Greatest Guitar Riffs?

[kahalabrah]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

heartbreaker, led zeppelin

anything led zep.

[pzarquon]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

20 Greatest Guitar Solos Ever, With Videos

Guitar World has complied a list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos". Over the last few days the Howard Stern Show has been playing clips from the list. We've found listening to these great classics a very moving experience, so we took it a step further and dug up a video link for each of the top 20! Listen and watch the musical genius and mastery that made these classics famous!

[jdub]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

20 Greatest Guitar Solos Ever, With Videos

Brilliant link, PZ!! Mahalo long time, brah!

[DiverDown808]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

Hmmmmm I don't know

I'm more partial to that local guy that plays rock guitar here on the island. His link is in my signature

......I'm so pathetic...........

[tikiyaki]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

Yes, there's no doubt that everybody recognizes that riff, but casual rock 'n roll listeners won't be able to identify it as "Smoke on the Water." On the other hand, you can hear "Satisfaction" every day on 107.9FM--everybody knows that song.

Don't get me wrong--I absolutely love Deep Purple and "Smoke on the Water," but GREATNESS carries a certain responsibility that "Satisfaction" definitely meets more satisfactorily than does "Smoke on the Water."

Scriv....Gotta disagree with you there. "greatness" and "recognizability" are 2 different things. I know as a kid growing up in the 70's, "Smoke on the Water" was the first thing you learned how to play. So archaic, so heavy. "Sunshine of your love" was another.

I'll add to this list, just the same.

greatness, not recognizability is the idea here...and maybe a little less obvious.

"Deuce", "Rock and Roll all Nite" "Shock Me" "Cold Gin"...almost anything up to 1977 by KISS

"Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath, aka the ground zero "HEAVY METAL" guitar riff ...before this song, it was just called "rock"

also to that "Symtom of the Universe"

people don't usually associate riffs with the Beatles but...
I wanna Hold Your hand
Paperback Writer
Day tripper


Zeppelin has so many, but here goes.

Communication Breakdown
The Ocean
Kashmir
Custard pie
Dancin Days
ok...all of it.

Funk #49 by the James Gang (Joe walsh before the Eagles) - my number one go-to riff whenever I pick up a guitar.

"Slow Ride" by Foghat

"Adam's Apple" by Aerosmith

"We're an American Band" by Grand Funk

And one no one will mention...

"Go All the Way" by the Raspberries.

"Wipe Out" by the Surfaris

"Say What you Will" by fastway

"Ace of Spades" by Motorhead

"Godzilla" "Don't fear the reaper" "E.T.I" by Blue Oyster Cult

"Rainbow in the Dark" by DIO

"Everlong" by the Foo Fighters

"Brown Sugar" "JJFlash" "Honky Tonl Woman" - Stones

"Do You feel like we Do" - peter Frampton

"Cat Scratch fever" - Ted Nugent

"man on the silver Mountain" - Rainbow


man, it's just endless....

[na alii]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

'77, girlfriends!

Same here 77'.

Scriv....Gotta disagree with you there. "greatness" and "recognizability" are 2 different things. I know as a kid growing up in the 70's, "Smoke on the Water" was the first thing you learned how to play. So archaic, so heavy. "Sunshine of your love" was another.

I'll add to this list, just the same.

greatness, not recognizability is the idea here...and maybe a little less obvious.

You have a few songs that we perform in our band.

"Do You feel like we Do" - Peter Frampton
"Brown Sugar" "JJFlash" "Honky Tonl Woman" - Stones (open G tuning)
"We're an American Band" by Grand Funk
Funk #49 by the James Gang


This is our song list. Of course it's so long so we can't play all of the songs in 3 sets.

Last Child – Aerosmith
Same Ole’ Song & Dance - Aerosmith
Come Together – Aerosmith
Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith
Roller – April Wine
Takin’Care Of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive
Can’t Get Enough – Bad Company
Movin’ On – Bad Company
Rock N Roll Fantasy – Bad Company
No Matter What – Bad Finger
I Am The Walrus – Beatles (Styx version)
Just What I Needed - The Cars
I Want You To Want Me – Cheap Trick
Ain’t That A Shame – Cheap Trick
Shine – Collective Soul
Sunshine Of Your Love - Cream
Badge – Cream
White Room – Cream
Strange Brew – Cream
Crossroads – Cream
Born On The Bayou – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple
Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo – Rick Derringer
Life In The Fast Lane – The Eagles
Free Ride – Edgar Winter Group
Frankenstein – Edgar Winter Group
Fool For The City - Foghat
Drivin’ Wheel - Foghat
Do You Feel Like We Do – Peter Frampton
All Right Now – Free
We’re An American Band – Grand Funk Railroad
Centerfold - J. Geils Band
Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
Fire – Jimi Hendrix
I Don’t Need No Doctor – Humble Pie (Styx version)
Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
Mony Mony - Billy Idol
Funk #49 – James Gang
Walk Away – James Gang
Saturday Nights All Right For Fighting - Elton John
All Day And All Of The Night – The Kinks
Good Times Bad Times – Led Zeppelin
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Gimme Three Steps - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Junior’s Farm – Paul McCartney & Wings
Live And Let Die – Paul McCartney & Wings
Two Tickets To Paradise – Eddie Money
Hair Of The Dog – Nazareth
Money – Pink Floyd
Fat Bottomed Girls – Queen
Higher Ground – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Honkytonk Woman – The Rolling Stones
Jumping Jack Flash – The Rolling Stones
Brown Sugar – The Rolling Stones
What I Like About You - The Romantics
Everybody Wants You – Billy Squier
Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf
Jenny Jenny 867-5309 - Tommy Tutone
I Will Follow - U2
Pride(In The Name Of Love) – U2
Unchained – Van Halen
Ain’t Talkin Bout Love – Van Halen
And The Cradle Will Rock – Van Halen
Runnin’ With The Devil – Van Halen
Cold Shot – Stevie Ray Vaughn
Pride & Joy – Stevie Ray Vaughn
Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who
Pinball Wizard – The Who
Cinnamon Girl – Neil Young
Waiting For The Bus – ZZ Top
Jesus Just Left Chicago – ZZ Top
Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers – ZZ Top
Arrested For Driving While Blind – ZZ Top
Cheap Sunglasses – ZZ Top

