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My Amazon Reviews: Gin Blossoms "Outside Looking In: The Best Of"

Find Out About Them, 4 out of 5 Stars

For a band that only made two complete albums in their heyday, the Gin Blossoms still have an awesome legacy. As one of the many 90's bands that appeared in the jangle-pop rush after R.E.M. made the world safe for groups like this, "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You" seemed omnipresent and New Miserable Experience became a best seller. The band seemed to effortlessly combine the guitar of The Byrds with a rootsy sense of rocking. The effortlessness camouflaged serious issues in the band; chief writer Doug Hopkins' depression and drinking (which fed into the darkness's of the band's best lyrics) drove him to quit the band and ultimately commit suicide.

While his songwriting was missed on the follow-up album, Congratulations...I'm Sorry still had the hit "Follow You Down" and the snarky "Day Job" to show the Gin Blossoms might survive without him. But that was it, and the band folded soon after. "Outside Looking In" splits the albums and adds a soundtrack fave, "Til I Hear it From You," from the Empire Records Soundtrack. There's also a previously unreleased live track. "Whitewash." It's all the good stuff and a fine overview of a band that could have been contenders.