Bug

The slacker vocals of DJ always annoyed me and to me every song sounds the same. As far as noisy rock goes they aren't as interesting as Sonic Youth, and I don't even like them. It was probably very exciting when it came out but in no way does this music sound adventurous today.

They're alright but i don't really enjoy them too much

Any small, creeping or crawling invertebrate like an insect, beetle, or worm.

Rocks, need to dig into more Dinosaur Jr. sidebar is Dinosaur Sr. T Rex?

Boring imo

I get it: They were grunge before grunge got big - But two albums on this list? Give it more remarkable or more impressive vocals and it could be great. Nonetheless "Don't" at the end almost destroys it for me. 2,5

Dinosaur Jr is one of those bands that I feel like I should like more than I do. But it just doesn't work for me.

Hit harder than I remember. Was ready to give this a 2, but really likes it and will be reviewing more. 3+

In between outbursts of raw noise, Mascis writes a handful of killer tunes.

I always assumed they were green day adjacent not sonic youth adjacent. Not that I particularly like either genres so I guess its a lateral move? After listening to all these 80's college rock albums and post punk I find it fascinating that the alternative scene spent 10 years dissecting a pop rock album only for their sound to be polished back to a perfect pop song culminating with smells like teen spirit. And now there isn't really an avant garde there's just different flavors of music. I don't know if that's good or bad. This album is definitely bad though.

Этот альбом - как весьма достойное standalone DLC к You're Living All Over Me. Он продолжает звуковые идеи предыдущего альбома, помещая нас в эту дискомфорную, клаустрофобную шумовую среду. Но как мне кажется, в предыдущем альбоме сильных песен всё же больше. Я сходу могу назвать: Little Fury Things, Kracked, The Lung, обожаемую Sludgefeast, Raisans и In a Jar в то время как в Bug по-настоящему зацепили пока только Freak Show и Let It Ride. Возможно альбому нужно ещё дать пожить в моей голове и жизни, чтоб раскусить больше песен, но пока это так! Ну и да, концовка стоит того, чтоб дослушать Bug полностью - закрывашка впечатляет. В любом случае, если вы хотите прогнать 40 минут уматного, балдежного грязного нойз-рока - вы не разочаруетесь.

My oldest brother was into Dinosaur Jr in the 90s. I dig it.

Just a little too much chaos and noise. I love heavy music when the band is in sync. Here is just feels like yelling and feedback with no rhyme or reason. The songs that were actual songs are ok.

2.75 - Ahh, this is what I expected for T. Rex. I should listen more. I liked it.

The album started well but tapered off pretty dramatically.

Don't rules!

Bug is such an interesting album. It’s the last one that would feature Lou Barlow on bass before the break up. J Mascis had figured the band was his and nobody else mattered. Lou had started recording electronic music and writing his own songs as Sebadoh. He would also release music as Folk Implosion. But on Bug they seemed to figure out how to kind of coexist a little. j Mascis is always going to be front and center with loud guitar playing. The songs are great pop tunes that just catch your ear. Lou Barlow would follow a similar path with Sebadoh. This is such a good album. They eventually reunited and they still don’t really like each other but the music still is good. Don’t on the album is kind of funny Barlow singing why don’t you like me? Before leaving the band.

This was way better than I thought

My favorite phrase from "About the Artist" on Spotify: "they injected late-'80s alternative rock with monumental levels of pure guitar noise." :) Not my thing, but very good at what they do. It's three stars for what I like, and four stars for quality within the genre. But since this is just to remind me of albums I might want to revisit, I'm going three.

I have always liked this band and virtually everything I've heard of theirs but, for some reason, I've never sought their albums. I think Bug changes that for me. Really fun and solid little album.

Considering what else was on the radio in 1988 I can see how this would be a lifeline to those wanting to escape new wave and pop top 40. Overall, a solid proto-alternative album. The elements of punk and rock with playful lyricism. Likely not a favorite for me.

2.3 out of 5 stars for Dinosaur Jr. It’s been my biggest problem with Dinosaur Jr. - They sound really cool and alt, and then the singing starts and it’s whiny, annoying and not very good. Reminds me of a very bad Built to Spill cover band, even though I know Treepeople and Built To Spill was probably directly influenced by Dinosaur Jr. I dunno, this album lost me at No Bones. I just can’t get into these guys. Freak Scene was fun at least.

