Congratulations I'm Sorry (typeset as Congratulations...I'm Sorry) is the third studio album by the American alternative rock band Gin Blossoms, and the follow-up album to the successful 1992 release New Miserable Experience, released in 1996 by A&M Records. The album was named in reference to the success of 1992's New Miserable Experience, followed closely by the suicide of the former band member Doug Hopkins in 1993.
Reaction to Congratulations I'm Sorry was mixed, with some critics feeling that the music lay too close to the sound of the previous album. One common complaint was that most versions of the album lacked the successful 1995 single "Til I Hear It from You", from the Empire Recordssoundtrack; however, some editions of the album did contain the track as its final.
The album's title, according to the lead singer Robin Wilson, came from the response band members usually received from people who both wanted to congratulate the band for the success of New Miserable Experience, while then offering apologies for their friend and former band member Doug Hopkins. The album eventually reached platinum status.
Reception to the album was mixed. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine explained that "the only fault of Congratulations...I'm Sorry is that it sounds a bit too close to the debut -- there's virtually no difference in terms of style and production."[4]Entertainment Weekly critic David Browne said that "there’s something too generic about the Gin Blossoms."[3]
People called the album "a quick fix for any dark mood", continuing, "the songs are so upbeat they almost conjure sunny summer afternoons."[7]
The track "7th Inning Stretch" is omitted from international releases of the album. This version of the album has 13 tracks, with "Til I Hear It from You" as track 13.
Excluded songs
Among tracks excluded from the album are "Seeing Stars", a song written by the lead singer Robin Wilson about the band's ex-lead guitarist Doug Hopkins, and the 1995 hit "Til I Hear It from You". The latter was released as a single (although it is included on the international edition of the album) and can be found on the soundtrack of the movie Empire Records, while the former was included as a B-side on the "Follow You Down" single, along with Wilson's "Idiot Summer" from the soundtrack of Wayne's World 2.
