Rock's Greatest Guitar Riff

[9darter]

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

To continue some of the great ones already listed:

• Pretty Reckless - Take Me Down
• Clutch - Tight Like That (Basket of Eggs) - the driving bass is gold also.
• Pink Floyd - Money
• Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King (technically, it's Edvard Grieg's riff)
• Van Halen
  • Mean Streets
  • Runnin' with the Devil
  • Unchained
  • Ain't Talkinabout Love
  • Beautiful Girl
  • ...
• Judas Priest - Electric Eye
• Rammstein - Du Hast
• Danzig - Twist of Cain
• Megadeth
  • Holy Wars
  • Symphony of Destruction
  • Angry Again
  • Wake Up Dead
  • Addicted to Chaos
• Pantera
  • Drag the Waters
  • Revolution is My Name
  • Domination
• Audioslave - Show Me How to Live
• Rage Against The Machine
  • Killing in the Name Of
  • Gorilla Radio
  • Freedom
  • Down Rodeo
• Metallica
  • Battery
  • Orion
  • Creeping Death
  • Leper Messiah
  • Enter Sandman
  • Shortest Straw
  • Cyanide
  • King Nothing
  • Hero of the Day
  • Bleeding Me
  • Ain't My *****
• Ted Nugent
  • Stranglehold
  • Cat Scratch Fever
• Joe Satriani
  • Always with Me, Always with You
  • Satch Boogie
  • Surfing with the Alien
  • War
  • Circles
  • Strange
  • this could go on and on...

This could go on and on.

Great list. Many of those are fun to play as well.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Oh...Richie Blackmore riffs, way more than just smoke on the water.
Tony Iommi riffs, way more than just iron man.

And some one who never gets listed as one of the best guitarist, but he is a pretty good riff machine in Mick Mars.

 

[Khartun]

I mean, the early Motley is pretty good, but on par with Iommi or Blackmore? I don't know about that. No one beats Angus though. He's got some of the best riffs ever.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Agreed, Man on the Silver Mountain is required learning if you're a guitarist. Everyone always learns Smoke on the Water first, but MotSM is where it's at. When that song comes on, the world stops. Dio + Blackmore was a gift from god.

Someone's screaming my name...
Come and make me holy again!

Iommi took groove and cranked it up to 11. Pantera took that groove at 11 and cranked it to 20. Speaking of groove, Godsmack is great also. I like to refer to them as Black Sabbath of the 2000s.

 

[Khartun]

Agreed, Man on the Silver Mountain is required learning if you're a guitarist. Everyone always learns Smoke on the Water first, but MotSM is where it's at. When that song comes on, the world stops. Dio + Blackmore was a gift from god.

Someone's screaming my name...
Come and make me holy again!

Iommi took groove and cranked it up to 11. Pantera took that groove at 11 and cranked it to 20. Speaking of groove, Godsmack is great also. I like to refer to them as Black Sabbath of the 2000s.

Man on the Silver Mountain has always been a favorite.

 

[Runwildboys]

Will not say the greatest, but some good ones, with some many have not even heard. Some bands like ACDC, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Ozzy, Sabbath, Deep Purple and ZZ Top could have lists by themselves.
Some of these are staples of someone first starting to play guitar.

Just got Paid - ZZ Top
Say what you will - Fastway
Sunshine of your love - Cream
Seek and Destroy - Metallica
Cowboys from Hell - Pantera
Walk this Way - Aerosmith
Money for nothing - Dire Straits
Crazy Train - Ozzy
Voodoo Chile - Hendrix
Iron Man - Black Sabbath
Smoke on the water - Deep Purple
Back in Black - ACDC
Rock N Roll - Led Zeppelin
Sweet Child of Mine - Guns and Roses
I wanna be your man - LA Guns
Bad to the Bone - George Thourogood
Shout at the Devil - Motley Crue
Breaking the Law - Judas Priest
South of Heaven - Slayer
Holy Wars - Megadeth
Stranglehold - Ted Nugent
Day Tripper - The Beatles

Heck....I could go on for days.

Great start!

 

[YosemiteSam]

I mean, the early Motley is pretty good, but on par with Iommi or Blackmore? I don't know about that. No one beats Angus though. He's got some of the best riffs ever.

Actually, his brother Malcolm was the riff machine. He wrote most of the iconic AC/DC riffs. Angus wrote the leads. Either way, that entire group was touched by angles. They like Van Halen had two iconic singers to boot.

My buddy and I always discuss how very similar Eddie / Alex where to Dime and Vinny. It's a shame that Pantera only had a single iconic singer. If they had. Freakin' wow.

 

[Khartun]

Actually, his brother Malcolm was the riff machine. He wrote most of the iconic AC/DC riffs. Angus wrote the leads. Either way, that entire group was touched by angles. They like Van Halen had two iconic singers to boot.

My buddy and I always discuss how very similar Eddie / Alex where to Dime and Vinny. It's a shame that Pantera only had a single iconic singer. If they had. Freakin' wow.

You are, of course, correct about Malcolm but Angus was the ****. I saw him jump down on his back, spin in circles and never miss a note. He is incredible. Still sad Malcolm is gone. But listen to stuff of off Powerage. Angus is incredible.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Lay it Down by Ratt
Anything from Jake E Lee with Ozzy or after with Badlands.

 

[Hardline]

 

[Khartun]

I always loved this Uncle Ted riff.

 

[pete026]

A friend of mine was at the Springfield Civic Center concert were the Double Live Gonzo album recording of Stranglehold was done.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Lay it Down by Ratt
Anything from Jake E Lee with Ozzy or after with Badlands.

Jake E Lee is easily one of the most under rated guitarists of all time. I love Randy, but The Ultimate Sin is my favorite Ozzy album of all time. That thing is gold from start to finish.

 

[RS12]

Listen from the 3:30 mark on. The band was at their peak in May 77 and Jerry shreds it from here to the end. You wont be sorry.

 

[SlammedZero]

Heart - Barracuda
ZZ Top - La Grange
AC/DC - Thunderstruck
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

A couple that popped into thought that I didn't see in this thread.

 

[bigE79]

1 Stairway..Zeppelin
2 Freebird.. skynyrd
3 comfortably numb..floyd
4 stargazer.. rainbow
5 moonage daydream.. Ziggy

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Jake E Lee is easily one of the most under rated guitarists of all time. I love Randy, but The Ultimate Sin is my favorite Ozzy album of all time. That thing is gold from start to finish.

Saw the ultimate sin tour at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds Arena, opener was Metallica who got booed and rightly so because they sounded bad. Anyway yeah definitely put that album up there with my favorites from Ozzy. Also saw Randy on the Diary of a Madman tour about 5 weeks before the accident, magnificent player very fluid almost like a violinist

 

[RS12]

1 Stairway..Zeppelin
2 Freebird.. skynyrd
3 comfortably numb..floyd
4 stargazer.. rainbow
5 moonage daydream.. Ziggy

Stargazer a criminally under rated tune.

 

[Runwildboys]

A friend of mine was at the Springfield Civic Center concert were the Double Live Gonzo album recording of Stranglehold was done.

I was at the Springfield Civic Center the night Sebastian Bach threw the beer bottle and messed up that poor girl's face. I've hated him ever since.