While their early 1990’s post-grunge career found them on a major label with their biggest ‘hits’, Dinosaur Jr. were clearly at their best on their first three formative albums – the self-titled Dinosaur, the classic Bug, and the monolithic You’re Living All Over Me.

Part of what made them so exciting is that they fused the punk ethos with a classic rock template – eschewing the economy of two-minute blasts, J. Mascis’ creations instead stretched and pulsed, going through vagaries of melody. In short, they were very, very exciting. In these early days, of course, Mascis was joined by Lou Barlow on bass and occasional vocals, such as the stunning You’re Living All Over Me cut “Poledo” that echoes with the future of Sebadoh, and the rhythmically flexible Murph on drums.

The self-titled effort is definitely the roughest gem, and was originally released under the ‘Dinosaur’ moniker before the band was forced to change their name. Uneven but intriguing, a track like “Repulsion” is still a fascinating indication of what was to come for the band. Clearly inspired by punk, it also had distinctly pop elements to it, as well as classic rock shadows; in short, it’s songs like “Repulsion” that are the basis for the future of what became known as alternative rock.

Of course, on their second record You’re Living All Over Me Dinosaur Jr. essentially defined the sound itself. Opening with the blast of “Little Fury Things”, “Kracked” uses the classic soft-loud format perfectly, all wrapped in an under-three minute blast of glorious rock squall. “Tarpit” is similarly epochal; Mascis’ drawl is nothing short of classic.

Bug marked the end of one part of Dinosaur Jr.’s career and the beginning of a whole ‘nother. After this, they would leave SST for the major label world, and songs like the opening “Freak Scene” hint at the greater level of accessibility that would come on cuts like “Feel the Pain”. Limited to a scant nine tracks, with Lou Barlow effectively out of the group, Bug is where J. really began to explore his darker side on songs like the excellent trip of “The Post”, while “Don’t” could strip paint from the walls.

Under the giant shadow of R.E.M., Sonic Youth and the Pixies, Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr. are sometimes forgotten as to how important they were in defining indie rock. J. Mascis’ slacker style was copied by many in the three years between Bug and 1991’s Green Mind. As good as this second part of Dinosaur Jr’s career was – and an album like Where You Been is an undisputed classic – it was these initial three blasts of brilliance that cemented their place in the indie rock pantheon.