Not an enjoyable listen. Singer ruins every song except Don't. That was awful

For a while now, I’ve enjoyed Dino Jr. in small doses but never took the time to listen to a full album. Even though this one was rather short, I think I’ll stick to the smaller doses.

Clearly, they influenced the grunge scene, but this album is too uneven in sound and too unfiltered when they turn up the noise to create real interest from those people listening for good music.

A bit too much noise for the sake of noise for me. Some of the tracks musically and vocally were fine just didn't have any connection to the lyrics that I could understand. 2 1/2.

Good record. Punk roots with alternative leanings. Early in the development of grunge.

Noisy at times, but pretty good.

This album starts pretty mundane but really got going by the end. I didn't expect all of that.

This is a really disjointed album. Bits of it were great, proper college rock but the rest, I don’t know, just unnecessary grinding noise.

I generally enjoyed this. No standout tracks per se but I like the garage rock sound. It had simple production and the guitars weren’t as fuzzy as like My Bloody Valentine which we’ve been getting a lot of

It was fine but not a big fan of the lead singers voice - was tempted to take away a star from the rating but really liked the guitar riffs on this one.

There’s just no way we’re listening to noise rock

i think I'll always get Dinosaur Jr. and T. Rex mixed up for the rest of my life that said, was probably at a 2.5 for this album, until the penultimate track. the screaming lost me. two stars

Came into this album expecting most of it to sound like Feel The Pain from Rick Band. And while a lot of it did, there was a lot that took me by surprise. Probably something I'd check out again or more of their work when I have some free time.

Starts out strong (like I was going to give it a four strong), but slowly gets worse as it goes on. Still not bad. Just not great.

some pretty sick rock tunes

At first this was a whatever album that was just playing in the background, but then things just got loud and annoying near the end. I went from being whatever about this album to not liking it because of that.

Dreadful

Я не думала, что мне так понравится. Очень энергично, Don't очень странная, но узнав о ее истории я перестала слышать просто крики. Возможно я сильно завышаю оценки, но я здесь не как профессионсльный критик. Мне просто нравится звучание.

A few pretty good tracks and a couple of bombs. The last song being absolutely awful, left a bad taste. 3.25 rounded down to 3*

A bit grungey, good old-fashioned guitar rock from the late 80s. I enjoyed it but not enough to listen again soon.

Listens: 3 Standout Tracks: Don't I am not sure why there needs to be 2 Dinosaur Jr. albums on the List. I can think of a few albums that have broader appeal that probably aren't on the List. But whatever... The first ~25 seconds of Don't are pretty sweet psychedelic washed out, distorted guitar, before the singer starts screaming Why Don't You Like Me over and over. Other than the rather out-of-place excessibe screaming on Don't, this seems like a pretty standard affair alternative rock album. It's okay. Not the best, not the worst. Kind of unremarkable, but not offensive or off-putting. A pretty middle of the road 3.

What is going on here? You've got this approachable rock album, you're vibing along, this is cool, this is different. And then "Don't" comes on, sounding like someone handed you with a scream grenade with the pin pulled and said "Here, hold this, it's live. Oops, too late!", blows your head off, and then "Keep The Glove" comes on and says "Man, that was rough! You want a soda?" I don't know if I liked this album as much as survived it. This is not daily rotation, and I hope the fans enjoyed it. My Rating: 2/5

Just because it’s nostalgic doesn’t mean I like it.

Dinosaur Jr fucking ripped then and still fucking rips today. Would take this a thousand times over most of the other BS that shows up on this list.

I liked this. For an album from 1988, this sounds way ahead of its time. The whiplash from going from the song don’t to keep the glove was the funniest thing in a while.

After listening to this record, I think they need to join their seniors and become extinct also.

Not for me.

