Bug [Remaster]

Performer: Dinosaur Jr.
Engineer: Sean Slade; Paul Q. Kolderie
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: The 2005 Merge Records re-release of BUG boasts razor-fine, remastered sound and bonus videos of "Freak Scene" and "No Bones." This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Dinosaur Jr.: J Mascis, Lou Barlow, Murph. Liner Note Author: Allison Anders. One of the great albums of late-1980s alternative rock, BUG is the culmination of Dinosaur Jr.'s early period. Though guitarist/singer J. Mascis would go on to record other fine outings, BUG was the last release by the original lineup (featuring future Sebadoh leader Lou Barlow), and it perfects the elements introduced on the band's debut and its follow-up, YOU'RE LIVING ALL OVER ME. With its combination of punk edge, streaming psychedelic textures, and surprisingly melodic songcraft, LIVING helped set the template for the alternative-rock revolution of the '90s. BUG is earmarked by the epic power chords, spiraling solos, and towering squalls of Mascis's guitar, and his voice, which recalls Neil Young in its phrasing and quavering vulnerability. But it is Mascis's songs that make BUG such a strong release. "Freak Scene," the album's leadoff cut, is one of indie rock's best attempts at a perfect pop single, and everything that follows, including the plaintive melody of "No Bones," designates Dinosaur Jr. as true alt-rock royalty.

Entertainment Weekly (No. 815, p.77) - "[Here, Mascis] perfects his trip..." - Grade: A- Uncut (p.118) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[With] sonic sophistication..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.108) - 4 stars out of 5 - "BUG marks the emergence of Mascis writing by rote. When applied to such an outlandishly great song as 'Freak Scene' his skills still blazed..."

Formed in Amherst, Massachusetts during the mid-1980s, Dinosaur Jr. crafted punky, ramshackle songs that featured J. Mascis' sleepy vocals and meandering, feedback-drenched guitars. After a series of well received indie releases, culminating with 1988's BUG, bassist Lou Barlow departed to form Sebadoh, and the band (Mascis and drummer Murph) signed with a major label. In 1991, the group released their masterpiece, GREEN MIND, an album that displayed a poppier, dreamier sound. However, Dinosaur Jr. was essentially a Mascis solo project by this point, and although Murph and other musicians appeared on subsequent albums, Dino Jr. remained a Mascis-driven vehicle until he officially went solo in the late '90s.

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