Greatest Guitar Riffs

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“What is with walk this way #1? Smoke on the water is #1 then enter sandman”

“Easily the most popular riff of all time. Who hasn’t heard it at least once. It’s appearence in Guitar Hero added to its popularity. It has earned a spot on #1!!!!”

“I agree, if you get a hardcore rapper to listen to this riff, heshe (to be PC about it)will know what this riff is”

» listen to Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple on iTunes
» more comments on Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple

2) Raise Your Hands - Bon Jovi

“the whole song is a guitar masterpiece!”

richie4life

» listen to Raise Your Hands - Bon Jovi on iTunes

3) Enter Sandman - Metallica

“The first guitar riff Kirk Hammett ever wrote is a masterpiece.”

Rigney89

» listen to Enter Sandman - Metallica on iTunes

4) Sweet Child O’ Mine - Guns N’ Roses

“The riff alone gives me a smile and a peaceful feeling. It’s like there’s nothing left in the world that matters but that song.”

zbedd1

“This is a heavenly song.Easily top 5 material. Slash’s riffs are beautiful; and the best part...this was written in 5 minutes :D”

» listen to Sweet Child O’ Mine - Guns N’ Roses on iTunes

5) Walk This Way - Aerosmith

» listen to Walk This Way - Aerosmith on iTunes

6) Hells Bells - AC/DC

7) Unholy Confession - Avenged Sevenfold

“This riff just wanna let you jump through your whole room because of its coolness.”

NightAntilli

“Best guitar riff from amazing band.”

ziggy22

“Love it!”

» listen to Unholy Confession - Avenged Sevenfold on iTunes
» more comments on Unholy Confession - Avenged Sevenfold

8) Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin

“jimmy page is the best... the horny sound in the middle of the song is sexy;)... other bands like GNR had copied this idea”

Joyrider

9) Iron Man - Black Sabbath

» listen to Iron Man - Black Sabbath on iTunes

10) Crazy On You - Roger Fisher

“The best riff in rock.”

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Choices Not In The Top Ten

11) Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

“smells like teen spirit is one of the best songs of all time, and it’s refreshing to see a list where HEART isn’t in the top ten”

pauler94

12) The Trooper - Iron Maiden

13) Can't Stop - Red Hot Chili Peppers

“John Frusciante Is A Beast In This Song”

Dglass23

“that is such a cool sonG!!!!!!!!”

14) Sunshine of Your Love - Cream

15) Citizen Erased - Matthew Bellamy

16) Jordan - Buckethead

17) (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones

18) Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes

“I love this song!”

idolangelx13

“number 3! best riff ever!”

“The riff in this is incredible and is surely in the top 10!”

19) Crazy Train - Randy Rhoads

“How is this not #1? It makes me jump out of my seat and air guitar”

jewunit69

“I Love This Riff, Just Great From The Great One. R. I. P Randy Rhoads”

copkiller

“randy rhoades was one of the greatest guitarists that ever lived, his life was cut short”

20) Walk - Pantera

“amzing riff one of the ones that you just cant get out of your head and when you hear you just star rockin-out where ever you are”

21) Purple Haze - The Jimi Hendrix Experience

22) Back In Black - AC/DC

“yeah def it should be in the top ten it has a great riff”

“The Riff that helped sell approx. 50 million albums, ’nuff said.”

23) November Rain - Guns N’ Roses

“This should be in the top 10, at least. One of the greatest riffs/solos ever. Better than ’Welcome to the Jungle’ and ’Sweet Child O’ Mine’”

24) Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry

“Should be higher up, probably lacks popularity because it’s so hard to play but it is an awesome song.”

25) Tom Sawyer - Rush

“the riff is bassiccly rushs theme song”

26) Black Dog - Led Zeppelin

27) Plug in Baby - Muse

“What a riff.”

28) Thunderstruck - AC/DC

29) Snow (Hey Oh) - Red Hot Chili Peppers

“The riff is awesome cause even thought Jphn Frusciante is playing really fast, it still sounds relaxing”

RHCPfan

“Most Songs are just written so the guitarist can show of his skill and they forget about making good music. RHCP is one of the only bands that make good music.”

30) You Really Got Me - The Kinks

“I love the the guitar work ihope tobe that good someday”

31) Kashmir - Led Zeppelin

32) You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi

“amazing riff! you can’t get it out of your head”

richie4life

33) Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

“This is a pretty scary, but good song. It’s based on Romeo and Juliet, and the guitar is amazing.”

34) Mechanix - Megadeth

“Any Megadeth riff, dave mustaine was ranked number one rhythm metal guitarist in guitar one mag. i have no clue why there is no respect to him on this site, it’s the overpowering metallica that makes megadeth get ignored when they are equals. Mechanix is the original four horsemen”

35) Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin

“The Only Riff In my opinion that gets better every time you here it. It just keeps on sounding more complex. In my opinion that is what a great riff needs!”

36) On Every Street - Dire Straits

“it starts at 2:51”

37) Stranglehold - Ted Nugent

38) Carry On My Wayward Son - Kansas

39) Day Tripper - The Beatles

40) More Than a Feeling - Boston

“prolly one of the catchiest riffs ever”

wolf10

41) Seventeen - Winger

“killer riff”

“Wow! This riff is just amazing, rob beach was a way underrated guitarist!”

42) Cult of Personality - Living Colour (2007 Master Track)

“A crazy non-stop one minute solo, the solo of personality.”

43) In Pieces - Linkin Park

“Great guitar solo.”

44) Ain't Talkin' Bout Love - Van Halen

“why is this not on the list?
the best intro of all time”

45) All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

“The best guitar rift of all time. He plays it straight, then slide, then wah wah, then back to straight. Not one other mentioned guitar rift has this variety or explosive energy. This should be Number One!”

46) Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam

47) The Hell Song - Sum 41

“this riff is amazing.”

48) Paranoid - Black Sabbath

49) N.I.B. - Black Sabbath

50) Hallowed Be Thy Name - Iron Maiden

51) Mississippi Queen - Mountain

52) Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh

53) The Ocean - Led Zeppelin

54) Kool Thing - Sonic Youth

55) Tie Your Mother Down - Queen

56) Like a Rock - Bob Seger