Listened before?: never Freak Scene - 5/5 No Bones - 4/5 They Always Come - 4/5 Yeah We Know - 5/5 Let It Ride - 5/5 Pond Song - 4/5 Budge - 4/5 The Post - 4/5 Don't - 2/5 Average score: 4.1/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Only listened to pieces of this before. But brilliant

V good, they've never clicked for me quite as much as some of their contemporaries but some good stuff on here

Tasty

Holy shit this ruled

An alternative rock album that was a bit ahead of its time. It was still a bit too upbeat in its sound to be considered grunge, but the foundation was definitely there, the heavy guitars and dour lyrics. I mostly enjoyed this listen; a couple of the tracks that leaned more toward punk didn't really fit the theme. I'd give it a solid 3.5/5 on a proper scale, but I might come back to this, so on this system I'll give it a low 4/5

I think my first introduction to Dinosaur Jr was seeing a cool video where the band played golf on the streets of New York City..I didn't have MTV so I probably have just seen in once on Beavis and Butthead on terrestrial TV but it was the catchy song with a fun, and looking back, relatively expensive looking video for an underground act. They broke up a few years after but I liked some of Lou Barlow's stuff in the 90s with Folk Implosion and Sebadoh. So by the time the band reformed around a decade later I got one of their latter albums and liked it. I also saw the documentary about the band Freakscene that came out a few years ago. It's a good watch and also helps to put into context why the band was so fractious to begin with. In spite of this, this was my first time listening to Bug in full. I was prepared for it to be fairly abrasive given it's reputation and it is in places but it's also got great melodies and hooks on several tracks, unlike say Sonic Youth at this time. Seems pretty clear Kurt Cobain was among those playing close attention, it feels like a clear forerunner of the production style of huge, sludgy guitar noise with pop hooks that Nirvana nailed on Nevermind.

Crap.

Kind of a meh, not my style

More grinding guitars.

However much I try, I just don't like this. Not at the time or now.

Perfectly ok alt rock, not a world beater though.

It was fine. Not sure I'd compare it favourably to Fromohio, which I listened to immediately prior. This felt less varied and melodic than that album; nonetheless, it's a musical style I'm familiar with and enjoy. I'd listen again without complaint, I might never hear any of them after today and wouldn't be bothered.

Felt like a pretty good protogrunge album until Don't hit. That veers into crust-metal territory with screaming and some vocal effects on it. Delightful. The best Dinosaur Jr. song isn't on this album, and there was a distinct lack of songs about dinosaurs. All good though.

“Don’t” really caught me off guard. I didn’t know Dino Jr was like that. I really didn’t like this album. It felt unrefined. Kinda like making a song and doing no revisions and being like “yeah that’s good”.

Talking about Dinosaur Jr it's also talking about J. Mascis as a creative force. And There is a fascinating mixture in between hard rock, a furious discharge of avant noise and folk-rock that surprisingly actually works in this record. Bug was the massive consolidation of Dinosaur Jr into the mainstream and helped out to influence many other bands in the 90's such as Nirvana. Lou Barlow departured the band after this album and he wasn't seen until 2007, and even when Freak Scene as a single cultivated many devoted fans to the band and indie scenes, Mascis himself has said previously that this is his least favourite album of the band due to the way it was conceived and released. It was 1988 and grunge as a genre was just right around the corner and many years later, it's not hard to tell how noise rock actually paved the way with bands like this one or Sonic Youth. With such an opener like Freak Scene or songs like They Always Come, this one it's a record that even when it's not part of the 90's, many people treated like a bridge between the noisy and angsty sound of grunge and the relentless powerful sound that would define britpop and the chaos of rave culture that would rule England years later on. Independent radio stations, fanzines, magazines, they all had a name back in the day and when many people would thought about R.E.M in the first place, the truth there was someone else out there. Bug is a record that you need to have on your list if you wanna understand how college rock paved the way to alternative rock culture as it is today.

Sorry i just don’t rlly care for this genre

Pretty good, very Sonic Youth

Having recently realised about a week ago that a new Dinosaur Jr. album was released about two weeks ago, I went down a little Dinosaur Jr. shaped rabbit hole and caught up on lots of their post 2000 albums. But I hadn't listened to 'Bug' in ages and it is still a classic album, 9 songs and 35 minutes or 10 songs and 38 minutes, so the perfect length. From the guitar driven melodies on Freak Scene to louder noise rock songs elsewhere on the album. All of it is immense. This was the last album of the first phase of the band with the original line. Today I listened to it twice, the remastered version with an extra song, Keep the Glove, and the original that ends in Don't. The original version ending with Don't written by J Mascis but sung by Lou Barlow where he screams 'Why Don't You Like Me' for about 5 minutes over sludgy loud guitar rock at J Mascis is the perfect end to phase one of Dinosaur Jr and the classic original line up. So I may be biased but I'm a big fan of the band and this is 5 stars from me.

