Without A Sound (Deluxe Edition)

Entertainment Weekly (9/16/94, p.120) - "...If this Smurf look-alike has become God to a new, grungeful people, it's thanks to the soaring emotion that flies from his guitar..." - Rating: B+ Option (11-12/94, p.97) - "...is not Dinosaur's definitive release. Yet there are those blistering guitar solos, that lonely, aching falsetto, that grungy disquietude straight out of ON THE BEACH. It is great." Musician (8/94, p.85) - "...Mascis comes across as someone who wants to appear not to care too much, while at the same time worrying that this bogus detachment may become genuine....Fortunately, Mascis is in fine form..."

By the time of Dinosaur Jr.s third major-label album, 1994s Without a Sound, the guitar rock landscape was changing, and the band was too. Grunge was a parody of itself, most of the bands who had been signed in the post-Nirvana rush were proven failures, and loud guitars seemed passe. Meanwhile, Murph was gone from the Dinosaur lineup, leaving J Mascis and Mike Johnson to make this transitional album by themselves. The core of the record is built on blown-out guitar-led rockers cast from the classic Mascis mold, with J powerfully handling the drums and destroying speakers with solos and gnarly sludge. His work on the opening Feel the Pain is a clinic on how to balance different guitar sounds and tones into a harmonious whole, the solo on Even You is wild even by Mascis standards, and his trademark wandering playing style (displayed magically on Over Your Shoulder) is in full effect throughout. He and Johnson team up to make some strong-as-cement, heavy-as-a-Miami-summer-night tunes; half the album or more stands shoulder to shoulder with previous work, especially Feel the Pain, which is destined to be on side one of their eventual greatest-hits collections. Where the album surprises and impresses is on the tracks where J dials down the frantic soloing and pounding chords to delve into sounds that are softer and quietly introspective. The albums second track is the first hint that things are going to be a little different. I Dont Think So is a rambling, lovelorn country-rock ballad made supersonic by Js guitar playing and turned blue by his devastatingly sad lyrics. Outta Hand is a beautiful acoustic ballad with pianos and synth strings that somehow feels as twisted and torn as any of the groups noise-wracked efforts. The arrangement puts Js cracked vocals right at the front, and he carries the song with a tender grace that few would have imagined at the start of Dinosaur Jr.s career. Seemed Like the Thing to Do is another scaled-down beauty that features lovely guitar lines and more from the (shattered) heart vocals. These songs give the band a new dimension and if they, plus the few songs that trade on layered guitars and nimble melodies instead of gobs of noise, make it seem like the band is getting softer or less interesting, it couldnt be further from the truth. On Without a Sound, J is struggling with many things -- personal sadness, insecurity regarding the bands future, a shifting musical climate -- but the one thing that remains rock solid is his guitar playing and ability to write songs that break a heart as easily as they break guitar strings. It may not be the best Dinosaur album or the most exciting, either, but theres enough growth, tenderness, and good old guitar mangling here to make it well worth exploring. ~ Tim Sendra

J Mascis fired longtime drummer Murph before the recording of Without a Sound, which came as a surprise to Murph. Naturally, the change in personnel hasnt changed Dinosaur Jr.s sound much; the only difference between Without a Sound and Where You Been is a more pronounced country leaning (particularly on the albums high point, the rollicking I Dont Think So) and shorter, more concise performances. What hasnt changed are the overpowering fuzz tones of Mascis guitar, which tend to hide his more expressive vocals; it also makes digging out the gems on this album a little more difficult than necessary. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine