Reunited bands are a funny thing. While it’s great to have one of your favorite bands back (especially if you were too young to have ever seen them live), sometimes these bands can tarnish an otherwise perfect discography with a reunion album (like…The Stooges). When it was announced that Dinosaur Jr. were heading back into the studio to record a new album after their 2005 reunion tour, I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical of what the results might be. Their live shows were great and although the band may have aged tremendously (Mascis is sporting totally white hair now and anyone who’s been to their recent shows has surely seen Murph’s fat ass shirtless behind the kit), they were still capable of carrying all the jubilant energy from their early records back onto the stage.
Much to my surprise, Beyond manages to recapture all that was great about the original Dinosaur Jr. lineup without any attempt at sounding modern (which is a good thing). Everything about the album screams classic early 90’s Dinsosaur Jr. From the artwork to the production (handled by Mascis himself), Beyond sounds as if it could have been recorded right after Bug, their last album with the original lineup. Album opener “Almost Ready” shows that the band still excels at what they do best: rocking. Lou Barlow and Murph still lock onto each other to provide the frantic backbeat of the song while Mascis lays layer upon layer of shredding guitar. Yeah, they’re still loud and it’s still awesome. Barlow also provides his usual two album contributions with the powerful “Back to Your Heart” and “Lightning Bulb”, which sound a lot better than Sebadoh.
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Tags: Album Review, Dinosaur Jr. by Alfie
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