Never understood the hype around this band. It’s the quality of live music but without it being live. Feels unfinished and rushed, not my vibe.

Love Dinosaur Jr., but I always found Bug to be their weakest album.

It's nice. Couple of great songs and the rest is pleasant too

Without a Sound is their album for me. Didn't find much to get excited about here. 2/5

An interesting one. They obviously inspired a lot of stuff that I like but I didn’t really enjoy this all that much. A realistic 2.

In keeping with my late 80s and early 90s garage rock issues, I just don't find this fun to listen to. Some songs are fine. The rest is so forgettable.

No me gustó, lo primero que se me viene a la mente es que en esta lista podrían haber otros álbumes antes que este

Medio mid, pero tiene un estilo que banco. No creo que sea su mejor disco asi que espero que toque el otro.

Good guitar work, drums, and bass, but the indecision that showed through on whether they wanted to focus on the noise rock or slacker rock sounds plus J Mascis' objectively bad vocals make the experience of listening more of a chore than enjoyment.

Bit noisy

This was fun!

a downer of an album. not bad, grungy as you can expect

Not for me!

Honestly just needed some good 90s music after all that 60s folk

RATING: 7.5/10 HIGHLIGHT: Freak Scene LOWLIGHT: Pond Song

#247/1001 🇬🇧 🪲 Hearing Freak Scene for the first time nearly 30 years ago blew my mind and it still does now. This is still a great album to listen to and the last one before Lou Barlow left. The last track, Don't - with Barlow on vocal is a bit of a treat. Best Tracks: Freak Scene, The Post, Let It Ride, Don't.

Dinosaur Jr. are underrated, but talent-wise are right up with the best of their era. J. Mascis can absolutely shred, and does so here from beginning to end. Only negative really is “ Don’t”, which is too abrasive and doesn’t really fit how surprisingly melodic the rest of this can be. But it’s just one song, and the rest of this more than makes up for it.

Ooh, four in a row that I've owned on vinyl for most of my adult life! Not quite a five star album though this time. I was totally in to this scene in my twenties, but found Dinosaur Jr a bit too "classic rock" for my liking. I think it was all the guitar solos which put me off. Compared to Big Black and Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr's songs tended to be a bit bloated. Still, now I'm a big boy, I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.

ой, не для меня. уважаю поиски жанра, но не этого (ор)

So much of this 80s and 90s alternative rock suffer from being corny. J Mascis isba very solid guitar player and carries this album. "Yeah i know" is my favourite off the record. "Don't" have great instrumentals, but is ruined by the screaming. Gonna give it a three even and not a two for the reason that i thought this was a 90's album. Ahead of it's time, but not in a entirely good way.

I generally enjoyed the first half of this album, but it definitely lost its shine as it progressed.

Some good guitar every now and then but not very good everything else.

Second album from theirs I’ve gotten and still the same conclusion that they’re not for me.

I liked some songs pretty well and didn’t care at all for others. I added “Freak Show” to my playlist.

Baustelle, Gerstetten, Heidenheim. Super Album.

An easy listen, but less interesting to me compared to the other Dinosaur Jr. album I listened to, "You're Living All Over Me"

I love this band, not my favourite of their albums though

I preferred this Dinosaur Jr album to the other I’ve had on here. Initially I thought this one wasn’t that good either, but as it played it grew on me more than the other album. The production lets things down severely, and it became samey after five or six songs. I erred on a 3, but I’m going with a 2. I still don’t understand why they are so lauded.

Weird, not terrible though

Hard rock. But more interesting/creative than i expected. The vocalist is not great. Though I appreciate the effort here, I can’t imagine wanting to listen to the whole album again. A 2.

This is not my jam. Mainly it's the vocals. It has a whiny quality that I find annoying. The album did get better as it went on. And I recognize that some people like the vocal vibe. So I won't trash the album completely. It's sort of a 'meh' for me.

creo que me gusto un poco más que el otro de dinosaur jr que escuché (tal vez no, honestamente no me acuerdo) el otro día vi una entrevista donde finn wolfhard los nombra como gran influencia para su musica y escuchando este álbum it's crystal clear.