Ok I have just been listening to some old CD's.

What in your opinion is the best guitar riff ever? Try and stay away from the obscure stuff that we have never heard of.

Mine is in Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits

talk about love ...van halen .........classic axe frenzy:thumbsup:

Thunderstruck - AC/DC

anything by hendrix ...

voodoo chile
pali gap
foxey lady
killing floor

I'm not really a big G&R fan but the sweet child of mine riff, in my opinion is one of the best riffs ever.

Black Dog
Kashmir
Whole Lotta Love
Heartbreaker
Livin' Loving Maid

by Led Zeppelin

Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker.

Chris.

The best Guitar Riff is the entire song of:

"One Big Holiday" by My Morning Jacket :cool:

Led Zep, mentioned avove.

Rude Mood by Stevie Ray Vaughan from Texas Flood is awsome :thumbsup:

Originally posted by mikey
Ok I have just been listening to some old CD's.

What in your opinion is the best guitar riff ever? Try and stay away from the obscure stuff that we have never heard of.

Mine is in Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits

I don't think I could argue with that. It's brilliant.

Originally posted by mikey
Ok I have just been listening to some old CD's.

What in your opinion is the best guitar riff ever? Try and stay away from the obscure stuff that we have never heard of.

Mine is in Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits

Er, depends on your definition of riff. There really isn't one as such in Sultans Of Swing. Lots of soloing, but no repeated riff as in, say, Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream, or Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple, two archetypical riff-based songs

gary moore thats all i have to say

Hmmmm......
Sweet Child of Mine :thumbsup:
Parisienne Walkways (dead sexy riff)
Plug in Baby (almost like duelling banjos :D but I love it and its stirring stuff! :headbang: )

Originally posted by mojoworking
Er, depends on your definition of riff. There really isn't one as such in Sultans Of Swing. Lots of soloing, but no repeated riff as in, say, Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream, or Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple, two archetypical riff-based songs

I'm with mojoworking on this one

The Best Riff Ever is 'Smoke on the Water' by Deep Purple. No contest. Simple, relentless, colossal.

Originally posted by Mosherchik

Hmmmm......
Sweet Child of Mine :thumbsup:
Parisienne Walkways (dead sexy riff)
Plug in Baby (almost like duelling banjos :D but I love it and its stirring stuff! :headbang: )

Again, the definition of riff is being stretched to breaking point here.

Parisienne Walkways: beautiful melody and great guitar playing, but not a riff by any stretch of the imagination.

We seem to be talking about two different meanings of the word riff.

I take "riff" to mean a repeated guitar motif on which the entire song hangs. Smoke On The Water is perhaps the best example of this. Black Dog by Led Zep is another.

Other posters seem to think that any song with a guitar in it qualifies as a "riff".

Simply not true, I'm afraid.

My sincerest apologies sir! I bow down to your superior knowledge :(

will go and listen to Deep Purple collection and get the dictionary out and look up work "riff" :D

not particularly bothered if my selection dint fall under "riff" category, still bluddy good to air guitar to! :headbang:

Ok Mojo you are right. I got it wrong, I was talking guitar solo.

Guitar riff:
a sequence of notes that usually repeats ie: the intro to The Beatles "Daytripper"

If you're talking about solos then surely comfortably numb by Pink Floyd must raise its head?

For haunting riffs I like Moving Away from the Pulsebeat by The Buzzcocks. Great drumming too.

the riff that comes in half way through Once Around the World by It Bites.
or
Am I Evil by Diamond Head
or
Jesus Christ Pose by Soundgarden
or
Smells like teen Spirit by Nirvana.

Ok, Great thread but very hard. :confused:

I've tried to compose my list in order which probably made it so hard.

