Dinosaur Jr.: Brilliant or crap?

I like them. I have a really fond spot in my heart for them. But, it might kind of be like old friends when you finally get back together and realise you don't have much to talk about anymore. Maybe I outgrew them? Or maybe I just have to wait until summertime or something when the mood strikes.

They were good and original, though.

Here's a related question:

Who's better: Dinosaur Jr. or Sebadoh*?

(*just because Lou was originally in Dinosaur, if you didn't know that.)

I've got You're Living All Over Me and the best of. Not under the impression I need any more. But there's brilliance in that stuff.

I can't listen to anything J. Mascis has done without falling asleep, and it's not just me; I have a friend who went to see him and she fell asleep at the concert.

In summary: BORING

I've always pronounced it (and heard it pronounced) Mass-Kiss, but I have no idea if that is correct.

Of course, you could also say that Neil Young was doing the same damn thing twenty years earlier, so forget everything I just said.

I've never heard such great suburban-basement teenage four-track rickety-proggy music (even if it wasn't really recorded under those conditions). The songs are just fantastic; each one has four or five distinct, individual instrumental parts that just kill. And wonderful melodies, lyrics, atmosphere - the works.

If anyone can suggest any other albums that approach the "feel" of this one in any way, please, lay 'em on me!

We've called him Mas kis in the past and he didn't complain, if its not right Im sure he's used to it.

Repulsion
Little Fury Things
Kracked
The Lung
In a Jar
Freak Scene
No Bones
They Always Come
Yeah We Know
Pond Song
Just Like Heaven
The Wagon
Thumb
Out There
Start Choppin'
Get Me
Feel the Pain
I Don't Think
Never Bought It

(78:46 - weighted towards 2nd and 3rd LPs, I hope there will be many who disagree and post other ones!)

Also, I have an instrumentation question. On "They Always Come" there's a change at about 30 seconds in, and there's this high pitched repeating sound which is almost like a really high register clav or bells or something. What is that??

Green Mind is where its at for me, whilst the others are more timely and easily placeable, Green Mind has a bit of a uniqueness about it that I like. I find it very similar to "Goo" by Sonic Youth in that it's the album-before-the-commercial-one where you can see some of the experiments with gloss coming through, but still with enough rough to make it a hearty meal.

Spencer, I will take a listen tonight.

*I don't mind using "shreds" here as I think it's damned appropriate.

I'm hearing 32nd notes played on the hi-hat, but i get what you're saying... there is a residual noise that sounds tuned melodically, like a very high bell sound, like jangling keys.

(x-post, yes, out of the every track they played that night, about 9/10 of them were by pre-bandwagonesque tfc)

Green Mind > Yr Living all Over Me > Fossils > Bug > Whatevers Cool w/ Me > Where You Been ... stopped paying attention after that.

I remember having to re-purchase Fossils, Watery Domestic, and Greatest of All Time recently because the originals were thrashed and skipped on every song. Three of the best EPs ever for sure.

freak scene
the wagon
puke & cry
feel the pain
kracked
little fury things
raisans
i live for that look
just like heaven
post

xpost w/ shakey--they had way more bottom end on Bug & Yr Living All Over Me, and I presume also on the first record (though I've never heard it.) I imagine this had a lot to do with Lou playing REALLY HEAVY. But... yeah, they go a little neil young style treble crazy.

It's odd how they took "Show Me the Way" off of You're Living All Over Me and put "Just Like Heaven" on in it's place. I thought "Heaven" was a post-Bug single.

I hope in the remastering they took out the 2 second space between "Kracked" and "Sludgefeast" that was on the CD version.

truly great band btw. one of my all-time favourites. many diss on post-'where you been' material but it's still great stuff, and i thought j's decisions to get kevin shields producing AND to get thalia zedek in on vox were inspired (esp. as thalia is about the only singer as croaky as ol' j.) can't worship dinosaur enough. (yeah yeah i know, mis-spent youth etc.)

for some reason 'bug' is my favourite though, probably because it's the one i've listened to the most, i've had my copy of that record for 15 years now (almost to the day - i distinctly remember buying it, it was one of my first record purchases w/my 'own money'...)

interviewed Lou about these last night; he was not at all involved in the reissues.

What sort of crazy sense does that make? Repulsion would have been a better choice if they were going to fuck with the playing order. But I like Forget the Swan just fine where it is.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dinosaur Jr. Reissues on Merge!!

On March 22nd, 2005 Merge records will reissue the legendary Dinosaur Jr. CDs – Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me, and Bug.

(Chapel Hill, NC) It’s hard to believe, but it was 20 years ago when Dinosaur first roamed the back roads and byways of central Massachusetts. J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph formed their band in 1984 in the sleepy college town of Amherst, MA, and went on to change the face of rock forever…whether they actually ever intended to or not.

Long before the folks in Seattle were raiding thrift stores for flannel, Dinosaur Jr. laid the groundwork for a seismic shift in the underground rock scene. These first three albums, with their sonic wall of melodic bass, furious drums and stunning guitar wizardry, coupled with an almost laissez faire vocal delivery, became the sonic blueprint for what would become known as “alternative rock” over the next decade. Dinosaur Jr. single-handedly moved the indie scene from the rigid ideology and rapid fire bursts of hardcore and post-punk into a new era of introspective yet no less powerful expression. Instead of dismissing the influences of 60s and 70s rock, as had been the rallying cry of punk, Dinosaur Jr. embraced the heavy guitar riffs and melodic underpinnings of a bygone era, and created a full on sonic assault that took the world by surprise if not by storm. Some folks called it the perfect union of Sonic Youth and Neil Young, and when it’s all said and done that’s as good a reference point as any.

