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Track Listings
| 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 Description
Review
He didn’t, of course, and after Nirvana’s Nevermind went supernova, many looked to Dinosaur Jr. to follow them into the big-time; after all, their 1988 single Freak Scene coined the quiet/loud dynamic Smells Like Teen Spirit would later ride to phenomenal success. Released as grunge was at its height, 1993’s Where You Been hazily evaded any Nirvana-esque commercial crossover (it peaked at number 50 in the Billboard charts), but was a ragged masterpiece that found a fine new voice for the band.
There was something unabashedly classic about Where You Been’s rock, deriving not least from Mascis’s copious guitar heroics, layering multiple tracks of scree and howl so the entire album feels like one epic, sky-scraping solo. Out There opened the album with enough overdriven squalling and riffing to excite the teens in the Pearl Jam t-shirts, but Where You Been’s charms lay more in the lazy melodic drawl of Mascis’ songcraft: the lilting Start Choppin’, the breezy What Else Is New?, the winsomely aching Goin’ Home. With his fondness for extended guitar-play, his country-soaked rock crunch, his cracked and sweet vocals, Where You Been identified Mascis as hewn from the same stone as Neil Young before him.
There were still moments of punked-up fury to set the moshpit alight: On the Way a slamdance immolated by howling, roaring guitar, Hide a desperate dash illuminated by passages of Sonic Youth-esque skronk. But Where You Been’s best moments were more considered: Not the Same – all windswept mourn, strings and tympani and Mascis’ affecting whine achieving a moving drama Billy Corgan would later imitate with The Smashing Pumpkins’ Disarm – and Get Me, the album’s standout, a simple but perfect country strum sent into the heavens by wave after wave of wracked, ecstatic guitar soloing that lent grand emotional erudition to Mascis’ mush-mouthed mumbling. The second chapter of Dinosaur Jr.’s career was decidedly back on track.
--Stevie Chick
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Customer Reviews
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.
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.
Highlights are 'Out There' and the unstoppable force of 'Start Choppin', 'What Else is New'... actually they are all good. There really is not a dud track on the whole album. 10 songs of pure grungey country gold.
Possibly their greatest album.
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