Bug (Dinosaur Jr. album)

Bug is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., released in October 1988 through SST Records. Blast First and Au Go Go Records released the album in the United Kingdom and Australia, respectively. It was the last Dinosaur Jr. album with original bassist Lou Barlow until Beyond in 2007.

Bug
Studio album by
Dinosaur Jr.
ReleasedOctober 31, 1988
Recorded1988
StudioFort Apache Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Genre
Length35:24
LabelSST (216), Blast First, Au Go Go
ProducerJ Mascis
Dinosaur Jr. chronology
You're Living All Over Me
(1987)		 Bug
(1988)		 Green Mind
(1991)
Singles from Bug
  1. "Freak Scene"
    Released: 1988

Despite it being a favorite of many Dinosaur Jr. fans, J Mascis has said it is his least favorite Dinosaur Jr. album. The version of 'Keep The Glove' included on the 2005 reissue is not the same as the version on the b-side of the 'Freakscene' single or the 'Fossils' compilation.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[2]
Mojo[3]
NME8.999999/10[4]
Paste[5]
Pitchfork7.3/10[6]
PopMatters8/10[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[9]
Stylus MagazineA[10]

NME critic Jack Barron deemed Bug "the most comprehensive rock statement of the year so far" in a 1988 review for the magazine, noting Dinosaur Jr.'s predominantly "torpid" approach and commenting that the music "trepidates everyday reality away", while rating the album "8.999999" on a ten-point scale.[4]

In a retrospective review of Bug for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described "Freak Scene" as the album's "masterpiece" and opined, "Although the majority of the album is firmly situated in the sprawling, noisy metallic fusion of hard rock and avant noise, Bug also demonstrates that J Mascis has a talent for winding folk-rock".[1] While finding its songs "quite uneven", Erlewine concluded that the album nonetheless constitutes "a major step forward for Mascis".[1]

Writing for Drowned in Sound in 2005, Mike Diver said of Bug, "The songwriting has increased tenfold since You're Living All Over Me ... really, if you like music – be it grunge, indie, punk, whatever – you will love this. Period. Go spend some money already."[11] Keith Cameron of Mojo wrote, "Bug marks the emergence of Mascis writing by rote. When applied to such an outlandishly great song as 'Freak Scene' his skills still blazed, however, and as formulaic exercises in discordant alienation go, Bug is better than most."[3]

Bug is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12] Beats Per Minute ranked it the 41st best album of the 1980s.[13]

Track listing

All songs written by J Mascis.

No.TitleLength
1."Freak Scene"3:36
2."No Bones"3:43
3."They Always Come"4:37
4."Yeah We Know"5:24
5."Let It Ride"3:37
6."Pond Song"2:53
7."Budge"2:32
8."The Post"3:38
9."Don't"5:41
Total length:35:24
Bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."Keep the Glove" (Bonus track on 2005 Merge Records reissue)2:52

Personnel
Dinosaur Jr.
Additional personnel

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Bug – Dinosaur Jr". AllMusic. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  2. Sinclair, Tom (April 11, 2005). "EW reviews the latest album reissues". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  3. Cameron, Keith (April 2005). "The band that time forgot". Mojo. No. 137. p. 108.
  4. Barron, Jack (October 8, 1988). "Tyrannosaurus Rex". NME. p. 45.
  5. Sheridan, Tim (April 1, 2005). "Dinosaur Jr". Paste. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  6. Harvell, Jess (April 7, 2005). "Dinosaur Jr.: Dinosaur / You're Living All Over Me / Bug". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  7. Teegarden, Lance (April 7, 2005). "Dinosaur Jr.: Bug". PopMatters. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  8. Evans, Paul (2004). "Dinosaur Jr". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 238. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. Sheffield, Rob (1995). "Dinosaur Jr.". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. p. 113. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  10. Dale, Jon (August 2, 2005). "Dinosaur Jr. – Dinosaur / You're Living All Over Me / Bug – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  11. Diver, Mike (March 18, 2005). "Album Review: Dinosaur Jr. – Dinosaur / You're Living All Over Me / Bug". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  12. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (February 7, 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
  13. "Acclaimed Music - Bug".
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