Albums

Dinosaur Jr - Beyond

Ross Drummond 07/07/2007

Rating: 4/5

I will go ahead straight away and state that I have never listened to Dinosaur Jr. My head hangs in shame and I quiver as I type each word about this band that are completely virgin to my ears. As each thundering chord distorts and blasts out my tinny mac stereos I can only imagine the ear bleeding performances that Wikipedia tells me they are renowned for, as well as the inter-band hatred that caused the demise of the band back in the early '90s.

Dinosaur Jr are quite the formidable rock beast, chugging riffs and screaming guitar solos are a refreshing change even though their formula may be from a time where plaid shirts and ripped jeans were more prominent. J Mascis' crackling voice lies perfectly with the feedback and wall of distortion and harks back to an era when grunge was a dirty word and bands like Nine Black Alps were but a twinkle in the eye.

So from virgin I have become but a cheap whore for Dinosaur Jr. It's loud and angry yet beautiful and perfect at the same time, and from the balls out rock of 'Pick Me Up' to the acoustic peacefulness of 'I Got Lost' I can only imagine it is good to have a brilliant rock band like Dinosaur Jr. back. And if this album is anything to go by, like a fine wine they are only getting better with age.