I really don't get JIRA hate, I used it successfully and happily for al long time, what are your preferred alternatives?
Out of the box, I'm not sure, I don't think I've ever seen it. If what I've seen is out-of-the-box, it's awful.
I get you're point about people fiddling with it, but that's usually because they never understood that JIRA is quite simple to begin with.