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Old 10.01.2021, 08:04 AM   #25
appleo
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Join Date: May 2007
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appleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's assesappleo kicks all y'all's asses
"Heavy" is a term that can be interpreted in different ways.
I see a lot of good answers above, and they all have merit.
Sonic Youth have achieved "heavy" in many ways across many songs.
For my definition of "heavy", I'll go with a kind of feeling or sound that is exemplified with Led Zep's "Dazed and Confused", much of Black Sabbath's "Master of Reality", the Beatles' "Helter Skelter", Metallica's "The Thing That Should Not Be", much of the Melvins "Ozma" & "Gluey Porch Treatments", Mudhoney's version of "Halloween", & "Sweet Young Thing", and Nirvana's "Paper Cuts"... you know, HEAVY!

With that definition out there, I would say Sonic Youth's entry into that hall of crushing fuzz would have to be either "Swimsuit Issue" or "Screaming Skull".

As for the earlier stuff, "Bad Moon Rising" touches in it too, like the muted quasi-thrash guitar in "Death Valley" when they sing "You're right!" Or even on "Confusion" the DEEP guitar sounds in "Inhuman". Or the GRATING guitars breaking into harmonics in PCH off "Sister". Even the relatively poppy "Mary Christ" off "Goo" has a nice heavy riff (if you can call it that).

SY also blew out eardrums on later records, "Renegade Princess" was rather rocking on the mostly otherwise meditative "NYC Ghosts", but maybe "moshable" and "heavy" are 2 different attributes. I recall "Rather Ripped" as kicking much ass, as well as "The Eternal".
But for "heavy" as in "metal", I'm sticking with the "Dirty" album & "Screaming Skull"!
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