The influence that Dinosaur Jr. has had on their peers and future generations of musicians/bands is immeasurable. Now, 20 years since the release of their self-titled debut that left folks scratching their heads (yet at the same time hungry for more) Merge is honored to bring these three classic CDs back into print after years of scattered availability and $40+ pricetags on Ebay and Amazon.

Originally released on two of the most influential independent labels of the times – Homestead and SST – Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me and Bug will now be available to an entirely new generation of music fans. If there is any justice these recordings will be just as influential the second time around…

All three CDs have been remastered and will be reissued with original cover artwork but the new booklets will contain never-before seen images that are sure to electrify longtime fans. Bonus materials include a rare live track – “Does It Float” – which captures the power and sheer chaos of early Dinosaur shows, as well as videos for classic tracks “Little Fury Things”, “Just Like Heaven”, “Freak Scene” and a recently-discovered, never before seen video for “No Bones”. Also included are extensive new liner notes for all three albums compiled by music writer/gadfly Byron Coley featuring interviews/commentary from Thurston Moore, Mike Watt and Robert Pollard. Acclaimed filmmaker Allison Anders also contributed liner notes for Bug. But really, who needs extra bells and whistles? These albums contain so much raw power and melodic tension that they speak well enough for themselves, as seminal pieces of American rock and roll history.

Dinosaur:
Bulbs Of Passion
Forget The Swan
Cats In A Bowl
The Leper
Does It Float
Pointless
Repulsion
Gargoyle
Severed Lips
Mountain Man
Quest
Does It Float (Live) ***

You’re Living All Over Me:
Little Fury Things
Kracked
Sludgefeast
The Lung
Raisans
Tarpit
In A Jar
Lose
Poledo
Just Like Heaven
Little Fury Things (video) ***
Just Like Heaven (video ) ***

Bug:
Freak Scene
No Bones
They Always Come
Yeah We Know
Let It Ride
Pond Song
Budge
The Post
Don’t
Keep The Glove
Freak Scene (Video) ***
No Bones (Video) ***

*** = bonus material

-----------------------------

from mac:

we're proud to be reissuing these three records that, to us, were huge when they came out and are still hugely important today. i think they can be described, unlike most records that are casually given this title, as "classics". as such, having these albums in print and sounding great is in itself a reason for us to reissue these -- even if there were no bonus tracks of any kind.

the way these albums affected people when they were first released (when i'm sure most of us got them on LP) was without any of the covers or b-sides people are asking for them to contain now. For example, "Show Me the Way" was never on the album YLAOM, it was a bonus track the first time it appeared. Maybe that inclusion was against the band's will and they're rectifying that now? I don't know.

i love reissues that have tons of bonus stuff, and i understand not wanting to buy something more than once (it's bizarre how now albums that only came out 2 or 3 years ago are already being reissued), but i have to say: if you already own these and you are happy with the way they sound, there's no need to bitch and moan about it -- just don't buy them.

as a label we were up for any kind of reissue concept as long as it didn't impinge on the integrity of the original records. the final releases are the result of what the band wanted on them. i think there were two things going on with what the track listings ended up being: 1) a paucity of any kind of extra studio outtakes, etc. and 2) how happy / unhappy J/the band was with what did exist.

there is a live track as you can see, and excellent live Dino recordings exist, but i think both J and Merge thought that a great live collection was a separate project -- even gathering the material for these three albums has been a long process, and adding live albums to these releases would both raise the list price and would have meant that these records would have been out of print for at least another year.

extra things are great, the original classic albums are the best, and the remasters sound great (J attended). we knew not everyone would be pleased but then, when are they? and i take it back about bitching and moaning -- that's what msg boards are for...

Lee also joined J. on a stellar "Little Fury Things."

Brian's back!

# Juliette & the Licks featuring Juliette Lewis

ouch!

I like Dinosaur Jr, but I think perhaps they should remain a fond memory.

And J. Mascis is still God.

this is pretty good on first listen.

New album is fantastic. I'm seeing the guys in Texas tonight, with the Black Keys on a double bill - that's an excellent pairing, a great new band on tour with Dino Jr as the opening-band vets, and it'll introduce the guys to the Keys audience - perfect if you ask me.

Been listening to some Dino Jr lately. Where You Been was one of the first albums I ever bought. I'm kind of sad (but not surprised) to see no mention of the excellent Hand It Over on this thread. I think it might be the most consistent and varied of the Dino major label records. The solos on "Alone" slay me.