[tikiyaki]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

Same here 77'.




You have a few songs that we perform in our band.

"Do You feel like we Do" - Peter Frampton
"Brown Sugar" "JJFlash" "Honky Tonl Woman" - Stones (open G tuning)
"We're an American Band" by Grand Funk
Funk #49 by the James Gang


This is our song list. Of course it's so long so we can't play all of the songs in 3 sets.

Last Child – Aerosmith
Same Ole’ Song & Dance - Aerosmith
Come Together – Aerosmith
Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith
Roller – April Wine
Takin’Care Of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive
Can’t Get Enough – Bad Company
Movin’ On – Bad Company
Rock N Roll Fantasy – Bad Company
No Matter What – Bad Finger
I Am The Walrus – Beatles (Styx version)
Just What I Needed - The Cars
I Want You To Want Me – Cheap Trick
Ain’t That A Shame – Cheap Trick
Shine – Collective Soul
Sunshine Of Your Love - Cream
Badge – Cream
White Room – Cream
Strange Brew – Cream
Crossroads – Cream
Born On The Bayou – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple
Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo – Rick Derringer
Life In The Fast Lane – The Eagles
Free Ride – Edgar Winter Group
Frankenstein – Edgar Winter Group
Fool For The City - Foghat
Drivin’ Wheel - Foghat
Do You Feel Like We Do – Peter Frampton
All Right Now – Free
We’re An American Band – Grand Funk Railroad
Centerfold - J. Geils Band
Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
Fire – Jimi Hendrix
I Don’t Need No Doctor – Humble Pie (Styx version)
Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
Mony Mony - Billy Idol
Funk #49 – James Gang
Walk Away – James Gang
Saturday Nights All Right For Fighting - Elton John
All Day And All Of The Night – The Kinks
Good Times Bad Times – Led Zeppelin
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Gimme Three Steps - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Junior’s Farm – Paul McCartney & Wings
Live And Let Die – Paul McCartney & Wings
Two Tickets To Paradise – Eddie Money
Hair Of The Dog – Nazareth
Money – Pink Floyd
Fat Bottomed Girls – Queen
Higher Ground – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Honkytonk Woman – The Rolling Stones
Jumping Jack Flash – The Rolling Stones
Brown Sugar – The Rolling Stones
What I Like About You - The Romantics
Everybody Wants You – Billy Squier
Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf
Jenny Jenny 867-5309 - Tommy Tutone
I Will Follow - U2
Pride(In The Name Of Love) – U2
Unchained – Van Halen
Ain’t Talkin Bout Love – Van Halen
And The Cradle Will Rock – Van Halen
Runnin’ With The Devil – Van Halen
Cold Shot – Stevie Ray Vaughn
Pride & Joy – Stevie Ray Vaughn
Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who
Pinball Wizard – The Who
Cinnamon Girl – Neil Young
Waiting For The Bus – ZZ Top
Jesus Just Left Chicago – ZZ Top
Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers – ZZ Top
Arrested For Driving While Blind – ZZ Top
Cheap Sunglasses – ZZ Top

Damn, where is your band playing ? Can I sit ?
That's a nice list !

Did I forget to mention "Takin' Care of Business" By BTO....if not, you did.
Add to that "Not Fragile" by BTO...now THAT'S a RIFF.

I had a stoner rock cover band for about 6 months...we played "Balinese" by ZZ TOP...that was a good one too. And "SHE" by KISS...ANOTHER great riff. Like I said, the list is endless.

How about "Spirit of Radio" by RUSH ?

[scrivener]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

Scriv....Gotta disagree with you there. "greatness" and "recognizability" are 2 different things. I know as a kid growing up in the 70's, "Smoke on the Water" was the first thing you learned how to play. So archaic, so heavy. "Sunshine of your love" was another.