1. Heartbreaker (Led Zep)
2. The Ocean (Led Zep)
3. Iron Man (Black Sabbath)
4. Smoke on the water (Deep Purple)
5. Bad To The Bone (George Thorogood & Destroyers)
6. Seek & Destroy (Metallica)
7. Layla (Derek & The Dominos)
8. No Quarter (Led Zep)
9. Back in Black (AC/DC)
10. Dancing Days (Led Zep)
11. All Along the watchtower (Hendrix)
12. Thunderstruck (AC/DC)
13. Life in the Fast Lane (The Eagles)
14. Guerrila Radio (Rage aginst the machine)
15. Voodoo Child (Hendrix)

Honourable Mention:

Man in the box (Alice in Chains)
Syphony of Destruction (Megadeth)
Dazed & Confused (Led Zep)
Johnny B Good (Chuck Berry)
Whole Lotta Love (Led Zep)
Livin Loving Maid (Led Zep)
Machine Gun (Hendrix)

has to be the master of puppets

I like the guitar solo in Master of Puppets.

Seek and Destroy, a fine riff and a complete rip off of Sucking my Love by Diamond Head.

It's OK, they admit it!

It's understandable considering they seem to have enjoyed playing Diamond head tracks throughout their career.

Originally posted by thenewborn
has to be the master of puppets

MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!

:headbang:

Originally posted by Andy78
MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!

:headbang:

thanks alot. you do realise that i have a rare disorder called "metal tourrettes" making me burst out into headbanging and screaming and air guitaring. took me 2 hours to shake it off after i read ur message which set me off straight away

have more care please

:headbang:

run dmc - walk this way
queen - galaloce (something like that...i think)

Originally posted by thenewborn
thanks alot. you do realise that i have a rare disorder called "metal tourrettes" making me burst out into headbanging and screaming and air guitaring. took me 2 hours to shake it off after i read ur message which set me off straight away

have more care please

:headbang:
oops!
My sincere apologies. I will do my best to take into account your rare condidtion in the future, before considering another outburst. These things just pop out sometimes.
i feel like a bad, bad man now.

Mas..... Ma..........M.......Maste.......Argh! I can't help It......M............

Bye!

Originally posted by panda79
talk about love ...van halen .........classic axe frenzy:thumbsup:

YEAH!!!!!


Originally posted by steelcitybab
run dmc - walk this way
queen - galaloce (something like that...i think)

OY! Dont credit Run DMC with that riff!




Anybody with me on Ace of Spades? Thats a kick-ass riff!

Originally posted by steelcitybab
run dmc - walk this way
queen - galaloce (something like that...i think)

I think you mean Aerosmith's Walk This Way. Run DMC simply rapped over a new version of it.

As for the Queen song, I've been through all their albums and I can't find anything even close to "galaoce".

Perhaps you mean Jealousy?

I feel I have to mention Sheffields finest while we're on the subject of riffs, Def Leppards 'High 'n' dry' album has a fine set of Steve Clark riffs and earlier than that 'Rocks off' has to have one of the finest metal Riffs ever - made me want to start playing guitar all those years ago!

Shame they went so thoroughly downhill after Pyromania.

i believe it's referred to as 'reverse guitarring' (sp?) so may not qualify but can I nominate The Stone Roses - 'Begging You'.

Originally posted by mojoworking
Er, depends on your definition of riff. There really isn't one as such in Sultans Of Swing. Lots of soloing, but no repeated riff as in, say, Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream, or Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple, two archetypical riff-based songs

Have to agree. 2 of the best riffs ever. Blackmore wrote a few good ones in his time, including Man On A Silver Mountain and 16th Century Greensleeves. don't make riffs like they used to.

Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love
Led Zeppelin - Rock And Roll
Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness
Motorhead - Ace Of Spades
N.E.R.D - Rockstar
Ministry - Jesus Built My Hotrod
The Smiths - This Charming Man


to name just a few...many more out there, just cant think of them for the minute

Originally posted by uniB
I feel I have to mention Sheffields finest while we're on the subject of riffs, Def Leppards 'High 'n' dry' album has a fine set of Steve Clark riffs and earlier than that 'Rocks off' has to have one of the finest metal Riffs ever - made me want to start playing guitar all those years ago!

Shame they went so thoroughly downhill after Pyromania.

yeup, i bet they're absolutely embarrassed by the mega successful Hysteria album.

I wasn't referring to "commercially downhill"...

Their first 2 albums contained a whole manner of exciting, raw metal riffs and in the very early 80's they sounded pretty revolutionery.

Pyromania was a fine album but was a move towards a more produced sound, I'd like to blame that all on Mutt Lange but I think he produced High n Dry as well so maybe not.

Obviously Hysteria, Adrenalize were stupidly successful but find me a revolutionery, exciting, ahead of it's time riff?


I admit I haven'y sat down and listened to Euphoria or X but I'm guessing there's not really much there for me, i saw a video on VH2 the other day of a track off one of those albums and it may as well not have guitar in it.

Anyway, I was just talking about riffs.

Originally posted by uniB
I feel I have to mention Sheffields finest while we're on the subject of riffs, Def Leppards 'High 'n' dry' album has a fine set of Steve Clark riffs and earlier than that 'Rocks off' has to have one of the finest metal Riffs ever - made me want to start playing guitar all those years ago!

Shame they went so thoroughly downhill after Pyromania.

Aha!!
A Forumer with superb taste!!

Sheffield's finest indeed.

I don't believe they went downhill after Pyromania, they just changed their musical genre, creating a more polished sound to appeal to a more widespread, mainstream audience and as a result their music became more commercial.

*sigh* Joe still looks good after all these years. Incredibly friendly and down to earth also.

If you think their music isn't as raw and NWOBHM as it used to be, check out one of their live shows- I've seen them 10 times and on their last tour they played the first half of the High 'N' Dry album.

Class!!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Slayer - Reign In Blood

Probably the best metal riff of modern times (and when you're as old as me, 1991 is fairly recent) has to be Enter Sandman by Metallica

You can't beat the intro to The La's There She Goes. It's pretty easy to play too.

The LAs and metallica are both good contenders, but Gary Moore is one of my favourite guitarists. Anything by Pantera, especially their first album Cowboys from Hell - It has the best guitar solo ever on their, track 11, "The Sleep".

I'd like an honorary mention for "you really got me" by the Kinks

Originally posted by mojoworking
Probably the best metal riff of modern times (and when you're as old as me, 1991 is fairly recent) has to be Enter Sandman by Metallica

Indeedy I would back that up. Class tune and riff!

i think metallica are up there no matter which of their songs, james hetfield is riff god

Come as you are - Nirvana.

nothing else matters - metallica (though this isn't really a "riff" as such, the intro/ guitaring is amazing.

Feel like a wee young 'un mentioning a nineties tune, but...

Love Spreads by the Stone Roses is a riff with very big balls. Enormous heavy balls. growling sweaty heavy balls.

but for you oldies with your purples and zeppelins and all, has anybody mentioned Satisfaction by the Strolling Bones?

ez

Try 'Shot by both sides' by Magazine, or 'Another Girl, Another Planet' by The Only Ones.

'This Planet's On Fire' - Sammy Hagar
'You're Gonna Break My Heart Again' - Whitesnake
'Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be' - AC/DC (with Bon Scott, of course)

Hundreds of great contenders and most tend to be metal but the one that always sends shivers down my spine is TEENAGE KICKS by THE UNDERTONES. Sheer genius, that B5 to D#5 slide is so simple and effective.

Also quite easy to play so why did BUSTED get it sooooo wrong.


Another big favourite is WILD THING by the TROGGS. also very simple but the best usually are.

Originally posted by steelcitybab
run dmc - walk this way

That should be Aerosmith and Run DMC, Walk This Way

And I agree, this is what I was going to put, but usually I hate Aerosmith...maybe they are moer than the sum of their parts.

Just a few that come to mind:

White Stripes "7 Nation Army"

Magazine "Shot by Both Sides"

Nirvana "Smells like Teen Spirit"

Guns 'n Roses "Sweet Child o Mine"

StarSparkle :thumbsup:

Originally posted by mikey
Ok I have just been listening to some old CD's.

What in your opinion is the best guitar riff ever? Try and stay away from the obscure stuff that we have never heard of.

Mine is in Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits

Knopfler certainly was a good guitarist.

Alex

Originally posted by BaZ619
Slayer - Reign In Blood

correction the song is raining blood, the album was Reign in Blood

Originally posted by mojoworking
Black Dog
Kashmir
Whole Lotta Love
Heartbreaker
Livin' Loving Maid

by Led Zeppelin

Add Achilles Last Stand to your list instead of LLM.... :P ;)

Nice though :thumbsup:

Whole Lotta Rosie- ACDC!

Almost all of AC/DC's tunes have a fantastic riff in them. They dont call Malcolm the Riffmaker for nowt!

My favourites are:-
Gone Shooting, Riff Raff, Middle 8 from Back in black, Dirty Deeds, Sin City (bass riff!)

Great bass riff from Paul McCartney, Silly Love Songs.

Possibly one of the greatest bass riffs ever is "From Out of Nowhere" by faith no more, extremely complicated, and great to play

Welcome to the jungle, has several riffs but the main one is classic punky metal.

Back In Black - AC/DC
Bangkok Rain - The Cult
King Nothing - Metallica
Of Mice and Men - Megadeth (currently obsessed with this song!)
Bombtrack - Rage Against The Machine (how has this one not been mentioned? Tom Morello is god like!)

and if its solo's...

almost anything by Joe Satriani or Jimi Hendrix as they're god's!
a lot of Metallica, Iron Maiden, Hammerfall, Sabbath, Deep Purple...

Too many to mention them all, but does anyone remember Mansun's "take it easy chicken" from their "2 EP"?

A kinda 'wakka-wakka' 70s-cop-show sound! Awesome!

Slash on 'Give in to me' by MJ.:cool:

The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary

I promise you, this is so unlike virtually any other music that I like, and I couldn't even name you another song by this band, but that record has the greatest guitar intro I've ever heard. Must be very loud though.

And the second greatest?

The Smiths - How Soon Is Now

It has the finest guitar sound I can think of.

Is Whiskey In The Jar a 'riff'?

Originally posted by AndrewC
Is Whiskey In The Jar a 'riff'?

I don't know... but that song has been in my head all morning. Even four hours of Radio One have failed to dislodge it.

how about yellow leadbetter by PEARL JAM:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Originally posted by panda79
how about yellow leadbetter by PEARL JAM:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

:clap: Good choice! :thumbsup:

Originally posted by panda79
how about yellow leadbetter by PEARL JAM:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Seconded!

How many hours could I spend answering this thread?

Just off the top of my head:

Black Sabbath: NIB or Symptom of the Universe
Motorhead: Ace of Spades
Deep Purple: Smoke on the water though Burn also had a good riff (which was about one note different from All of us to all of you by Lone Star)
Hawkwind: Master of the Universe
Rainbow: Stargazer
Candlemass: Under the oak

I could go on and on...

As a guitarist myself (over 22 years at it now) there are simply too many to mention.

However, a really interesting riff is Muse's Plug In Baby with its classical scales. That's got some stretchy fingerwork! As for Smiths (one of my favourite bands ever) How Soon Is Now isn't so much a riff as layer upon layer of guitars (some in open key tuning, some tracks slowed down etc) recorded and sampled via a tape loop. A more instant Smiths riff is What Difference Does It Make.

Someone mentioned Macca's bass line in Silly Love Songs. The clever bleeder gets three harmonies out of that! (Having said that it is in C).

Originally posted by Ousetunes
How Soon Is Now isn't so much a riff as layer upon layer of guitars (some in open key tuning, some tracks slowed down etc) recorded and sampled via a tape loop.

