Track Listing

1. Out There
2. Start Choppin'
3. What Else Is New
4. On The Way
5. Not The Same
6. Get Me
7. Drawerings
8. Hide
9. Goin' Home
10. I Ain't Sayin'
11. Hide
12. Keeblin'
13. What Else Is New

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47434 in Music
• Released on: 2006-05-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

CD Description
Dinosaur Jr.'s baroque moment finds J. Mascis bringing in astring section and adding the occasional odd instrument himself to his band's power-trio splatter. But if Mascis is theNeil Young of the post-hard-core generation, that doesn't make WHERE YOU BEEN his HARVEST. Au contraire, it's still loaded with feedback squalls, distorted guitar solos and all other manner of electric melancholy. It does make WHERE YOU BEEN his most integrated pop moment, tipping the overall balance away from the sprawling noise and toward pop structure, offering some moments of sub-orchestral beauty.
"What ElseIs New", a melodic rocker with its share of blues guitar leads, has a surprising two-minute coda that builds on a strummed acoustic guitar with a cello, then tympani, then a full string section. "Not The Same" is a ballad that seamlessly integrates those same elements with a gorgeously arpeggiated electric guitar motif, and a Young-like falsetto vocal.

Customer Reviews

Dinosaur's purple patch
I must admit that when this album came out back in '92 or '93, I was less than impressed. Grunge had exploded and all its fun and punkish, edgy extremity was being sucked out of it by the majors and MTV at breakneck speed. Grunge/alternative rock was fast becoming another rock/pop cliche of boys with guitars. I wanted DJ to go back to the fuzzy, fritzy, lo-fi Lou Barlow days but Where You Been couldn't have been more different from You're Living All Over Me. It was big, grand Neil Youngish rock. Still, it wasn't bad: Hide and On the Way rocked and screeched very nicely and Start Choppin' had a very nice, crunchy riff.

Only some years later did I put the pre-recorded cassette (remember those?) into my tape player again and realise this album is pretty much a classic. J's solos are astonishing (even more than usual perhaps) and the forays into acoustic and strings are thrilling yet fragile (at the time I thought they were uninspired!). Yes, the Neil Young influence is very evident (no bad thing) but, on further listens, Where You Been shares a lot with its more indie predecessors - it's just a lot bolder.

Like most DJ lps, Where You Been contains one duff track (Drawerings in this case) but there's so much that's great here that it's essential - as much as Bug - for anyone interested in the last 20 years of punk rock ... 'n'roll.

If you haven't got it, where you been?
This was Dinosaur's crowning achievement in my view. The album is not without its breezier moments but overall the mood is dark. This album was made about the time Mascis lost his father (see the poignant single 'where you been') and the set has the feel not so much of despair but of powerful catharsis and also joy in getting through it all.

The solos on this LP (commented on by another reviewer) are undoubtedly a collection of J Mascis' greatest moments, the perfect marriage of virtuosity, fragility and emotional, visceral force. There is as much, if not sometimes more expression of feeling in Mascis' solos as in his words.

This reissue is welcome as it contains some hard to find b-sides from the time which are real gems (especially 'keeblin'') and serves to remind us of what is a highlight among the 'grunge' era albums and a milestone in the career of a great band.

More guitar adventures.
Just got this, so not too familiar with it yet. The opening track 'out there' features some superb guitar work from J. Mascis and it travels neatly into 'start choppin' which shows that Mascis can be as rock/funk as John Frusciante when he wants to. After these 2 great openers, the rest of the album trailed off a bit, but 'on the way' is a great rocker, a bit like 'kracked' from 'you're living all over me'. I have to say that I don't like the Lou Barlow tracks on the first 3 Dinosaur albums, but he was an essential member of the group to spur Mascis on to some of his best writing. That said, I've got alot of time for this album and will be exploring 'Green Mind' next. I hope they reissue the next 2 albums which came after this. Would recommend this album to guitar nuts, even if at times Mascis does stray into self indulgence.