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Okay, here it is. My top 20 guitar riffs. Now let me set the rules first. This isn't necessarily a favorite songs list, think more of the riff....so, the song you choose can suck, but if the riff rocks then you can put it in there. It doesn’t have to be an intro, although a lot of the time it ends up that way. Try to give a little history or reason to your choice, don’t just write a list. And finally, try to make it songs that most people know, I’m sure there are local/indie bands out there that can tear it up but let’s stick to bands and songs most people would recognize.

Here’s mine:


1. Can’t you hear my knocking? – Rolling Stones. Straight up, bad-ass, get you hooked on the first riff, kind of riff. I hate the 2nd half of the song though.
2. Communication Breakdown – Led Zep. If you don’t automatically turn the volume knob up when you hear this riff you should put a rush order in on your International Fag card.
3. Fire – Jimi Hendrix. The first album I ever bought was in 1975, it was Jimi Hendrix’s Crash Landing. I remember sitting up in my tree fort with a little cassette player playing Hendrix tunes over and over. Hendrix was a guitar wizard but his best riffs were actually very simple, like this one.
4. I Disappear – Metallica. This one could qualify in two categories…great guitar and great bass line too.
5. Welcome to the Jungle – Guns and Roses. Any riff that gets you fired up 20 years later is a great riff. Stupid name (Slash) but great guitarist. “You could be mine” almost made the list but I think the drums make that song moreso than the guitar.
6. Like a Hurricane – Neil Young. I absolutely love the long guitar riff in the middle of this song. I remember recording this song 3 times in a row on a cassette so I wouldn’t have to rewind it, keep in mind, the song is something like 8 minutes long. My all time favorite “hanging out in my truck by the lake on a backroad in the rocky mountains song”
7. Alright Now – Free. I was 8 years old, my best friend’s brother had a “band” and this was the only song they could play. But I never got tired of it. I still love it.
8. Bring it on Home – Led Zeppelin. I remember my mom’s car’s tape deck only had a fast forward and I would flip the tape, fast forward, listen to the riff, take the tape out, fast forward, etc…over and over and over. I’m 99% sure I had this song on the first time I fucked.
9. Purple Rain – Prince. I almost went into shock when I found out Prince himself played that solo. That solo totally destroys!
10. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd. The opening riff is great! I love this song from start to finish. I’m not a southern rocker by any means but I’ve always loved this song. It reminds me of swimming in the white clay creek back in the 70’s. My dad would load us up in the pick-up and we’d go down to the creek and swim with the motorcycle gang crew. I still vividly remember the one biker guy standing on the bridge with a cigarette in his mouth, flipping it inward (using his tongue), diving off the bridge, and then when he re-surfaced, flipping it back and continuing smoking.
11. Clash City Rockers – The Clash. This could be the simplest riff of all of them. I remember this riff playing in my head over and over again while walking the hallways in high school. This one was my favorite during he height of my teenage angst years.
12. Black Dog – Led Zeppelin. The 2nd album I ever bought was Led Zep II. I still listen to it on my Ipod. I loved the fast guitar accompanied by the slow, heavy drum beat. Genius. Plus, I can instantly go back to 9th grade when I hear this.
13. Free Ride – Edgar Winter. One of the best intro riffs of all time. I never understood why Edgar Winter didn’t make it as a superstar. I guess America wasn’t ready for an Albino rock star.
14. Stranglehold – Ted Nugent. Close the greatest opening riff of all time. The rest of the song is average but that opening riff is tops.
15. Cut – The Cure. I know, you’re probably wondering what a Cure riff is doing on this list. I don’t know, they’re just something about the guitar play in this song that I love. Everytime I hear it I get a vivid image of myself bicycling in ice cold rain up on the Alaska highway with my walkman blasting this song knowing I had 90 miles to the next shelter.
16. Soul – Rocco DeLuca. This is the only really recent riff I have on my list. I love the intro and slide guitar riff in this song. The rest of the album is okay, not great, just okay.
17. Dr. Feelgood – Motley Crue. Not a huge Crue fan and definitely not a music video fan but I think this intro riff and the video intro are great. The rest of the song…eh.
18. Beat it – Michael Jackson. How crazy is it that one of Eddie Van Halen’s best riffs is on a Michael Jackson song? I remember sitting at the gas station back in college when Beat It came over the radio. I had no idea Van Halen played guitar but the moment that solo kicked in I KNEW that was Van Halen. Great riff on an average pop song.
19. N.W.O – Ministry. My chronology may be off, but for me this was the first “industrial” band I’d heard. This riff makes you want to kill someone!
20. Down – 311. Could be a top 5 intro riff of all time. I’m not a big 311 fan but I love this song and I especially love this intro riff.

