Dinosaur

I've picked up a few 'top end' Dinosaur Jr records lately. It feels like a waste to bundle them all together into one post, especially as I bought them all separately. So I'm declaring this week to be Dinosaur Jr week on The Endless Quest...

To start the week, here's a red vinyl copy of the first, self titled album. This album was released back when the band were called Dinosaur rather than Dinosaur Jr. This album came out on Homestead records in (gasp!) 1985. Homestead Records pressed a limited number on gold vinyl and also red vinyl. I have no idea which came first, or which is rarest. But both are incredibly hard to find. I was lucky enough to find a gold copy in 2009, and it has taken me a further five years to find a red one. But finally, after a long and patient wait, my day came.

One interesting observation I can make is that the red and gold copies have different 'color vinyl' stickers on the shrink wrap, which suggests that they were pressed at different times. One must have been pressed and released before the other, although we may never know which.

This LP has been repressed a few times over the years. All of the later reissues have the band name updated to include the 'Jr' bit on the end. There have been six different labels that have repressed this thing, mainly after 2005. Most of the 2005 vinyl reissues come pressed on a variety of disgusting splatter-effect vinyl. I have no interest whatsoever in owning any of them. But the fact that they exist makes owning the original coloured vinyl copies much more satisfying.