[Guest]

i was just wondering if anyone on here has an opinion of the GREATEST GUITAR RIFF EVER

lets get started. one of the greatest is the one on smoke on the water by deep purple.

[Guest]

The Devil Went Down to Georgia (the guitar version played by Steve Ouimette for Guitar Hero III)

Hotel California by The Eagles

Walk This Way by Aerosmith

Too Much Too Young Too Fast by Airbourne

Iron Man by Black Sabbath

Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll and Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult

Gemini by Brian Kahanek

among others =)

[Guest]

YEAH GO HOTEL CALIFORNIA!!!!

[Guest]

-How about anything Angus Young every played? Tops among that heap would be "Back in Black" for my money.

-Black Betty. The Lead Belly version, not that Ram Jam or Spiderbait nonsense.

Then there are bass riffs... oh sweet manna from heaven!

-Primus. The theme to South Park being my personal favorite of theirs.

-The Red Hot Chili Pepers' cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" is classic as well.

I would contend that the true measure of a guitar riff's greatness would be how much it gets sampled by other musicians with successful results. By that definition, George Clinton, specifically and P-Funk, in general, could populate a very strong list by themselves. But a strong riff is the foundation of funk, isn't it?

Oh, what the heck, let's throw in "Stairway to Heaven" for grins. Just because it's over-rated and a complete rip-off, doesn't mean it's not still a kick-butt opening riff.

[Guest]

There are too many - Comfortably Numb, Hotel Californis (accoustic), Layla, Eurpopa and man many more! inclusing my Air Guitar

[Izzy]

Riffs or songs? Basically anything Iron Maiden plays rocks. The Trooper, Phantom of the Opera, etc. Canon Rock by JerryC. Stuff by Malmsteen, Sartriani, and Vai.

[plasmid]

The two that come to my mind are Voodoo Chile by Hendrix and Eruption by Van Halen. More modern music isn't nearly so guitar dominated, but there's one riff from Four Star Youth's song What We Have Inside that I really like and am totally going to steal, er, adapt (you can listen free at garageband.com, just search for them).

If you happen to be a guitarist then Joe Satriani is pretty much required listening, but I personally don't like it as much as I used to anymore.

[Guest]

I dunno. As a guitar player, I have issues with the definition of 'riff.'

Most of those aren't even really riffs to begin with.

Comfortably Numb? What riff? Perhaps you mean one of the solos?

To me, there are big differences between:

Chord progressions - just what it sounds like. Smells Like Teen Spirit fits in this category, along with the I-IV-V of many rock songs, especially Johnny B. Goode.

Licks - cool lead runs that are either a signature of a song, repeated throughout a song, or both. So, to me, the intro of Johnny B. Goode is a lick, not a riff. Same with Sweet Child and Layla.

and

Riffs - single or double note lines played typically on lower strings that define the "groove" of the song. Satisfaction is the ultimate example of a riff and certainly, by most criteria except one's personal taste, the most important. Other riffs that stand out to me include:

- Sad But True by Metallica - you can put that riff on repeat and play it for 20 minutes and it still rocks.

- Feel Your Love Tonight, off Van Halen 1

- Same Old Song and Dance by Aerosmith - along with Adam's Apple, Walk this Way and a ton of other great songs by them

As for AC/DC, I definitely think of stuff like Girls' Got Rhythm and Back in Black as a riff, but not You Shook Me or Problem Child - great songs, memorable parts, but not riffs to me, per se.

And Johnny B. Goode does not have a riff in it - there is a great double-stop Chuck Berry lick over a I IV V chord progression and some fun lead work, but no riff to my ear....

Plenty more, but that's enough for now...

my $.02