I'll stump for Hand It Over, my 2nd favorite Dinosaur album after YLAOM, so good, so underrated, especially the middle stretch of the album from "Can't We Move This" to "Mick."

i think i've posted my love for 'hand it over' on some other dino jr thread, but allow me to say it again - so good! my fave dino jr album. i have a sneaking suspicion that kevin shields played guitar on the track 'i'm insane', even though it wasn't credited. at the very least, it sounds like he engineered the guitar sound on that track.

yeah, the liner notes only explicitly credit him with vocals on 2 other tracks but there's also the vague "some other stuff recorded at MBV studio with Kevin Shields" note, so who knows.

i need to get this album. i'm insane is one of my fave djr tracks

the piccolo trumpet line in that song is one of the greatest single things in their entire catalogue. stays in my head for days sometimes

Dino Jr is sort of an excercise in pass/fail. But if you listen to him shread the cover of Maggott Brain(with Mike Watt) - he gets at least a nod towards classic. If it matters, Goin Home is a great example of what he can do when he's not tryong trying to tear the roof off.

Glad to see some HIO love! Too bad it got lost in the shuffle when it came out. I do think there is some Kevin Shields influence in the production even if KS didn't actually do anything.

you basically can't fuck w/"in a jar" imo

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

that said

TAR

FUCKING

PIT

they were vaguely disappointing last time i saw them live, but you know fuck it, classic fer life.

ty for your support

Crap.

tarpit is GLORIOUS

fuckin ROARS of NOISE

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/thumsup2.jpg

I was absolutely obsessed with them between the ages of 13 and 17, and loved everything by them--even and especially the Mike Johnson and then post-Murph years: Green Mind, Where You Been, Without a Sound, etc. But I've just come to the conclusion as an adult that they are bad... amazing that Lou Barlow thought he was losing something when he walked away from J Mascis. The guy was so arrogant and cut himself so short by being so arrogant. Being lazy and rude might be funny when the guy is 20 years old, but at 30 or 40? Imagine having Lou Barlow in your band (or someone of equal talent) and being rude to him, making him feel bad about his music, there is no excuse.
I feel like the guy who has really lost out in this nonsense "indie revival" of the last few years is Mike Johnson... he was great in that group and had a number of really good solo albums...

the LP version of tarpit has like 60-120 seconds more of roaring feedback iirc.

Green Mind is still farking ace, I know why they reformed but am a little non-plussed, ho-hum.

Sebadoh or Dinosaur JR is a tricky one, for me it's a straight out battle between Green Mind and Bakesale - GM was one of the first alternative or whateveryouwanttocallit (actually let's call it indie rock) but I was also superimpressed with bakesale, can't decide (what an awful question) so in conclusion both bands are quite good!

Forgot to add a the words "that I first heard along with the pixies" after "GM was one of the first alternative or whateveryouwanttocallit (actually let's call it indie rock)" what an error to make on one's first post, oops.

the LP version of tarpit has like 60-120 seconds more of roaring feedback iirc.

than the merge remaster?

jeeves, lou admits he was pretty much of an asshole back then too, you know?

the LP version of tarpit has like 60-120 seconds more of roaring feedback iirc.

― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Friday, September 24, 2010 8:37 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

to be kept in mind. and all this comparison of green mind vs. bakesale, wtf?!? you're living all over me & bug vs. sebadoh III. and the weed records if you think lou needs the artillery. everything after is just the rest...

"Arrogant, lazy, rude" is frothy paraphrase for "heroin addict".

Better than the Cure but not as good as Jesus and Mary Chain.

-wz Mascis addicted to heroin?

-welcome to ILx, delayed reaction brat.

whoa Merge remastered this? no idea, just talking about the SST versions. Cool for Merge! lmk what you find out.

lmk what you find out

sounds like title of a mascis-penned song

-wz Mascis addicted to heroin?

don't think so (consider the source!)

shasta - sst cd was ATROCIOUS, a 1-second gap between kracked/sludgefeast (unforgivable)!! merge rereleased and remastered it in 2005, along with first and third lps. i never noticed extra noise for tarpit on the sst vinyl tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cDWbB4WZik

I don't know this show but the set-up here looks pretty classic imo

― having taken an actual journalism class (contenderizer)

and all this comparison of green mind vs. bakesale, wtf?!?

Note I said "for me", so wtf?!? yerself!

rewtfted

man 'farm' is pretty fucking great

^^^ Its a fantastic album.

yeah i should give it a little more time -- whenever one of the songs comes up on shuffle, i think it sounds surprisingly amazing.

On balance, I like it better than Beyond as far as reunion albums go.

love this record but anything from it coming up on shuffle is a brutal experience imo, like yank your headphones free brutal

maybe that's why it makes me pay attention, haha!

My beef with Farm is that there doesn't seem to be any bass on it.

I think they're a better band now than they were in the 80s/90s

I don't think D Jr ever wrote anything as good as "The Freed Pig" or maybe even "Violet Execution" but still DJR>SEB

listening to Farm now, sounds great. guitar sound might out neil young neil young.

Yep, thats a big part of why I love the album so much. Just a fantastic guitar album.

My beef with Farm is that there doesn't seem to be any bass on it.

Listening to Green Mind right now and I'm genuinely wondering if there's any bass guitar on Puke + Cry

i think the bass on a lot of those records is so fuzzed out that it might come across as another layer of guitar distortion or something.

Yeah that's what I figured. Come to think of it in the times I've seen them live there didn't seem to be any bass either, just waves and waves of loudness. Love these guys.

lol, i saw them a couple years back and barlow played a bass solo! it was while mascis was having some kind of technical trouble. lou may have been a little bit high, i'm not sure, he was acting kind of bizarre all night.

Both times I've seen them onstage Lou has seemed like the most annoying person around. J just rocked back and forth autistically.

