Dinosaur Jr. | OohYeah

Dinosaur Jr, formed by guitarist Joseph Mascis and bassist Lou Barlow, set the "noise-pop" standard of the 1990s (a merger of distortion and melody), and acted as the link between Sonic Youth and grunge. Mascis' Neil Young obsession (via the Meat Puppets) surfaced on Dinosaur (1985). Layers of loud feedback permeated each note of You're Living All Over Me (1987). Each song sounded like a languid acid-rock ballad grafted onto hard-rock spasms. Mascis unleashed unabashed pop melodies over orgiastic and fetishistic guitar noise. Bug (1988), the last album with Barlow (who went on to form Sebadoh), capitalized on that invention, that soon became one of the most abused stereotypes in rock music. Green Mind (1991), that was de facto Mascis' first solo album and a more accessible one, and Where You Been (1993), featuring new bassist Mike Johnson and delving into introspective melodrama, became mere routine.