Album Review

One of my favorite bands is Dinosaur Jr. The hardcore-hard rock band is made up of J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph. Mascis and Barlow were first in a band together with Deep Wound. Mascis is easily my favorite guitarist and my favorite Dinosaur Jr. albums are those on which he is allowed to shred for multiple solos per song. The other main ingredient for a great Dinosaur Jr. album is Lou Barlow singing with Mascis. Dinosaur broke up for a period in the 90s because of ongoing fighting between Mascis and Barlow. Mascis was always considered the frontman of the group and I think that he liked this image enough to want to take over the singing duties completely. The band's first two records were there best and my favorite is "Dinosaur", their self-titled debut (the band was called Dinosaur until they found out that another band was already called that).

What makes Dinosaur amazing is the change of tone and speed within the songs that happens on a dime. Usually switching between singers, the songs frequently completely change and the effect is powerful. The guitar style on this album is my favorite of Mascis'. Gritty and melodic playing off of each other. Some songs are pure shred and some soften up. "Mountain Man" is the most full-on hard rock song on the album and they even let Murph sing it. The lyrics are about leaving a relationship and society for the comforting savagery of the mountains. The singing makes it seem like the singer is going through an existential crisis and he couldn't handle a relationship filled with lies and apparently cheating. I love this song even though it is very dissimilar to the rest of the album.

My favorite song on the album is "Cats in a Bowl". This is a Lou Barlow song all the way through. The bass is at the forefront of the song with Mascis' guitar going crazy in the background. The lyrics are about being stuck in a rut in life and feeling like everywhere you go you're in the same place and the personal problems involved. "Even if I leave/ someone just like me/ popped out of the ground." And the ending suggests insanity and its crazy good. HAHAHA I'M SO FUNNY.

The reason this album is so amazing to me is that it captures exactly how I feel when I'm angry, sad, whatever AND I love it musically so I can listen to this in any mood. The angry at the world philosophy of "Dinosaur" is not angry at people, or whining, so much as wondering why bad things happen, why people are unhappy. "Pointless" is an instrumental with Barlow yelling in the background "I'm starving!" The world, according to this album, is boring and cruel and yet we try to find love. "Repulsion" and "Severed Lips" are love songs about how hard love is to keep and that no one is easy to please and no relationship is simple.
"The world drips down like gravy/ with thoughts of love so hazy."- "Repulsion"
"Hope I brought you some happiness/ I believe I just had to get on/ 'Cause this just wasn't a world/ I wished to need to find."- "Severed Lips"

Dinosaur Jr. went downhill for me after this album even though I love the next two: "You're Living All Over Me" and "Bug." 'Dinosaur" has everything I love about the band in great abundance. Hardcore is good for the soul.