When I was doing the research for my favorite albums of 2009 I saw that Dinosaur Jr had put out a new album, not only that, but it was actually good! I am a huge fan of Dinosaur Jr but I had always heard to stay away from anything after Bug and I did, happily. But farm is not just good, it’s freakin amazing!

So what if I had been lied to, had Dinosaur Jr been great all along? Or was it a long awaited comeback. So I went through and listened to the whole Dinosaur Jr discography, excluding ep’s and singles and stuff. And I came up with this “interactive” chart.

If the rating system on the flash chart is too arbitrary for you, I  made another chart using complex sound algorithms and advanced mathematics

Included in the flash chart are the current members of Dinosaur Jr for each recording, which I believe to be a contributing factor to the vast changes in quality. Mainly the absence of Lou Barlow, the original and now current bassist. Barlow is a song writing genius, and very much shows it in his solo project Sebadoh. And while J Mascis is also a very strong song writer I believe that it was them working together that truly makes their albums so amazing.

It is always the Barlow song that sticks out in a Dinosaur Jr album. This may have more to do with the fact that he usually only gets one, but also his songs are usually much more emotional and often a little strange, comparatively to the rest. His songs are a great way to break up the album, enough to catch your interest and suck you right back in. I think the placement of “Your Weather” on Farm is perfect, having it right in the middle stops it from petering out like the stereotypical rock album often does.

Probably the biggest surprise to me was the album Dinosaur, the first full length they put out. It is very very different from the rest of Dinosaur Jr’s discography. Like a different band, that is also fucking amazing. It is like a folksier, punkier Dinosaur Jr. The album actually isn’t really that different musically, it is kinda like an acoustic album that isn’t acoustic, or a sort of underdeveloped caveman Dinosaur Jr. Which if you think about it is pretty badass.

Side notes:

Hand It Over had guest vocals from Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher of My Bloody Valentine and I still thought it sucked.

If you are interested in Dinosaur Jr along with buying their records you should read Our Band Could Be Your Life: a very personal look at the bands that shaped the American independent music scene, including a chapter on Dinosaur Jr.

Check out the music video for the song “Over It” off their new album Farm.