Listening to Green Mind right now and I'm genuinely wondering if there's any bass guitar on Puke + Cry

― Colin Allstations (PaulTMA), Monday, August 15, 2011 12:00 PM (27 minutes ago)

Haha, this is probably correct. I think J. played almost everything on the record.

just listened to puke and cry and there is crazy bass on that song, you may be deaf. sorry.

(verses: lots of fret 7-9 hammer ons on a fender p-bass if i had to guess)

I can hear it now. It's least bass-y bass sound ever, but it's there, just about.

And at a low-ish volume, it's practically inaudible.

http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/9011524335/grungebook-dinosaur-jr-ive-been-waiting-for

Neil Young cover from 1988, unused for "The Bridge" tribute album...(I love "Doom and Gloom from the Tomb" blog, it's like incredible rarities every day or so)

did u know its proprietor has posted on this very thread

Wha? Really? I guess it's not surprising, but still very cool--whomever it is, kudos to you!

haha! the new/old live album is streaming here: http://recordstoreday.com/NewsItem/3259
sounds ragged, but j's guitar is out of this world.

guitar on tarpit is crizzzzzzaaaazy. and i don't use that word every day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAGFpy6WX8

I tried really hard with this band, but not enough sixties in the music for my taste. Indie taste back then was inf. by massive 70s sounds. Guitar rock not my thing.

I'm so glad that music like this isn't the default style on college radio stations anymore.

what is it now, the national

Recent posts fuckng pissing me off. You're Living All Over Me 4eva.

otm.

What is the new/old live album mentioned by tyler?

Like, you might as well just not like Blue Oyster Cult or like, breasts or something. Seriously wtf?

this is the 1987 live recording released last november: http://www.mergerecords.com/store/store_detail.php?catalog_id=894

I tried really hard with this band, but not enough sixties in the music for my taste. Indie taste back then was inf. by massive 70s sounds. Guitar rock not my thing.

― Joey Bag of Noses (I M Losted), Saturday, August 17, 2013 12:03 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm so glad that music like this isn't the default style on college radio stations anymore.

― Dan I., Saturday, August 17, 2013 2:39 AM (14 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol enjoy your shitty current "indie"

Man, I was really drunk last night.

This was OTM though:

You're Living All Over Me 4eva.

Man, I was really drunk last night.

hahaha i assumed you must be

i'm looking forward to the Dino Jr. tracks poll. i really feel like there are some great unheralded pockets of their catalog outside of the canonical stuff -- Hand It Over is so great.

I saw this chillin in someone's CD collection the other day and I got so nostalgic... I totally forgot it ever existed.
http://ring.cdandlp.com/aggp_store/photo_grande/114963480.jpg

http://ring.cdandlp.com/aggp_store/photo_grande/114963480.jpg

Man this used book store by me was having a sidewalk sale with just boxes of random ass cds on sale for a buck or less. It was just utter crap - probably more Windows 95 era game discs in the boxes than music discs and about 100 copies of each of those BMG sampler discs. Anyway, just as I was about to walk away, I spotted that one above and the JayLouMurph thing for 50 cents each. Made my week.

I believe "the national" also belong to the category of white men playing guitars

men, not slacker gods

and i'm being generous with 'men'

strong diss

and i'm trying to talk shit about both bands not hype up "the national" haha.

The only reason I mention it is that I heard Dinosaur Jr. on a college radio station the other day and it was jarring to realize that like 7 years ago 90% of the music on the same station was white-guys-playing-guitars music, and now that stuff seems to finally be out of style.

no seriously what do they play now, when i walk past the catholic school party houses they're listening to kendrick lamar

is there a name for that genre that's just all synthesizers and the vocals have way way too much reverb?

oh you mean m83

It's really wrong to aim this stuff at Dinosaur Jr., but that insufferable punk and classic rock fan "authenticity"/"this is REAL music" attitude was also present in 90s indie, and I was happy to realize that it apparently doesn't hold sway anymore.

oh shit i somehow just realized I'm talking about rockism haha

There is a massive part of Arcade Fire/Sigur Ros/Radiohead fandom that is all about the ''authenticity/this is REAL music'' attitude.

It's probably just easier to dismiss today.

it seems i have finally discovered the vortex of RONG

it is this thread revive

Hand It Over is so great.

a million times, yes. messy, heartbroken, dark and dippy in places, but so great.

not enough sixties in the music for my taste.

the sixties were a decade of shocking diversity and great giant leaps and accelerated evolution in a myriad of musical forms. i guess what you're saying is dinosaur don't adequately echo miles davis' shift from acoustic to electric music, right?

That guy out of The National has a beard

lets face it he means beatles pop

xp

"You got your incense and peppermints in my cinnamon girl!"
"You got your cinnamon girl in my strawberry alarm clock!"

Today's musicians really don't saying about food very much, do they?

I mean, even Dinosaur He. Was singing about raisans and turnips. Whats anybody bringing to the table nowadays?

it's been forever since i heard a good milkshake song

Bug contains so many great jams, love the record.

Maybe it's my age but I genuinely feel that they never surpassed 'You're living All Over Me" and believe me, I have purchased much DiJr since - Sebadoh, solo stuff etc.

The context of those guitar solos were truly new to my ears back then. Now they're like, "Here we go again, squall...squiggle, squeak ...." And Mascis' voice was better then? Oh and the tunes. Lyrics, i'm not too fussed.

