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I feel sort of ambivalent about Hand It Over. I mean, I think "Alone" is, hands down, the best song ever. By anyone. Ever. But there’s a lot of mediocre stuff on there. Sounds to me like J was sort of experimenting on this one. Some things worked, some didn’t.
But, on topic, Dinosaur is brilliant. Indeed, Repulsion (ok, now I’m not sure; maybe this is the best song ever) Severed Lips, some of the greatest songs, meaning not just guitar-player-God wise, he’s ever written. I once played Repulsion to a friend (guitar player in my band) and he said: "what is that?" I said, "Dino". He said, "let’s do a cover of that one."
(and, off topic, yeah, I haven’t been in here in ages. I couldn’t find the reply button at first, that says it all. But I -and I know this is blasphemy for a Freakscener; not listening to Dino for a while- rediscovered Dino again. And it’s beautiful. It’s everything you could ever hope for. "Get Me" bringing you to tears again.
Oh, and I take English classes. Do you notice, do you?)
Love, Olaf
P.s. I read the title of this topic and was immediately singing: "…who feels ashamed" Thanks, brightened up my day.
"Samwise " wrote:I feel sort of ambivalent about Hand It Over. I mean, I think "Alone" is, hands down, the best song ever. By anyone. Ever. But there’s a lot of mediocre stuff on there. Sounds to me like J was sort of experimenting on this one. Some things worked, some didn’t.‘Alone’ is definitely the centrepiece freakout for that record, no question. i’ve found Hand It Over to be sort of the dark horse of the Dino catalogue…a lot of the songs have really grown on me, especially ‘I Know Yer Insane’ and ‘Gotta Know’.
some of the others, though, are pure gold. ‘I’m Insane’ (also a Sonic Youth song title, from ‘Sister’) has one of the best breakdows i’ve ever heard. ‘Mick’ is a great song, maybe a little upbeat in tone by Dinosaur standards, but one of the best on the album. and on the subject of experiments that worked, how about ‘Gettin’ Rough’? what’s not to like about that one? i’ve heard J used a specially-modified banjo for it, and it’s one of the rare moments in Dinosaur discography that is intentionally humourous.
i’ve read some hack reviews of ‘Hand It Over’ that elucidate the opinion that the instrumentation on that record was designed to disguise J running out of ideas…i don’t agree with this. ‘Never Bought It’ has some cool piccolo trumpet, definitely the sound of someone seeking to expand their sonic palette. and it’s a good song, too. ‘I Don’t Think’ is one of the Dino tracks with high singing that i really enjoy…maybe because J recorded it with two members of My Bloody Valentine, who are one of my favourite bands ever. but i hear you, samwise…it’s not my favourite Dino record by a long shot. as an album, there are a lot of tracks i skip. but i give Dinosaur a ton of respect for experimenting in the late 90s, at a time when a lot of people probably forgot they were a band at all…it’s a fitting swansong for the second incarnation of the band, i think. by and large i think there are more strong tracks on ‘Hand It Over’ than weak ones. ‘Nuthin’s Goin’ On’ is a rocking good tune for the ages. it died on the radio back in ’97…this is evidence to me of its quality. let’s not forget that sweet plasticene-inspired album cover either.
but compared to the other records, ‘Hand It Over’ not as strong, although i also believe it’s an underrated album in many ways. zoinks…i’m a real fence-sitter on this one.
"over yr shoulder " wrote:but compared to the other records, ‘Hand It Over’ not as strong, although i also believe it’s an underrated album in many ways. zoinks…i’m a real fence-sitter on this one.I have to agree with this assessment. I love a couple of songs like ‘Alone’, ‘Loaded’, and ‘Gotta Know’ but there’s some mediocre stuff too. Still love the album overall but it’s in the bottom half of my dino rankings for sure.
There debut album was pretty good. At least some of it was. It’s definitely a record worth having and listening to. But it really wasnt their best. It was too underdeveloped. You’re Living All Over Me and Bug were brilliant follow ups. Not to mention a lot of the post-Lou era material was amazing too.
"sonicdeathmonkey " wrote:There debut album was pretty good. At least some of it was. It’s definitely a record worth having and listening to. But it really wasnt their best. It was too underdeveloped. You’re Living All Over Me and Bug were brilliant follow ups. Not to mention a lot of the post-Lou era material was amazing too.The underdevelopment is what I love about it. It’s simple and melodic and to me is just much more emotionally effective and powerful than anything else they did.
I just got my friend into Dinosaur Jr. I lent him YLAOM and he really liked it. Then I lent him Green Mind and he said he only liked certiain songs. He just got back from France and he bought Dinosaur while he was there and he said that he listened to it 5 times in row when he got it. It’s one of his favorite albums now and he thinks its the best dinosaur record out of the first 4 he has listened to for the reasons you have just mentioned cardboard adolescent. It’s so original and I love it more everytime I listen to it
"cardboard adolescent " wrote:Who thinks their debut is their best album?There’s something about it that just blows me away every time I listen to it… Everyone told me You’re Living All Over Me was better but when I got it I was actually dissapointed because I didn’t like it as much.
I agree with you. But i don’t know why. Dinosaur is just amazing.
"Samwise " wrote:P.s. I read the title of this topic and was immediately singing: "…who feels ashamed" Thanks, brightened up my day.I read the title and was singing "…searching for you / and if I get caught the search is through"
But then I realised it was "I am…" (a song by Pavement, can’t remember the name havenae heard it in years)But as to the artistic merits of "Dinosaur" I love it!! Repulsion, Quest, Severed Lips, Forget the Swan are some of my favourite Dinosaur tracks, Lou’s Ricken-bashing is awesome (I am primarily a bass player, human being second)
But yeah, the sound quality leaves a little to be desired!Hand it Over is also a fave of mine, it was the first one I heard when it came out and I couldn’t get my head round it. It seemed like a big wall of sludge with a freak whining over the top. Of course it STILL IS a big wall of sludge with a freak whining over the top but I’ve grown to love the wall of sludge and the whining freak!
Probably the only two that don’t really do it for me are WYB and WAS…
(This is relative though, I still enjoy ’em)No way is their first album their best. It’s a good album, and even now when they pay it it sounds great, but it’s nowhere near as interesting and sophisticated as their later albums.
I agree with the monkeyt on this one. Their first album was a hint of the greatness to come. You can definitely tell they were still trying to figure out what kind of band that wanted to be on that one . . .
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