Dinosaur Jr - Beyond

Tue 26th Jun, 2007 in Music Reviews

Some people may say that Dinosaur Jr died in 1989 when bassist Lou Barlow left the band. Their first three albums, Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me and Bug are widely regarded as the band at its peak.

It is no surprise then, that when rumours spread in 2005 about the band’s classic line-up of front man J. Mascis, Lou Barlow and drummer Murph reforming for a string of gigs, that there was a widespread cry of support from the alt-rockers of the world.
The band responded with a world tour re-igniting their solid live show, well renowned for its sonic attack, if not its sheer volume. What more could we ask from a reunion? With most reuniting bands only willing to tour, and those that gave us some new musical output not living up to their reputation (i.e. The Stooges) was asking for a new album too much?

For better or for worse 2007 has finally seen a new album from Dinosaur Jr. Written after finishing up their reunion tour on good terms, there was certainly some conjecture from the general public as to whether or not the band would be able to re-create the magic of their early works. Funnily enough, none of this scepticism was coming from people who managed to catch any of their recent shows and with good reason.

With their new album Beyond, Dinosaur Jr manage to recapture the form of their early careers. From the first fuzz laden guitar freak out on track one, Almost Ready, you can tell that this is the fabled Dinosaur Jr of old.

Songs such as This is All I Came to Do and Been There All the Time are classic Dinosaur Jr, whilst Pick Me Up, It’s Me and the Lou Barlow penned Lightning Bulb are slightly more progressive than the Dinosaur Jr of old. Hinting that perhaps there is more room for creative output in the future, and with Dinosaur Jr back near their best that can only be a good thing.