Recognizability is a part of greatness, but there's a lot more to greatness than that. Ulysses may be the greatest novel ever written, but if it's only accessible to the intellectual elite, then I say it's not as great as an artistically lesser work like The Grapes of Wrath. Yes, the riff in "Satisfaction" is more recognizable, but it's also a great riff. So all things being equal (and I agree that "Smoke on the Water" is a better riff; I'm the only person I know who owns The Battle Rages On, so I consider myself a real lover of Purple), you have to give the edge to "Satisfaction," because nobody has to ask who that is or what song it is.

I've been asked A LOT about that Deep Purple riff. "Who is that?" people will ask, and I'll say, "Deep Purple," and they'll say, "Oh. Who?" And then I'll say, "It's from 'Smoke on the Water,'" and they'll say, "I don't know that song."

[tikiyaki]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

Recognizability is a part of greatness, but there's a lot more to greatness than that. Ulysses may be the greatest novel ever written, but if it's only accessible to the intellectual elite, then I say it's not as great as an artistically lesser work like The Grapes of Wrath. Yes, the riff in "Satisfaction" is more recognizable, but it's also a great riff. So all things being equal (and I agree that "Smoke on the Water" is a better riff; I'm the only person I know who owns The Battle Rages On, so I consider myself a real lover of Purple), you have to give the edge to "Satisfaction," because nobody has to ask who that is or what song it is.

I've been asked A LOT about that Deep Purple riff. "Who is that?" people will ask, and I'll say, "Deep Purple," and they'll say, "Oh. Who?" And then I'll say, "It's from 'Smoke on the Water,'" and they'll say, "I don't know that song."

Agreed...Satisfaction is an Icon Pop Hit. Smoke is a classic rock song. Lesser known for sure.

I have to say, my one regret about the HT X-mas party is that I didn't get to talk to you other than to say hello. I know we would have closed the bar talking about rock n roll.

Next one, for sure.

[na alii]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

Our band is called Steppenstone and we play at the Hideaway Club at the U.S.Coast Guard Station at Barber's Pt. Check out the Hideaway's MySpace page for the schedule. We are looking getting gigs at Tropics in Kailua.

http://www.myspace.com/uscghideawayclub

[Fat Jeff]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

"Deuce", "Rock and Roll all Nite" "Shock Me" "Cold Gin"...almost anything up to 1977 by KISS

Whew! That took balls...and I totally agree. No matter how clownish some may think Kiss is, those first few albums had the riffs for sure.

"Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath, aka the ground zero "HEAVY METAL" guitar riff ...before this song, it was just called "rock"

And probably the heaviest riff of all time...crushes anything the kids call (whatever)core. I'd put Metallica's Wherever I May Roam right behind it.

"Say What you Will" by fastway

"Ace of Spades" by Motorhead

Kudos on these two picks, especially the Fastway song, that CD was all out C**K Rock.

I'll agree with you about Zeppelin...if you put a gun to my head to pick one, I'd go with The Ocean.

The Beatles did have their share, and I'd nominate Daytripper.

[tikiyaki]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

Whew! That took balls...and I totally agree. No matter how clownish some may think Kiss is, those first few albums had the riffs for sure.



And probably the heaviest riff of all time...crushes anything the kids call (whatever)core. I'd put Metallica's Wherever I May Roam right behind it.



Kudos on these two picks, especially the Fastway song, that CD was all out C**K Rock.

I'll agree with you about Zeppelin...if you put a gun to my head to pick one, I'd go with The Ocean.

The Beatles did have their share, and I'd nominate Daytripper.

Fat Jeff, I always knew you had great taste.

Funny, in my part of the world (LA) , and where I come from originally(NY) people are FAR from ashamed to admit they like KISS. They wear it like a medal of honor. Most guitarists that play rock and roll who grew up on the classics will usually wax poetically about Ace Frehely, truly one of the most discreditied and underrated guitarists.

I'll take one of his Chuck Berry laden solos over any berkeley schooled, uber fast shredasaurus any day.

[Altivec]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

I'd go with Randy Rhoades riff of Mr. Crowley, Goodbye to Romance, and of course Crazy Train.

He died so young, I could only imagine what other works he would have had.

[Pomai]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

Here's a few more (many of them commercial) metal songs with maybe not the "greatest", but certainly very memorable riffs...

Accept:
Balls to the Walls
Princess of the Dawn

Judas Priest:
Heading Out to the Highway
The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)
You've Got Another Thing Comin'

Iron Maiden:
To Tame a Land
Power Slave

Ratt:
Round and Round
Lack of Communication
You're in Love
Lay it Down

Scorpions:
The Zoo
Blackout
No One Like You
Big City Nights
Rock You Like a Hurricane

AC/DC (Bon Scott rules!):
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
TNT
Highway to Hell

Megadeth:
Symphony of Destruction

Yes (rock):
Owner of a Lonely Heart

Man, Na Alii really put some thought into this one, even naming the bands in alphabetical order. Awesome!

[na alii]

Re: Greatest Guitar Riffs?

Man, Na Alii really put some thought into this one, even naming the bands in alphabetical order. Awesome!

That's actually all the songs we do in our band.