Perhaps I should try again?

Is the remastered version of YLAOM any good?

It was definitely fresher back then in all those categories. Though I still enjoy the recent stuff too! Some really amazing songs on the first comeback album notably.

I love pretty much all their albums, but YLAOM is by a huge degree their best

For me Bug is pretty close, too.

Uh, at the risk of ruining the lovefest for their 80s stuff, I enjoy their reunion records more.

I'll get even weirder and say that I think his most recent solo album on Sub Pop ("Tied to a Star") is one of my favorite things he's done!

Soft spot for Where You Been, just because of the timing of its release.

I love both of the solo records.

YLAOM is definitely the best, bug is a close second. i can't really listen to the solo mascis "dinosaur jr" stuff anymore even though i dig recent solo mascis. the reunion stuff is perennially on my list of stuff to listen to but i never get around to it

as far as the sebadoh stuff goes i think the freed weed is all i need. winners & losers is also pretty good. whenever i think of the type of dope barlow smoked nonstop during the freed weed i imagine it is the driest brownest seeds & stems schwag ever, right? there ain't no fuckin way barlow as smoking anything kind.

Tied To A Star is excellent!

I interviewed J when the first three LPs got reissued, and he said, re: Bug: “I interviewed Ozzy Osbourne once, and he said he hated Sabotage, that it just reminded him of Sabbath recording with lawyers sat in the studio. I guess I feel the same way about Bug.” I love Post and Freak Scene, obvs, but its the lesser album of that early trilogy to me.

Stevie, do you know if Mascis is touring w/ a band here in January? Must admit, not so much into J as acoustic minstrel

Press release doesn't state clearly, though I must say I've seen J play solo before, and it was pretty remarkable.

Thanks, couldn't see any info on his website either - but you're selling me on it now (he's playing a nice venue in Glasgow)

I saw him play the Underworld circa the Fog album, on his lonesome, and he wasn't really all that unplugged - strums acoustic while singing, but then cranks a pedal and fires up for the solos. That might not be your cup of tea, but it certainly was mine!

no, heavy on the solos = exactly what i want out of a j mascis gig

http://i.imgur.com/oj24H0F.jpg

dude better have a valid handicap parking permit, is all I'm saying

jay

question for people who know: are the other reunion albums anywhere near as good as Farm, or should I be checking out stuff from their original run instead? (I got the Ear-Bleeding Country comp when it came out years ago, so I've heard and enjoyed 'the hits' at least; I'm more curious about consistency/listenability of entire albums)

J M8SC15

bernard: You're Living All Over Me is a psychedelic masterpiece, their best perhaps. Where You Been probs the best of their Warners output, and very strong.

i wish he had bought a vw rabbit instead so i could make a little fury things joke

xp yeah I like Where You Been, that's the one other album I have... but there's no excuse for my not having sought out YLAOM before now. I guess I know what I'll be getting into this summer!

xp Golf and Rabbit are the same thing.

question for people who know: are the other reunion albums anywhere near as good as Farm, or should I be checking out stuff from their original run instead? (I got the Ear-Bleeding Country comp when it came out years ago, so I've heard and enjoyed 'the hits' at least; I'm more curious about consistency/listenability of entire albums)

― bernard snowy, Friday, May 6, 2016 6:51 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

About the reunion albums: If you like Farm, I Believe In Sky is more in the same vein. The hard songs are a bit harder, but the songwriting is there.

Beyond is a good deal fuzzier, probably not as good as Farm, but some amazing tracks--"We're Not Alone," "Almost Ready," "This Is All I Came to Do," "It's Me"

They're not as strange or brilliant as Bug or You're Livin' All Over Me, but they're great straightforward rock albums and worth checking out

I like Beyond a lot. stevie's picks for 80s and 90s are OTM. tbh I like all their albums to some degree. The 2 after Where You Been are probably my least favourite overall but they don't suck.

they're working on a new album.

bug bug bug bug bug bug

shoulda boughta bug

I genuinely like all their albums and think they all have good songs and interesting moments. Green Mind has been kind of written out of the band's history, but it's got incredible songs and it's really fun and varied.

Without A Sound is the one I'd avoid; weakest material (ironically on the album with their biggest hit). Beyond is in hindsight a little weak, too, but I like I Bet On Sky as much as Farm.

Even the Whatever's Cool With Me EP is pretty sensational

xp Golf and Rabbit are the same thing.

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Friday, May 6, 2016 2:31 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha what? that's dumb. now i have to think of a joke

The Wagen

i really don't love bug. freak scene is great. post is great. the rest i could live without.

saw them a few times when it came out and 'yeah we know' was always a huge high point of their set for me

my pal bob fay got together with lou recently and went over old unreleased deluxx folk implosion stuff. they want to put it out. for people who are into that sort of thing...(i know some people who like that stuff the most, actually.)

Green Mind has been kind of written out of the band's history, but it's got incredible songs and it's really fun and varied.

Even the Whatever's Cool With Me EP is pretty sensational

― Evan R, Friday, May 6, 2016 7:10 AM (1 hour ago)

green mind and the 8-song version of whatever's cool are my favorite dinos besides you're livin all over me and bug bug bug bug bug. and "just like heaven".

i still love the debut tbh

i asked my kid rufus - he's 13 - what he was really digging lately and he said "i'm really enjoying you're living all over me. i want a wah pedal."

the western mass circle of life.

