TS: Cure v. Dinosaur Jr. - "Just Like Heaven"

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I've been listening to these back and forth most of the day, and I just can't decide which I like more.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:27 (twenty-two years ago)

YOU!

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:28 (twenty-two years ago)

i despise the dinosaur jr version - it is the single most horrible thing J Mascis has ever committed to tape and a hideous blight on their otherwise excellent discog.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:36 (twenty-two years ago)

sidenote:
i would venture to say that the b-side to the dinosaur jr. single "chunks" (a cover of This-Is-Boston-Not-LA-era hardcore band Last Rights) with Lou Barlow on vox invented screamo...

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:49 (twenty-two years ago)

j mascis has always been horrible. the cure version is one of the most romantic songs ever, the other version is like vomit.

― keith (keithmcl), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I dig Dino's version, but c'mon, the Cure's better at the very least because it doesn't just CUT OFF at the very end.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:53 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, that bugged me too. i just never understood how they could follow up an all time classic like "Freak Scene" with this abomination

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:55 (twenty-two years ago)

One of the best things about the song (apart from the solo which RAWKs) was Mascis explanation to the Maker (I think) for why he did it: "We wanted to pick up on more death-rock chicks".

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:57 (twenty-two years ago)

the funny thing is j always had lou do all the hardcore/screamo/death metal vox... ("don't", "just like heaven", "chunks")

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 26 June 2003 23:58 (twenty-two years ago)

The cutting off is a valid point - I thought I had a bad CD the first time I heard it.

But leaving out the screamo stuff, and without any prior knowledge of the songs or bands, the Dino Jr. version would sound more sincere to me. I much prefer J Mascis' delivery of "the one that makes me scream she said."

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Friday, 27 June 2003 00:03 (twenty-two years ago)

the Dino version would EASILY make my top 5 favorite Dino Jr. songs not on You're Living All Over Me, along with "Get Me," "Out There," "Freak Scene" and, uh... ummm...."Repulsion" I guess.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 27 June 2003 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

wot no "start choppin"?

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 27 June 2003 00:09 (twenty-two years ago)

postscript to my sidenote:
sidenote:
i would venture to say that the b-side to the dinosaur jr. single "chunks"

i meant to say that "chunks" is a b-side to "just like heaven" hope that makes more sense k thanks bye.

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 27 June 2003 00:13 (twenty-two years ago)

start choppin' has that goofy goodBYYYEEEE part, right? No sale.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 27 June 2003 00:15 (twenty-two years ago)

The Cure's original is still achingly beautiful even after having heard it hundreds of times. They win this one, but Dino Jr's version can't be dismissed entirely if only for the solo. The abrupt ending used to drive me mad but I've come to embrace it.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Friday, 27 June 2003 02:06 (twenty-two years ago)

that dinosaur 10" is one of two records of theirs which i own. i find this regrettable. i suppose that might mean that i wish i owned more of their records. that is not the case. but fuck it, i'll pull it out and give it another chance

i like the original quite a bit, it's one of my favorite cure songs. great lyrics, especially the first verse. they please me kind of like "me and my girlfriend don't wear no shoes, her nose is painted pepper sunlight"

― ron (ron), Friday, 27 June 2003 02:28 (twenty-two years ago)

haha NO. i suppose there are some redeeming qualities to it though - the strange take on the chorus, the seemingly random backing vocal "HAIR" , the bendy guitar tone (which unfortunately would drive me insane if i had to listen to it repeatedly)

― ron (ron), Friday, 27 June 2003 02:36 (twenty-two years ago)

dino jr version roxx u r all goths

― jess (dubplatestyle), Friday, 27 June 2003 02:38 (twenty-two years ago)

you'll notice i never opined on the cure version

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 27 June 2003 02:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Both versions fantastic. Hilarious moment -- seeing the Cure show in 1992 when one of the opening bands was indeed...Dino Jr. They played the cover (all the way through). The audience didn't get it.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 June 2003 02:40 (twenty-two years ago)

the only thing i can say is the mixed tape i made for the girl i was smitten with at the time kicked off with the cures version and to this day the song reminds me of her cute molly ringwald looks and the girl who i was smitten with later's mixed tape ( like six years later) started with dino jr's version. she looked like a drugged out Allie Sheedy. they both wore too much eyeliner and were really fine so both versions rock. You can play either version play air guitar and sing badly at the top of your lungs and you will melt the heart of the most steely mean girl in under 4 minutes. trust me. it's true.
k

― kelly denison-cole (dustjacket), Friday, 27 June 2003 03:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I didn't know that Dinosaur Jr. opened for the Cure on the "Wish" tour. That must just have been in the States. When I saw them (in Toronto) the Cranes opened. I feel cheated!

