Released before the group was forced to change its name to
Dinosaur Jr. by an obscure psychedelic group, the band's debut,
Dinosaur, is a noisy, impressive, but uneven array of pseudo-hardcore numbers, sonic experiments, and sprawling hard rock. Although the band doesn't land on any one distinctive style, its ambition of marrying
Neil Young and
Sonic Youth sounds intriguing, and it has enough outstanding moments to indicate that the group was capable of the stylistic breakthrough it achieved on You're Living All Over Me. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine