the charts, but \u201cHey Jealousy\u201d endured. The band re-recorded it for their major label debut, though \u2013 due to the alcohol abuse and erratic behavior that eventually led to his death \u2013 Hopkins would be fired from the band before the release of <em>New Miserable Experience<\/em>. \u201cHey Jealousy\u201d reached no. 25 on the <em>Billboard<\/em> singles chart.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ah5gAkna3jI?si=6dLEj50mQEiue3eQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cTil I Hear it From You\u201d from <em>Empire Records: The Soundtrack<\/em> (1995)<\/strong><br \/>\nIn 1995 Gin Blossoms guitarist Jesse Valenzuela teamed up with like-minded guitarist and songwriter Marshall Crenshaw to compose \u201cTil I Hear it From You.\u201d The song was chosen for inclusion on the soundtrack of <em>Empire Records<\/em>. While the film was a mere cult success, the song stormed eight different U.S. singles charts, selling well in five other countries as well. In the wake of its success, \u201cTil I Hear it From You\u201d was added to the international release of <em>Congratulations\u2026 I\u2019m Sorry<\/em>. The single\u2019s sales also boosted interest in the group, and New Miserable Experience started selling again as well.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o7sx32alzeE?si=5QpznatBvb5uPobw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cFollow You Down\u201d from <em>Congratulations\u2026 I\u2019m Sorry<\/em> (1996)<\/strong><br \/>\nThe group-composed \u201cFollow You Down\u201d would be among the strongest tracks on <em>Congratulations\u2026 I\u2019m Sorry<\/em>, the first Gin Blossoms album released after Hopkins\u2019 death. A durable tune, the single stayed on the <em>Billboard<\/em> Hot 100 chart for an amazing 46 weeks, peaking at no. 9. It would be the band\u2019s last appearance to date on that chart, capping an impressive run of popular singles that included \u201cAllison Road,\u201d \u201cUntil I Fall Away,\u201d \u201cFound Out About You,\u201d \u201cAs Long As it Matters\u201d and more. A testament to Gin Blossoms\u2019 appeal, two best-of collections would appear: 1999\u2019s <em>Outside Looking In<\/em> and <em>The Millennium Collection<\/em> from 2003.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5LuH0ywYVQc?si=PbZEo3WH_6vjuUmU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cMiss Disarray\u201d from <em>No Chocolate Cake<\/em> (2010)<\/strong><br \/>\nThe hit singles era may have come and gone, but on their return Gin Blossoms proved they still had plenty to offer. 2006\u2019s <em>Major Lodge Victory<\/em> spawned a minor hit single in \u201cLearning the Hard Way\u201d (no. 22, Adult Pop). Four years later, the critically well-received <em>No Chocolate Cake<\/em> climbed to the no. 14 spot on <em>Billboard<\/em>\u2019s Independent Albums chart. A highlight among many on that album, \u201cMiss Disarray\u201d showcased all of the virtues that made Gin Blossoms one of the foremost alt-rock bands of the \u201890s and beyond.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Q4yfajEw7Mo?si=t6HIpcABiuNSRX9N\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cBreak\u201d from <em>Mixed Reality<\/em> (2018)<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter <em>No Chocolate Cake<\/em>, eight years would pass before Gin Blossoms returned with another studio album. When they did, the band chose to work with the duo who (years earlier) helped R.E.M. create their debut: Don Dixon and Mitch Easter. Mixed Reality was a superb release that should have set the chart on fire for Gin Blossoms once again. The album did perform well on the Indie Albums chart, reaching no. 36. The record\u2019s breakout track, \u201cBreak\u201d would fit in seamlessly on any best-of Gin Blossoms playlist.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hcBWY2TGVy4?si=63xGwlrCSZ8-1xDr\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exemplars of the 1990s melodic alternarock movement, Tempe, Arizona\u2019s Gin Blossoms scored a succession of hit singles with their tuneful take on rock. Against the backdrop of grunge, the band\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[3314],"class_list":["post-31142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-gin-blossoms","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31144,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31142\/revisions\/31144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}