A chord-chopping Danny Barria unleashes his
“Top 5 Loud Guitar Parts”
1. Led Zeppelin, “Black Dog”
It’s off-kilter, it’s got weird pauses, and it still rocks. This song doesn’t need much of an explanation because it pretty much invented rocking.
2. The Verve, “Gravity Grave”
The first song on the first release I got by them. It would be embarrassing to talk about how into their early stuff I was, but it all started with that first loud squall of guitar.
3. Quicksand, “Unfulfilled”
I told [my wife and our bassist] Sonya [Balchandani] I was going to include this Quicksand song, and she said it would make me sound like a 13-year-old. I didn’t want to get nerdy about time codes, but the guitar part at 1:09 is what teenage Danny lived for. That and the Cure.
4. Suede, “Stay Together”
The guitar line on the chorus is so simple but so effective that it makes me really jealous.
It sounds so saturated, too. For years I couldn’t pick up a guitar without playing this song.
5. Queens of the Stone Age, “First It Giveth”
Bad-assery at its finest. My hand still jumps a little whenever I hear that first split second of feedback. It’s just a mean, tough-sounding riff. And I love tough stuff.
MP3: “Bad Blood”
MP3: “Pinkies”
The Big Sleep‘s second LP, Sleep Forever, is out now on Frenchkiss.