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:02 (twenty-two years ago)

It was just the one show I think, J-Rock! That made it all the more fun. Cranes were on the bill too.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:15 (twenty-two years ago)

That makes me feel a bit better. I remember the Cranes not being so bad, but I'd never heard of them prior to that tour and I'm not sure what happened to them after. I actually met the singer after the show and she was pleasant enough. Still, Dinosaur Jr. would have probably made me weep adoslescent tears of joy.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:38 (twenty-two years ago)

That Dinosaur Jr version is one of the best things ever put to tape. I didn't like the Cure version at all, but the Dino version made me able to feel the longing and the love in a way that Robert Smith just sounded wet. And I LOVE the distorto-whammy-bent guitar leads. Amazing. The Cure version just can't measure up.

― kate (kate), Friday, 27 June 2003 07:13 (twenty-two years ago)

The Dinosaur Jr version is better, as it's the version I heard first, and has a proper guitar solo. I didn't hear the original 'til last year, and therefore, it comes across as a pleasent sort of lounge cover. Sorry, to whatever God's I have angered.

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 27 June 2003 07:18 (twenty-two years ago)

and the Dino J abrupt ending rules!

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 27 June 2003 07:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey I was at that show - at the Rose Bowl! Man, seeing the Cranes in such a context was just weird..
Why hilarious though?

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Friday, 27 June 2003 07:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I really dig the Dino Jr version too, but I think it comes across as being a little too ironic to be taken seriously as a love song.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Friday, 27 June 2003 07:35 (twenty-two years ago)

prefer d jr version, including to most of their other songs. problem with both versions is the whole "you-oo" bit which can but pale in relation to the sticky romanticism of the verses...

anyway i think felt did JLH first with "sunlight bathed the golden glow ?"

― kieron, Friday, 27 June 2003 21:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, J-Rock, the other J spunks it up with that solo. He fairly rips out those notes. That's the only plaintive bit. Singing more laconic than a rural Australian on rohipnol. Likeable guitar layers queue up. Cracking drums, but Ed Hurley from the Minutemen/Firehose would've been better. "You-oo" hammer bit in DJ cut is charming, what ? Death Rock Chicks? Facetious, what? A whole generation of alternative guitarists flirt unseriously with metal, like my sister and her friends used to lure guys into phone conversations then begin mocking them for their haircuts or attire. Get Robert Smith to sing with Dino on this one. The Cure's rendition prances then softens then hangs limp.

― TripVanJangle, Saturday, 28 June 2003 01:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Ron, yeh, the "hair" bit.

― TripVanJangle (TripVanJangle), Saturday, 28 June 2003 01:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think I've ever heard the entirety of The Dinosaur Jr version, but the Cure version is one of the most heartbreaking songs ever recorded.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 28 June 2003 02:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm surprised by the outpouring of love for either version. Robert Smith wrote about fifty songs better than "Just Like Heaven," and Dino Jr. wasted my time covering it.

― Andrew Frye (paul cox), Saturday, 28 June 2003 03:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Kate's testimony makes me deny the existence of a god. But I already felt that anyway.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 28 June 2003 04:12 (twenty-two years ago)

in the words of ronald thomas clontle from java the hut, home of the bottomless wookie:

cure: rock
dino jr: rule

the ultimate argument settler, period.

history will vindicate me.

― beaty (beaty), Saturday, 28 June 2003 08:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I understand Ned's pain. Cure version is listen-to-it-over-and-over-even-the-pop-nazis-put-it-in-the-top-40 CLASSIC.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 28 June 2003 08:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Dinosaur Jr transform Smith’s rather damp lament into something raging, phosphorous and genuinely affecting. That it seriously pissed off most Cure fans only added to the pleasure. No contest.

― stevo (stevo), Sunday, 29 June 2003 05:50 (twenty-two years ago)

"genuinely affecting"? Ha, if anyone ever tries to tell you that everyone is basically the same, just play these songs at Stevo and me and record the reactions.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 29 June 2003 11:59 (twenty-two years ago)

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