Green Mind ftw. I guess it's the annoying production that sucks but there's not a dud on it, and The Wagon might be my fave Djr song

The debut is a wonderful curiosity. If it was the only LP they ever released, it would still guarantee them a small cult following

My favorite comment on a Dinosaur Jr. forum, from way back in the mid '90s, was in response to a fan saying he just saw the band. Somebody responded "Did J play any new songs? Or did he just play 'Thumb' the whole time?"

when i saw them a dude managed to get his bare leg on the security fence to show J his magnificent tattoo of him, screaming 'J! You are my hero! You are my hero!' J just gave the thumbs up, everyone laughed. important to mention that this first original lineup tour (2006 I think) in a while.

lou gave me such a nice shout-out in newsweek! so nice.

http://www.newsweek.com/dinosaur-jr-guide-western-massachusetts-487059

Kudos!

that's awesome!

I just came here to post that link. Good on yer, Scott!

aww, rad

Rat On! Just posted that on Twitter, where I then saw this, about thee continuing saga of Used Kids----also interesting:
http://pitchfork.com/features/article/9927-what-it-takes-for-an-independent-record-store-to-survive-now/

New album is EXCELLENT

j shredded over "rockin in the free world" at last night's pearl jam show at fenway. magical.

I really like the new one and I've never really bothered with them before, where's best to go next?

Like I get the sense that his voice has improved with age? I've found some of the vocal straining actively offputting in the past.

You're Living All Over Me is their best album overall, messy and psychedelic and wonderful. Where You Been probably the best of their major label era - the most anthems, the most guitar solo-age. But they've really never made a duff album AFAICT.

^^^ Both good suggestions, giving both 'extremes' of the per-reunion output. Otherwise, 'Beyond' (the first reunion record) is probably the most similar to the latest, and also has better tunes.

I meant "pre-reunion output", obvs.

Matt DC, if you like this one, you'll probably like the rest of their post-reunion output. Farm is sort of an outlier because it's jammier, with songs that stretch beyond the 8-minute mark, but the band is in top form and J's guitar work is incredible.

Not a single weak track on YLAOM. Even "Lose." That song's ridiculous, it's basically 4 completely different cathartic bridges/choruses tied together, but it doesn't get any attention because it's a short little thing near the end of the album.

I never had a problem with Mascis' drawl, it's got the ability to slow down space-time just like his guitar, but liking or not liking a singer is just one of those things you can't really argue.

New album cover:

http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/6704058/bmmg/ent/Dino-Dan-Twas-A-Dinosaur-DVD-L843501004623.JPG

LOu Barlow just posted a link to a piece he wrote about POledo the tape collage etc track from You're Living All Over Me on Facebook. He also linked to this bandcamp page showing the various parts of teh construction of the track.
https://sentridoh.bandcamp.com/album/child-of-the-apocalypse

Dinosaur Jr are going to be recreating the You're Living All Over Me lp live including for the first time the 2 Lou Barlow tracks.

Second time, saw them do it in 2012 for the 25th ann'y

"We have done the full LP live once or twice but I merely played the songs on ukulele and bypassed the noise-scapes. This time I’m going to attempt the full breadth of the piece using a sample-pedal and prepared tracks."
quote from the post

So yeah not first time they played the track but first time he's tried to recreate the track to sound something like the lp version.

They are one of my all time favourite bands, a classic beyond any doubt. Hearing "where you been" when I was 16 was such a change from the boring thrash metal and grunge by numbers I listened to back then. Maybe there last few albums weren't so great, but "bug" and "you're living all over me" don't seemed to have aged that much, bands still try to copy "freakscene" today. And, I'd also agree that "Take a run at the sun" shows how cool J MAscis is. Poison are a classic band too, by the way! Oh and given a choice between Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr, I'm sorry Lou but J wins!

― jel, Thursday, March 1, 2001 7:00 PM (sixteen years ago)

<3 jel

CONTROVERSIAL OPINION:

j mascis' voice is more ~90s~ than any and all yarling

was just jamming this, sounds awesome: https://www.themckenzietapes.com/tapes/2018/1/16/dinosaur-jr-at-maxwells-1-17-1991
i still remember at age 11 or 12 and being mainly into classic rock and hearing my older brother blast "green mind" from his room and thinking whoa I gotta get into this!

i DJed the Dino show last night at the bar around the corner. So much fun. Capacity: 99 people. It was the perfect amount of loud actually. I thought it might be sickening. But it was human loud. Sounded fucking incredible. Such an amazing set. And I rocked the crowd with aplomb and with the aid of Pabst between sets. (PG Six and J's brother's band the opening acts)

https://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/29314474_10156731921192137_7093616316959546475_n.jpg?oh=3a45fd30001af9f5025b140afaa75ed9&oe=5B301129

https://scontent.fbed1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/29313767_10156731926872137_4594862773486262192_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=b795985fbf4b5592faea81c7a29d2373&oe=5B2D19CA

Right on! This was my shot of the monolith from orbit last year.

