AWESOME. The new Dino Jr on wax, a limited edition of 1000 copies, and it comes with both a bonus exclusive 7" with the songs "I Got Lost", "Lightning Bulb", and "What If I Knew", complete with printed sleeve jacket and everything, and a drop card for a download of the album through Emusic.

I still can't believe that this is actually sitting here in my hands. Dinosaur Jr. is one of my all-time favorite bands, and when the band reunited with the original SST-era lineup a few years ago, I thought I was dreaming. Sure, I saw Dino Jr. back in the 90's, but that was with the Green Mind lineup, which we all know was pretty much Masic running Dinosaur Jr. as an overblown solo project. I never got to see 'em with Lou Barlow and Murph in the band, and we all know that it was the first three albums that really ruled, when the band tapped into their crushing hybrid of post-punk, Mascis' weird take on country rock, crunchy metal riffs, hardcore, and psychedelia. So here we have Dinosaur Jr. back together again with the original lineup, and anybody that's seen 'em on their comeback tours can attest that these guys still have it, belting out an earbleeding set that sounds like they never left. I've seen 'em twice since they've gotten back together, and both

shows were near-religious experiences for me. So of course when Dino announced that they had a brand new album in the works, my expectations were really on fire. What in the hell was new music from these guys going to sound like, after all of these years and all of the whack drama that has gone down with Barlow and Masic over the years. I think alot of people were honestly shocked when Beyond came out earlier this year and fucking straight-up timewarped us back to, well, not quite classic Dinosaur Jr., but definitely something close. That's not to say that I don't think that Beyond is awesome; it most definitely is. But it sounds more like Green Mind/Where You Been era Dino than any of the first three SST albums, which is what alot of us were secretly hoping for...you know, like they were going to come out with You're Living All Over Me Part II. But they didn't, and I can honestly say that I'm totally i

n love with the album that they did come out with. Beyond has everything I love about mid-era Dino, the majestic pop songs hidden underneath some pretty mighty riffage, J.'s soaring solos that are still totally unmatched, the chugging metallic crunch of songs like "Pick Me Up" and "It's Me"...and then there are the two songs that Lou Barlow wrote and sings on, "Back to Your Heart" and "Lightning Bulb", both terrific. I don't know what else to say about this album...if you're a Dinosaur Jr. fan, espcially one from back in the day, this might affect you as deeply as it did me. It's certainly the best album the band has released since Bug, and by any standard, it kicks the shit out of anything calling itself "indie rock" nowadays. Highly, highly recommended.