By Mike Stuart
30/04/2007
Beyond sees the original line-up of Dinosaur Jr. playing together on a studio album for the first time in 18 years. And although each of the members have gone off to do relatively well with their own respective musical projects, an 18 year intensely bitter split might suggest to some that a reformation might not be the best idea. While reformation albums generally tend to be inspid let downs that quickly find their way into 2nd hand record stores, Dinosaur Jr.'s Beyond actually comes very close to rivalling their 1987 magnum opus You're Living All Over Me.
Any doubts that they couldn't recreate their sound are shattered within the first minute of the opening track Almost Ready, when J Mascis unleashes a blistering guitar solo. And he does this with such skill and consistency on Beyond that the album should seriously be sent out to all modern rock bands as a lesson on how it's done. Even on the more tender moments of the album like the Neil Young influenced I Got Lost, this is not the sound of a band who should hang up the guitars and take down the slippers.
Admittedly, Beyond is not a giant step forward for Dinosaur Jr., and perhaps its greatest surprise is that they can still play their brand of melodic slacker grunge as well as they could in the late 80s. However, this is an excellent album, and as good an introduction to the band as any.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Beyond is released in the UK on April 30th, 2007
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
