The early recordings by Dinosaur Jr are among the band’s most critically lauded, but a case could be made for 1993’s ‘Where You Been’ being the band’s finest and most consistent work. The first album to feature bassist Mike Johnson (replacing Sebadoh’s Lou Barlow, following his well publicised falling out with Dinosaur main man J Mascis), its material took on a slightly more commercial edge at times. The word “slightly” is more than apt here, however, since J’s vocal drawl would remain a stumbling block for those not entirely sold on the band’s sound, and a couple of noisier workouts ensured the heart of “older” Dinosaur was never far away. Nevertheless, the album connected with a broader audience than some of the band’s prior works, with ‘Start Choppin’ breaking into the UK top 20, and the album’s promotion including an appearance on the BBC arts programme The Late Show on February 23rd 1993, just two weeks after ‘Where You Been’ hit record shop shelves.
Another promotional stop, in March of that year, yielded an in-studio live performance for Maison de la Radio in Paris, a recording of which circulated among fans for many years, before being issued officially by Cherry Red Records as a vinyl only release in 2024. It would take a further eighteen months for ‘The Black Session’ to get the CD release it so deserved, but no matter how many years pass, the recording remains a thrilling document of one of the most important periods in Dinosaur history.
The rawness of the now vintage Dinosaur comes through with immediate effect, when the rendition of ‘Quest’ shows off a pleasingly loud bass sound from then new boy Mike, and some of J’s rhythm guitar work is drowned out by the crash of Murph’s cymbals. The welcome rough edges are even more obvious when the instrumental bridges between the verses attack at twice the volume, and the contrast between loud and quiet is more pronounced during the instrumental break. It might seem a little obtuse for the band to open their set with such a deep cut – a set that will ultimately ignore their recent hit ‘Start Choppin’ – but in many ways, this performance captures a little of everything that made this second line up great.
Things ultimately crank up a few gears with the help of a trio of fan favourites. ‘Just Like Heaven’ is really heavy on the bass distortion, and Mascis really hammers his whammy bar during a rather noisy intro. The volume is so loud, you can hear everything straining to the point where the brighter notes sound like they’re underwater. This, of course, matters not one bit: the more aggressive the trio are, the better they sound, even if this means J’s vocals drift in and out of the wall of sound. The intro of ‘The Lung’ sounds like an audio swamp, but everything soon finds its feet via an already distinctive, choppy guitar riff that sounds like a ‘Lovey’ era Lemonheads workout retooled by a furious Neil Young. The extended instrumental intro really allows for a decent insight into the unity within this new line up. There are moments here where it feels like J can either sing or play guitar, but appears to struggle with both at the same time, but that just adds to the fun. The real magic on this particular track happens when he launches into an extended lead guitar break which, naturally, careens all over the place, sounding like something that could be derailed at any second – making it peak Dinosaur fare. The evergreen ‘Freak Scene’ is much tighter: J’s vocal comes through nicely and his noisy indie guitar tone sounds really confident throughout, despite the mass of distortion pedals and phased elements drowning out some of the melodic elements. Listen more closely and you’ll also hear Mike’s deep croon fleshing out the chorus with an understated harmony, and at the point where you think this performance couldn’t get any better, Mascis throws himself into a couple of the ugliest guitar solos ever, attacking the groove with a world of sonic arcs that occasionally aren’t more than a flurry of random notes and feedback.
Showcasing the then new album, ‘Get Me’ slows the pace – probably wisely – and Dinosaur manage to sound, more than ever, like a garage rock band channelling Crazy Horse in full flow. The slow tempo really shows off the tightness in a great rhythm section, whilst J’s guitar work is just wonderful – even if he appears to fumble and miss his cue at one point. A case of “unfortunate sequencing” makes ‘Drawerings’ sound alarmingly like ‘Get Me’ with the notes played in the wrong order, but looking past this, Mascis is in great form, wailing and croaking, pushing his voice in a way that ensures he has a great presence, despite the volume of the guitar increasing. The mid section of this track sounds more sludgy, but never in a way that offsets a great performance too much, but its quickly outshone by a welcome throwback to ‘Keep The Glove’, replete with bouncing basslines and crashing drums powering a great performance. It’s another of those rare moments where Murph and Mike almost upstage J, but gets his moment in the spotlight courtesy of an insane amount of distortion and ugly string bending that, at first, appears to be in lieu of a genuine guitar solo, but eventually morphs into an insane garage blues lead break channelling both Neil Young and Jon Spencer.
Pulling an all too short set to a close, ‘Budge’ flaunts Dinosaur’s punkier aspects on a full throttle workout that’s heavy on the snares, before J indulges in a semi-sloppy lead break that never quite reaches full potential, and a seven minute trudge through the more atmospheric ‘Thumb’ allows J plenty of time to tease with effects pedals and a brilliantly dirty, yet almost bluesy guitar sound. The band may well have tunes that are more immediate and more exciting, but on this occasion, this rendition captures them at their most balanced, with a strong vocal greeting the mid tempo riff at something approaching equal volume, and the bass punches through the guitars just enough to allow its more groove-laden fills to be heard clearly. As with most of this show, it mightn’t entertain the casual fan, but Dinosaur obsessives will be in their element. Along with ‘Keep The Glove’ and a very spirited ‘Freak Scene’, it makes ‘The Black Session’ an essential collection filler.
The CD release of ‘The Black Session’ is definitely a case of “better late than never”. In many ways, it deserved to take pride of place among the bonus materials on the 2CD deluxe reissue of ‘Where You Been’ in 2019, and it was a little disappointing that it was absent, despite the rest of that set’s bonus material making it well worth the upgrade. A noticably sparse crowd occasionally makes this show feel a little more sterile than a full bells and whistles live set captured in front of an adoring (but ultimately deafened) crowd, but for the die hard fan, any differences to the equivalent studio material will ultimately make the listening time worthwhile.
Buy the CD here: https://amzn.to/486xMgd
October 2025