Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
When a band makes a comeback, or goes back to the original line up it usually turns up one of two ways. It either really sucks, or turns out amazing. Dinosaur Jr. was lucky enough to fall into the later category. When they reformed the original line-up and released Beyond, the results were fantastic. It was a complete return to the classic Dinosaur Jr. form, with much of beyond sounding like early Dinosaur Jr. material. However the second album after the original line up returned, Farm, is a bit different.
Farm has a bit of a different feel from Beyond, but it still is clearly a Dinosaur Jr. album. All the elements of Dinosaur Jr. are there, the screeching muddy guitar, the powerful drumming and of course the dry vocals. Yet there is something a bit different about the album. It seems almost a bit more grown up then previous Dinosaur Jr. albums, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it still is a bit weird. It’s really hard to a put a finger on what exactly is different about it.
It’s not to say that the whole album is like that, there are parts that seem like they are classic dinosaur Jr. At some points it seems to have a bit more of a classic rock feel to it, for example the track Friends. The main riff, which is used throughout the verses, has a feel that seems almost similar to something Fog Hat might but out, yet the opening riff seems like a classic J Mascis riff. Then there is the track See you, where opening and verse chords have an odd mid 90s adult contemporary feel to them. Yet once again the track will return to standard Dinosaur Jr. at parts.
Overall the album is still pretty good, Dinosaur Jr. have been one of those bands that seem to at the very least release a solid album. Its not that the album is bad necessarily but it just has a different feel from dinosaur Jr. albums, and if you loved other Dinosaur Jr. stuff there is no reason that you wont enjoy Farm as well.
Dinosaur Jr – Your Weather
Dinosaur Jr – Friends
Dinosaur Jr – See You
Tags: album