Beyond (Dinosaur Jr. album) explained

Beyond
Type:Album
Artist:Dinosaur Jr.
Cover:DinosaurBeyond.JPG
Released:May 1, 2007
Recorded:September–December 2006
Venue:Bisquiteen (Amherst, MA)
Genre:
Length:49:34
Label:Fat Possum
Producer:J Mascis
Prev Title:Hand It Over
Prev Year:1997
Next Title:Farm
Next Year:2009

Beyond is the eighth studio album by the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. It was their first LP in a decade after 1997's Hand It Over, and the first album by the original lineup since 1988's Bug.

Promotion

The band planned a full world tour in 2007[1] and played "Almost Ready" on the Late Show with David Letterman to support their album. A music video was made for "Been There All the Time", featuring Sonic Youth front-man Thurston Moore and his daughter, Coco. It was directed by Matt Dillon.[2]

Release

The album was released through Fat Possum Records in the US[3] and through the Play It Again, Sam label in Europe,[4] [5] Australia, New Zealand[6] and Japan.[7] It was also released in Ukraine through Moon Records.[8] Both Fat Possum and PIAS released limited edition versions of it containing an extra 7 inch with the 2:47 track "Yer Son".[9] [10] The respective labels would go on to reissue the album in 2014, 2015 and 2016,[11] the former even releasing a downloadable 256 kbit/s MP3 version of it.[12]

Reception

The album has a Metacritic score of 79 based on 31 reviews, indicating "[g]enerally favorable reviews". Zach Baron of Pitchfork gave the album a very positive review, comparing it favorably to other comebacks of the year. He writes: "Beneath Beyond's crystalline production is the sublime result: years and years of weariness and aging and conflict put back into the bottle. [...] Less a theme park of the past and more of an actual trip there [...] Beyond is nostalgic for everything but the band's own glory days. If anything, it's an exercise in making their entire twenty-year output sound contemporary again."[13] Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the "very existence of this new album is a surprise, but the real shock is that Beyond is a flat-out great record, a startling return to form for J Mascis as a guitarist and songwriter and Dinosaur Jr. as a band." He found the album to be less noisy and more stylistically diverse than the earlier efforts of the trio ("this sounds like the album that could have been released instead of Green Mind if Lou had stuck around, or if Dinosaur made the kind of grand major-label debut many expected them to deliver in the days before Nevermind.") He also finds the album to be "very different" from their past efforts "in that for the first time, Mascis is assertive about his talent. He sounds engaged -- in music, in life [...] -- and it gives the album a powerful sense of purpose that the classic Dinosaur albums were lacking by their very design." He concludes by writing that "Beyond isn't merely a worthy album from a reunited band, it's simply a great record by any standard."[14]

A mixed review came from Q, who wrote that "The spark that made initial albums such as Bug so special is still missing." [May 2007, p. 123]

Accolades

!Publication!Country!Accolade!Rank
PasteUSThe 100 Best Albums of 200798[15]
PitchforkUSThe 50 Best Albums of 200728[16]
WOXY.comUS97 Best Albums of 200767[17]
Classic RockUKTop Albums of 200717[18]
UncutUKTop Albums of 200750
GlideUSGlide's Best Albums Of The Decade42[19]

In popular culture

"Almost Ready" was used on the Major League Baseball 2K8[20] and Skate 3[21] soundtracks, and "Pick Me Up" is downloadable content from the Rock Band series. The songs "Almost Ready" and "Crumble" were used in Alien Workshop's skateboarding film Mind Field.[22]

Personnel

Dinosaur Jr.
Technical

Charts

Beyond debuted at #69 on the Billboard 200 and peaked at #19 on the Top Rock Albums chart.[23] In 2012 it was awarded a double silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association,[24] which indicated sales of at least 40,000 copies throughout Europe.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dinosaur Jr News. https://web.archive.org/web/20070203143552/http://www.dinosaurjr.com/home.news.htm. February 3, 2007. May 1, 2020.
  2. Web site: New Dinosaur Jr Video – "Been There All The Time". 2007-04-13. Stereogum. 2019-02-28.
  3. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. en. 2019-02-28.
  4. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. April 24, 2007 . en. 2019-02-28.
  5. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. April 24, 2007 . en. 2019-02-28.
  6. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. en. 2019-02-28.
  7. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. en. 2019-02-28.
  8. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. en. 2019-02-28.
  9. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. August 29, 2007 . en. 2019-02-28.
  10. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. April 24, 2007 . en. 2019-02-28.
  11. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. en. 2019-02-28.
  12. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond. Discogs. en. 2019-02-28.
  13. Web site: Dinosaur Jr.: Beyond. Pitchfork. en. 2019-02-28.
  14. Web site: Beyond - Dinosaur Jr. Songs, Reviews, Credits. AllMusic. en-us. 2019-02-28.
  15. Web site: The 100 Best Albums of 2007. pastemagazine.com. July 2008. en. 2019-02-28. July 23, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180723064104/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2007/11/signs-of-life-2007-best-music-1.html. dead.
  16. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2007. Pitchfork. December 18, 2007 . en. 2019-02-28.
  17. Web site: 97bestof. Dropbox. en. 2019-02-28.
  18. Web site: Rocklist.net...Steve Parker...More Classic Rock Lists... www.rocklistmusic.co.uk. 2019-02-28.
  19. Web site: Glide's Best Albums Of The Decade . December 14, 2009 .
  20. Web site: Major League Baseball 2K8 Soundtrack Announced - Xbox. https://web.archive.org/web/20120206221305/http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/15840/Major-League-Baseball-2K8-Soundtrack-Announced/. dead. 2012-02-06. 2012-02-06. 2019-02-28.
  21. Web site: Skate 3 Soundtrack Revealed. 2010-03-21. CINEMABLEND. 2019-02-28.
  22. Web site: Alien Workshop - Mind Field skate video soundtrack - Video by Greg Hunt Skatevideosite. www.skatevideosite.com. 2019-02-28. July 14, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140714113819/http://www.skatevideosite.com/skatevideos/alien-workshop-mind-field/soundtrack. dead.
  23. Dinosaur Jr. Beyond Chart History. Billboard. 2019-02-28.
  24. Web site: 13/12/12: More Independent Artists Take European Gold, Silver and Platinum Awards Than Ever Before | Impala. www.impalamusic.org. May 1, 2020. July 15, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190715093634/https://www.impalamusic.org/node/163. dead.

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