Okay, the thread is yours.

Same post but easier to read with spacing...

Okay, here it is. My top 10 guitar riffs. Now let me set the rules first. This is not a favorite songs list, the song you choose can suck, but if the riff rocks then you can put it in there. It doesn’t have to be a song intro, although a lot of the time it ends up that way. Try to give a little history or reason to your choice, don’t just write a list. And finally, try to make it songs that most people know, I’m sure there are local/indie bands out there that can tear it up but let’s stick to bands and songs most people would recognize.

Here’s mine:


1. Can’t you hear my knocking? – Rolling Stones. Straight up, bad-ass, get you hooked on the first riff, kind of riff. I hate the 2nd half of the song though.

2. Communication Breakdown – Led Zep. If you don’t automatically turn the volume knob up when you hear this riff you should put a rush order in on your International Fag card.

3. Fire – Jimi Hendrix. The first album I ever bought was in 1975, it was Jimi Hendrix’s Crash Landing. I remember sitting up in my tree fort with a little cassette player playing Hendrix tunes over and over. Hendrix was a guitar wizard but his best riffs were actually very simple, like this one.

4. I Disappear – Metallica. This one could qualify in two categories…great guitar and great bass line too.

5. Welcome to the Jungle – Guns and Roses. Any riff that gets you fired up 20 years later is a great riff. Stupid name (Slash) but great guitarist. “You could be mine” almost made the list but I think the drums make that song moreso than the guitar.

6. Like a Hurricane – Neil Young. I absolutely love the long guitar riff in the middle of this song. I remember recording this song 3 times in a row on a cassette so I wouldn’t have to rewind it, keep in mind, the song is something like 8 minutes long. My all time favorite “hanging out in my truck by the lake on a backroad in the rocky mountains song”

7. Alright Now – Free. I was 8 years old, my best friend’s brother had a “band” and this was the only song they could play. But I never got tired of it. I still love it.


8. Bring it on Home – Led Zeppelin. I remember my mom’s car’s tape deck only had a fast forward and I would flip the tape, fast forward, listen to the riff, take the tape out, fast forward, etc…over and over and over. I’m 99% sure I had this song on the first time I fucked.

9. Purple Rain – Prince. I almost went into shock when I found out Prince himself played that solo. That solo totally destroys!
10. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd. The opening riff is great! I love this song from start to finish. I’m not a southern rocker by any means but I’ve always loved this song. It reminds me of swimming in the white clay creek back in the 70’s. My dad would load us up in the pick-up and we’d go down to the creek and swim with the motorcycle gang crew. I still vividly remember the one biker guy standing on the bridge with a cigarette in his mouth, flipping it inward (using his tongue), diving off the bridge, and then when he re-surfaced, flipping it back and continuing smoking.

11. Clash City Rockers – The Clash. This could be the simplest riff of all of them. I remember this riff playing in my head over and over again while walking the hallways in high school. This one was my favorite during he height of my teenage angst years.

12. Black Dog – Led Zeppelin. The 2nd album I ever bought was Led Zep II. I still listen to it on my Ipod. I loved the fast guitar accompanied by the slow, heavy drum beat. Genius. Plus, I can instantly go back to 9th grade when I hear this.

13. Free Ride – Edgar Winter. One of the best intro riffs of all time. I never understood why Edgar Winter didn’t make it as a superstar. I guess America wasn’t ready for an Albino rock star.

14. Stranglehold – Ted Nugent. Close the greatest opening riff of all time. The rest of the song is average but that opening riff is tops.

15. Cut – The Cure. I know, you’re probably wondering what a Cure riff is doing on this list. I don’t know, they’re just something about the guitar play in this song that I love. Everytime I hear it I get a vivid image of myself bicycling in ice cold rain up on the Alaska highway with my walkman blasting this song knowing I had 90 miles to the next shelter.

16. Soul – Rocco DeLuca. This is the only really recent riff I have on my list. I love the intro and slide guitar riff in this song. The rest of the album is okay, not great, just okay.

17. Dr. Feelgood – Motley Crue. Not a huge Crue fan and definitely not a music video fan but I think this intro riff and the video intro are great. The rest of the song…eh.

