Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond

Since bassist Lou Barlow left Dinosaur Jr. in 1989, the band--whose last record was 1997's expansive Hand It Over--has largely become an alter-ego moniker for guitarist/vocalist J Mascis. But now the original trio (including drummer Emmett "Murph" Murphy) has reunited for the first time since Barlow's split, and the 11-song outcome makes one ask: Why did they wait so long? Mascis's thunderous "Almost Ready," featuring both his combustible guitar and weary vocals, is the perfect blast-off, allowing Murphy's backbeat to set a turbulent pace early, and while songs like "Been There All the Time" and the Neil Young accolade "This Is All I Came to Do" have Mascis as primed as ever, Barlow (whose '90s-era Sebadoh set the bar for lo-fi bands) reappears with two of the record's strongest tracks: the poppy "Lightning Bulb" and "Back to Your Heart," which recalls late-in-the-game Hüsker Dü. These 50 minutes of music are as cohesive as they are conquering, and whether the same can be said of the once-prickly relationship between Mascis and Barlow will ultimately decide if this is a one-off reunion or if the real Dinosaur Jr. is back for awhile. --Scott Holter Amazon.com

Jr.s back!

Great sound and songwriting -- it may be their best. An updated presentation of classic DJ with lots of crunch and geetar heroix--
July 6, 2008

Pick Me Up!

I wrote this album review for a History of Rock paper, putting it up here to share my thoughts:

Dinosaur Jr.
Beyond - 2007
(Fat Possum)

After 10 years without releasing an album, Dinosaur Jr. has put out a great album, Beyond, while managing to reunite the original members of the band. The original trio of J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph hasn't been seen since 1989, when Lou Barlow was kicked out of the band. While in my experience most comeback albums disgrace the band's previous work, such as The Stooges' The Weirdness, Beyond is a culmination of all the members' strengths, and while the sound has been tweaked a little, this album still has that unique Dinosaur Jr. sound that won't leave serious fans disappointed. The synergy in Beyond makes it seem like Dinosaur Jr. has been together all these years.

Beyond has a unique sound to it, similar to Dinosaur Jr.'s later albums. While still keeping their alt/indie-rock sound, they have toned down from the effects, distortion, and feedback rich sound in their first albums Dinosaur and You're Living All Over Me. The guitar work by Mascis is superb, so much that his vocals take a backseat in "We're Not Alone" where his shrilling guitar work speaks more loudly than the droning of the lyrics. While Mascis' singing has the same style it did 20 years ago, he now seems less apathetic or disengaged and more assured and assertive of his talent. But this apathy was a deliberate sound characteristic of Dinosaur Jr., elaborate solos mixed in with Mascis' brooding. While this was a large part of Dinosaur Jr.'s image, the fundamental aspects of it are still apparent in Mascis' style of singing rather than his tone and the band still has the slacker rock image. The tone of his lyrics is much more important than the content, shown by "I Got Lost" where Mascis' closes by reiterating "Can we be the same again?" over the soft, somber guitar sound. Mascis' guitar playing has become stylistically varied as well; he blends elaborate guitar solos with country-rock and folk-rock melodies.

In the midst of music out there today, Beyond is a breath of fresh air, especially to alternative-rock fans who have missed the quality shown in the 80s and 90s. While not as grunge or distortion heavy as their early albums, Beyond is a great gateway for new fans to be introduced to Dinosaur Jr. while inducing nostalgia in their longtime fans. The album flows together effortlessly, with unifying themes of freedom and maverick. Each song is varied enough between the style, tone, and message that one can easily get lost in the music, and the album is much more enjoyable in one entire listen.

Beyond is a great comeback album, especially after the falling out that the original trio had. Barlow had left the group between conflicts between him and Mascis and because Mascis had most creative control. The amends being made are shown through Barlow's two songs on this album, "Back to Your Heart" and "Lightning Bulb", which have more of a hard rock sound characterized by Dinosaur Jr. before Barlow had left. "Pick Me Up" has the more guitar heavy work from the `90s while "I Get Lost" showcases Mascis' introspective and reflective solo work. Beyond is a great album showcasing each members input while remaining true to their original roots. The whole is greater than the sums of its parts.
May 30, 2008

Better than we had any right to expect -- essential even for the nonfan

Like most fans of Dinosaur Jr. from the old days, I had no expectation that this album would be one of their best. I was psyched to hear that the band was going to do a new album after the unanticipated reunion and tour of the original line up, but while the idea of them playing their old material live was exciting, I figured that like most bands that had reunited, their new material would be interesting at best and more probably just a tad sad. Instead, we got a shockingly good album.

