Dinosaur was one of the most important bands of the 1980s. Along with Sonic Youth and a few other bands, they created a musical link between American hardcore punk and "normal" rock-n-roll, paving the way for the punk explosion of the early 1990s and defining the sound that characterizes much of the rock music that was released on independent labels during that decade. They all but invented what we now call "indie rock."

Guitarist J. Mascis and bassist Lou Barlow had a epic personality conflict that essentially ended the band after their third album, "Bug." Soon after a disastrous show, during which Barlow provoked Mascis into physically attacking him, Mascis and drummer Murph supposedly told Barlow the band was breaking up. Mascis then signed to Warner Brothers and proceeded to release five (!) more records, mostly on his own, before discarding the Dinosaur name for some reason and releasing two records as J. Mascis and the Fog, which briefly featured Mike Watt of the Minutemen and Firehose on bass. Barlow, for his part, has had an extremely successful career with the Folk Implosion and Sebadoh, quite possibly one of the best-loved indie rock bands ever. Needless to say, it would be surprising to see Dinosaur back together if every band and its damn brother hadn't already done it. Five words: Joy Division without Ian Curtis.