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17353519_1911307172436961_4491324615395026685_n.jpg?oh=1da72778d6e930c6c6e9405ba9be7c2e&oe=5B349560

does the vomit doll have a name? i was and remain a decent a Dino Jr fan but not obsessive enough to know the name of that doll.
it reminds me of the enormous baby from The Kingdom

sounds like a fun night too.

awesome scott :)

this is solid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMa-JuMfLzA

i can't say that i have been a superfan thru the years. i really liked the song "repulsion" in the 80s but i didn't buy the first two records. one of the reasons i bought Bug when it came out was because i really loved the album cover. i bought the just like heaven 12-inch. but didn't follow them or sebadoh at all in the 90s. the first time i really ever heard sebadoh was when my brother was opening for them at the troc in philly and i got to dance on stage dressed as a witch. i did see dinosaur at the height of grungemania in a skating rink in connecticut and it was one of the most cavernous things i have ever heard. that would have been them touring green mind.

my kid, rufus, got to be there last night too. he loves J.

this was just ridiculously fun the other night. gloriously loud. nothing but neil all night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2RcNI2pL88

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dyVLtVVHG8

that's amazing

seriously!

The first time I ever heard of NY's On The Beach was J lamenting about its unavailability on CD in an issue of Melody Maker circa 92

have they been touring with an extra guitarist?

no, dino is just the trio. this was a one night only thing with matt valentine and john moloney and adam from sore eros and a guy on bass from....i can't remember what bands. he roadies for dino. he was great.

this is from the dino show at the local bar this year. also a wonderful night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2UuYbgZtzI

seeing J. with two other good guitarists was so cool though. such a great sound live.

yeah, J does a lot of overdubs in the reunion-era songs, so sometimes the long solo sections can sound slightly thin live. perhaps they've figured it out in the years since I saw them last.

BTW I saw Dino play six months ago and the guitar tech guy played some guitar during the gig. He didn't come out from over behind Lou's amps, but you could still see he to the side a bit. He faced the front from what I remember, it didn't look like they were hiding him, just he didn't leave his roadie area

actually this explains it better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D79DSyg8eyg

i think they do double drums with john moloney during the wagon too sometimes. he roadies for them as well.

when dino played at the bar beforehand i was scared that j's stacks would kill me but they totally made it the perfect kind of loud for that show. there was a lot of family there. they didn't want to liquify anyone. still plenty loud though!

Saw them last night, and they sounded great.

Literally knew only one song of theirs before yesterday, from a mixtape someone made me long ago. But now I've been listening to that song (not played last night) over and over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-2o-qQk_EU

Ha I was reading your comment PaulTMA and thinking of that gig as evidence, and then I saw you posted the vid which I'm pretty sure I'm in

def saw them at Maxwells ('88?) when they didn't have the "Jr"

Their cover of just like heaven slays

Absolutely Ross, love the random cut too

Yeah!

I consumed an awful lot of US indie rock as a schoolkid at the turn of the nineties and I'm increasingly thinking D.Jr stand up better than anything else I bought at the time. I didn't anticipate this. I largely tuned out after Where You Been, but the overwhelming bulk of their output to that point is good-to-great. Even Green Mind is at least 60% decent. I'm very gradually absorbing the post-reunion records...

I mean they put out a lot of stuff, and for a few albums were getting increasingly better then j/they kinda fizzled out no?

I loved Bug and YLAOM the most but 'lost track' of them when the re-recorded The Wagon wasn't as good as the Sub-Pop single. I guess they have made some other good albums.

J Mascis And The Fog (with Ron Asheton) live was better than any Dinosaur Jr. gig I'd seen.

Well I mean yeah. It’s fuckin Ron Asheton.

I’ve seen Dino Jr maybe like three times and it was always good. Friend of mine said he saw them once and J would hit THAT pedal and things went into totally painful/nauseating levels of tone and volume. Didn’t experience that for better or worse.

Are there many better “reunion” albums than Beyond?

I think the most recent one is really, really great.

https://pitchfork.com/news/a-25-year-old-dinosaur-jr-song-is-a-hit-in-japan-nobody-knows-why/

good for the Dinos, time to book Budokan

That’s really weird

Does anyone from Pitchfork post here? It's the background music for the credits of "Gachinko Fight Club" on TBS.

I think you could email them that

i emailed a correction to an Unthanks review once and they never replied but they did fix it pretty quickly.

congrats to up and coming SoundCloud rapper D1NO$$$AUR JR.

ha this is a great story! I don't even know that song though

Pitchfork has updated to mention Gachinko Fight Club, citing this tweet:

I know the answer @pitchfork .
A linkage this song with Japan is obvious. “Over Your Shoulder” was used in popular TV show called “Gachinko Fight Club” hosted by TOKIO, famous male band/talents.
On Feb. 6th, TOKIO’s current TV show “TOKIO KAKERU” seems picked up former member of https://t.co/DfBD7xCYEU

— 鈴木貴歩 #EnterTechの提唱者 (@SuzukiTaka) February 8, 2019

(Annoyingly, the P4k article still says "Nobody knows why! The answer isn't obvious at all!" while acknowledging "Oh yeah, some people have said it's this TV show.")

(that's the magic of editing their posts after publishing)

Here's the clip if anyone's interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zMIXtjk6Do&feature=youtu.be&t=759

oh shit, forgot this embed code hates timestamps, c/p:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zMIXtjk6Do&t=759

So did the TV show inspire viewers to seek out the original song; or is it charting simply due to being played in background of that widely-streamed scene (and machine-recognized for copyright/royalties purposes)?