And J. Mascis is back. I'd heard some of his post-DJ solo work and while some of it was somewhat interesting, I was never blown away like I had been with YOU'RE LIVING ALL OVER ME, BUG, or GREEN MIND. And his guitar playing just stopped having the same kind of fire that it had had with those albums. That was tragic because I thought Mascis one of the greatest guitarists of the eighties, maybe the greatest guitarist of the late eighties. His playing on this new album shows him completely and utterly back in form.

You have to understand that when I was a kid (imagine the latter as said by Walter Brennan), me and my friends would engage in savage arguments about the various guitar gods. We'd play and replay solos by Rory Gallagher or Roy Buchanan or Phil Keaggy (who proved that you could be a born again Christian and still play the guitar) or he who was Hendrix and debate their pros and cons, insisting on the merits of this guitar deity over that one. We'd almost come to blows over Clapton versus Allman on LAYLA. Hearing Mascis's best solos on this album makes me want to contact my old college music buddies and kindle a new debate. This is without question some of the best guitar playing you'll ever hear. It isn't the best song on the album, but the long guitar solo that starts at the 3:34 mark of "Pick Me Up" and lasts precisely the last three minutes of the cut goes on my short list of the greatest guitar solos I've ever heard. Mascis plays not merely as if his life depended upon his playing, but something greater, like the future of Western Civilization or the existence of joy. When I was a kid would-be guitarists would carefully reconstruct and practice Jimmy Page's solos. Aspiring guitarists today could do no better than memorize and master ever note of "Pick Me Up." It'd be a chore, but by the end you'd be a really decent guitarist.

One reason Mascis's playing stands out on this album is that in this mix the guitarist is brought completely to the forefront. On a lot of classic albums the guitar was obviously present, but it would sometimes not stand out from the rest of the stuff going on. "Grunge" really did apply to it. There is a clarity here often lacking in the past. The playing here is really in-your-face and all the better for it.

But this album is more than Mascis's complete return to form as a guitar god; it is a killer collection of songs. A couple of the cuts are weak toward the end, but even those have some interesting moments. And a few of the songs are just extraordinary, like the opening number, "Almost Ready." My favorite part of the album, however, is probably the back-to-back-to-back-to back of "Pick Me Up," "Back to Your Heart," "This is All I Came to Do" (with some really splendid playing by Mascis), and "Been There All the Time."

This is just a great album but I do have the same complaint that I had with the first appearance of Dinosaur Jr. and also Lou Barlow's various projects like Sebadoh is the cruddy singing. You'd think that writers as good as Mascis and Barlow would result in at least one person with some minimal ability to sing, but no such luck. Here is my test for singing in a rock band: they have to be better than me. They are not. So hey guys, sign me up! You'd sound better. Seriously, I can't understand how a band with this much talent could be vocally deficient.

This is just a must-get album. I'm really tempted to call this the best reunion album ever. I'd have to think about that some more to stand by that statement, but if it isn't the best it has to be in the top two or three. March 28, 2008

Dinosaur Jr.'s best CD ever

My husband is a huge Dinosaur Jr. fan and has everyone of their CDs most of which I will listen to with him, but never when I am by myself. But beyond is entirely different. It is catchy and melodic and I find myself singing the lyrics to Crumble and We're Not Alone all the time. They are definitely getting better with age! January 8, 2008

Very Strong Album/Bad Sonics-- 3.9999 Stars

Always had Din Jr. on my radar...has constantly come up as "if you like this, you'd like them..." however, material and samples I've heard from them never did it for me. Until this album.

Believe me, I have enough experience with music and the decline and reunion of bands to know that 99 times out of a hundred...you should never start out (as a first CD) with a late release... Granted, without really knowing the earlier material, I have to think that this album is an anomaly in that it could easily stand with their strongest earlier material (this seems to be supported by earlier reviews as well).

I'm not really going to get into a song by song critique...I just really like the layered guitar work, the catchy lyrics, JM's vocals, the nice hooks, etc.

The only (complaint) I have is the sonics/recording quality are absolutely horrible. I get the whole 'lo-fi' movement, and can usually appreciate it. Often, with Indie music...low-fi recording enhances the emotional impact. However, this recording is so bad, it makes old 8-tracks sound like hi-fidelity. I think my enjoyment of this album slightly suffers for it. Can't really fault the artist for that though...can I? August 18, 2007

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