18. Beat it – Michael Jackson. How crazy is it that one of Eddie Van Halen’s best riffs is on a Michael Jackson song? I remember sitting at the gas station back in college when Beat It came over the radio. I had no idea Van Halen played guitar but the moment that solo kicked in I KNEW that was Van Halen. Great riff on an average pop song.

19. N.W.O – Ministry. My chronology may be off, but for me this was the first “industrial” band I’d heard. This riff makes you want to kill someone!

20. Down – 311. Could be a top 5 intro riff of all time. I’m not a big 311 fan but I love this song and I especially love this intro riff.

Okay, the thread is yours.

There's Something Happening Here - Buffalo Springfield

Not really a riff, but single notes that extend. It sets an eery tone for a compelling protest song.

seemed like every vietnam war movie had that song in it. BTW...I think it's actually called "For What It's Worth", not sure though.

i love Fire by Hendrix, just 4 notes to the riff, but so good. sounding very hendrix-like is lenny kravitz in " are you gonna go my way " as the linc attendees know, its the song played in the stadium when there is a video review.

one more, heard it today while riding..7 nation army by the white stripes. an almost sinister sound.

E-DC, you're right, I lunched on the title.

The Kinks were the riff KINGS:

You Really Got Me
All Day And All Of The Night
I Need You (less known but great)

Sunshine of Your Love always reminds me of the slow motion shot of DeNiro eyeing up Morrie

“Love in an elevator” by Aerosmith always reminds me of getting a blowjob from the grooms momma.

The xylophone intro and subsequent solo on "Gone Daddy Gone" by the Violent Femmes.

I even taught it to my oldest on his toy xylo, which he hums constantly. Between that and the baby singing the hook from "My Favorite Game" by the Cardigans, we get a bunch of looks, buying groceries at Hemköp.

The kinks definitely had great riffs. I could easily put 2 or 3 in my top 20....just one of those gametime decisions.

Funk #49 has a great intro-riff. Now, when I listen to my ipod I'm looking for great riffs, that was one I listened to yesterday and somehow forgot.

No order:

-King of Rock. Run DMC. Go ahead, once it gets in your head, there it stays all day.

-Warped. Red Hot Chili Peppers. I heard this the other day for the first time in years. Not much a Peppers fan post-Mother's Milk, and the Dave Navarro experiment clearly didn't work. In fact, this song has some of the worst lyric effects and out of rhythm, but the guitar is strong.

-Stop. Jane's Addiction. Now, Navarro in JA is tremendous. Could probably just put the entire 'Nothing's Shocking' album (minus Jane Says) on here.

will add more later

2 that come to mind as absolute musts for a best riff list:

Mississippi queen - Mountain

Black Betty - Skynard

and the ultimate

Iron Man - Sabbath

um that would be 3 that come to mind...

I'm a retard

Good grief. In other news, music HAS in fact been released in the last 25+ years.


Gotta give a tip to EinDC's inclusion of "Cut", though. But I am out for bicycling 90 miles through the Alaskan winds to the next shelter while listening to it.

Just sayin'

All right, here goes. Simple = Good.

Great somewhat recent riffs:

White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl

The Hives - Main Offender

The Dollyrots - Because I'm Awesome

Great less recent riffs:

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

Superchunk - Slack Motherfucker

Green Day - Longview

Classic Riffs:

Clash - Garageland (love Clash City Rockers as well, also their version of Police On My Back has a killer riff)

Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant

Neil Young - Rockin' In The Free World

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze (love Fire too - he's got any number of classics)

The Who - My Generation

Beatles - Helter Skelter

already mentioned the Kinks...


Agree with Eagle In DC riffs:

Free - Alright Now (So good Steve Miller stole it.)

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama. (They had a bunch of great riffs but this is the classic choice.)

Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown (even though they allegedly ripped it off)

Hell yeah Johnson!

BTW Ram Jam is no more responsible for that song than Skynard.

It was written in the 30s

" BTW Ram Jam is no more responsible for that song than Skynard.

It was written in the 30s"

True... but nowhere in the Lynyrd Skynyrd catalog has the band performed that song. Unless it was on some obscure B-side or live album.

So in that case... I like the riff in "Black Betty" by The Cure.

"Feels So Good" by Mangione.

Scotty- the version they did at RAH a couple yrs ago was the best ever.
Have it on DAT.

NTF

Skynard basically does a live cover of the ram jam version.

But my wife swears it iis a Meatloaf song.

Back in Black-ACDC

best riff of all time....hand's down.