It was a very dramatic moment to a memorable scene and it brought back a lot of memories for people who watched it the first time around. The replay went viral on ameblo & FC2 blogs, plus there are a ton of Youtube comments asking for the ID on various clips, also on Yahoo.jp chiebukuro (like Yahoo! answers but less babbies formed & more utility).

It’s a pretty beautiful song.

I've been listening to Dinosaur Jr. quite a bit lately. They were sort of a second tier interest to me when I was a teenager, but for some reason I've been enjoying returning to them more than many other bands from that era.

the P4k article still says "Nobody knows why! The answer isn't obvious at all!"

The world is a very confusing country

"They Always Come" is such a great song... but then around halfway through it morphs into this even better song. Feel like Bug is so much better than I remember everytime I throw it on.

yeah that's my favorite one

Heh I wouldn't say I like it more than YLAOM, but Bug feels super-slept on in comparison. The highs on Bug (for me: "They Always Come" & "No Bones" esp.) are as high as any of their albums. Not sure how dictator-y J was by this point but both Lou & Murph's performances are incredible.

My wife gave me a print with "sometimes I don't thrill you sometimes I think I'll kill you just don't let me fuck up will you cos when I need a friend it's still you" for my birthday a couple of years ago

I put that song on at her memorial last Saturday

beautiful

xps no I meant that's my fave Dino Jr song!!! so perfect. as an album yeah Living... is better

Ahhh, yeah I'm with you haha.

(Col. Poo, extremely sorry to hear of your loss, not trying to glance over that...)

awww & \m/ Col. Poo

Brilliant

<3 Col Poo. Freak Scene is such an immense, personal song

yeah CP I shoulda commented on that as well, so excellent

Was kinda hoping this revive was for some concrete news on the new album. But glad to see it nonetheless.

I was listening to the Day of the Dead comp last night and the Kurt Vile cover of "Box of Rain" that features a Mascis solo came on and I realize that I can't think of many rock songs that wouldn't be immediately improved by a J solo. Hell, if Aerosmith wanted to re-record Just Push Play with Mascis playing every solo I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

if they hadn't stopped playing 'i don't wanna go there' i'd still be listening to it

^^^

woooo! https://www.dinosaurjr.com/news-blog/2021/1/15/custom-dinosaur-jr-collaboration-with-j-skis

That is rad.

That is awesome. I remember Head coming out with Motorhead skis a while ago, I'm still kicking myself I didn't get those. Bands should do this a lot more.

still such an amazing lead guitarist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_IS9RUpv40

This is their best LP in a few.

Can't think of another band who phone in their best music like they do

I like the new album but fuck this wasn't I thread I expected to open and burst out crying.

It's still on the wall though:

https://i.ibb.co/JmmLsfv/IMG-20210424-030210461.jpg

I love this damn band so much, this new one is great.

what can i say besides this is the perfect rock band and everything they do kicks ass, new album no exception

otm

I was inspired enough to finally pick up those 2019 Cherry Red reissues of the post-Jayloumurph lineup albums, mainly for all the B-side cleaning up and live shows.

i like this band whenever i hear them but do they have more than one song

that's not an insult the consistency is impressive & inspiring but do they ever go proggy or anything

they don't go "proggy" per se, but they do loosen up and jam a lot on farm. the early albums have a fair amount of weirdness, especially in the lou barlow contributions. recent albums have a few barlow contributions but his sensibility has grown closer to j's.

thx i remember enjoying farm when it came out but i only listened to it once i think. amazing cover

that's not an insult the consistency is impressive & inspiring but do they ever go proggy or anything

lol, I was going to say, that's not fair, between 1985 and 1988 and since 2007 they've had two, with the Lou songs

I heard “Little Fury Things” on my return commute today, and I was reminded of how beautiful and wistful it is. Also, nothing on their post-reunion albums approach its greatness or the highs on You’re Living/Bug/Green Mind

they just became a more conventional rock band, an excellent one but not quite the same i agree

Seems crazy that the beginning of this thread was 20 years ago!

J’s guitar tone may be the most comforting sound I know.

I saw them in a small club in 1987. You're Living All Over Me held up well last time I checked, but I don't know much after that except "Freak Scene." I think I'd see this, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5w28bJKmxY

I hope Dave Grohl's in it lots.

Nice. Will definitely seek this out. They're *still* strangely enigmatic to me.

Jamming the 1991 Hollywood show that came with the Green Mind reissue from a few years back, I love this band.

Mascis does some stellar guitar work on Sunburned Hand of Man's "Prix Fixe" from this year that's definitely worth seeking out.

+ Kevin Shields last night in London doing "Just Like Heaven" and "Tarpit:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=130nIZQ1iXA

Wow

Didn’t like as much as I expected to though

Nope. Sounds like Guitar Center.

Agree, it was just sort of cool they played a MBV song and then the Cure cover but the performance was just sort of there.

I read about Richard Aoyade guesting with the band this morning. But not sure when was that the same London show.
Hadn't known he played guitar before that. Think it was Lou's feed on FB.

They should have got Graham Linehan to sing Don't

Nope. Sounds like Guitar Center.

His new single is pretty much out there. Music that makes me happy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOgibRJxp8g