OK, ta. I always wondered how it was achieved!

Slither by Velvet Revolver - a dirty, filthy, crunchy mutha of a riff!!:D

It might conceivably be Meeting of the Spirit by Mahavishnu Orchestra [John McLaughlin on guitar], perhaps Kashmir by Led Zeppelin [Jimmy Page], or maybe The Ocean also by Zep, or even Jean Genie by David Bowie. Who knows?

"I love rock 'n roll" by Joan Jett - just seen it on TOTP2!
Wonderful, drrty riff!

Originally posted by AndrewC
Is Whiskey In The Jar a 'riff'?
No not at all... It is a progression of chords. A riff is a repeating melody played by an instrument such as a guitar.

parisienne walkways- gary moore and phil Lynott.
(Thin lizzy)
And any mark knopfler
also watched him on live aid dvd..

Originally posted by Damon
The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary

I promise you, this is so unlike virtually any other music that I like, and I couldn't even name you another song by this band, but that record has the greatest guitar intro I've ever heard. Must be very loud though.
Oh lord, once again this is not a guitar riff, it is a guitar part which is played along the verses of the song.

I suggest you buy the Album Love by the Cult. It is full of excellent songs including Nirvana, Which inspired curt cobain to name his band after it. Little Face, Brother wolf;sister moon, rain, revolution. And other songs. The only difference with she sells.. is a rock drummer is brought in.

You have never heard Sonic Temple and Fire Woman??

Originally posted by tara
parisienne walkways- gary moore and phil Lynott.
(Thin lizzy)
And any mark knopfler
also watched him on live aid dvd..
Definitely not guitar riffs. Parisian walkways is a blues solo, with a song tacked on.

A RIFF IS A REPEATING MUSICAL FIGURE.

Originally posted by muddycoffee
Definitely not guitar riffs. Parisian walkways is a blues solo, with a song tacked on.

A RIFF IS A REPEATING MUSICAL FIGURE.
Guitar riffs are things like smoke on the water and whole lotta rosie, It has to be repeated and repeated by the guitarist or other musiscian. Jump by van Halen is a keyboard riff.

Heartbreaker - The birth of Heavy Metal, not that Zep ever were that limited. They just made it all happen.

It's funny how the same mistakes crop up again within the same thread. Back on page one of this thread, we had this very discussion - ie what constitutes a riff - and now here it is again.

Originally posted by Bloomdido
Heartbreaker - The birth of Heavy Metal, not that Zep ever were that limited. They just made it all happen.


A good choice my friend, I wouldn't exactly call led zeppelin a heavy metal band but however, they definately paved the way for metal bands.


Hehe I love that song....

Originally posted by mojoworking
It's funny how the same mistakes crop up again within the same thread. Back on page one of this thread, we had this very discussion - ie what constitutes a riff - and now here it is again.


Yeah its all my fault, I started the topic and what I really meant was guitar solo.

I was surprised to see this thread ressurected, as it was a long time ago when I stated it.

Led Zep lead the way, Good Times Bad Times being one of the best ever.

In essence, a riff is indeed a repeated musical figure, but what makes up that figure can be wide ranging. I see no reason why Whiskey in the Jar cannot be termed a riff! (If that opening guitar is not playig a riff then I don't know what is.) Riffs can incorporate separate single notes, but also part chords, double stops and whole chords, just so long as it is recognisable as the main riff and uses the same musical intervals. (q.v. AC,DC)

Layla by Derek and the Dominoes opens with single notes, but then in part uses chords (probably fifth chords, better known as power chords which take a root and a fifth note)...in this case Bb and C. He then doubles up with a riff proper commencing way up the 11th fret. The two combined, though playing the same notes in the same scale (albeit an octave apart at least) create the riff.

But a riff can be played in any key, can be altered to include passive notes, a blues note perhaps and can change from a major scale to a minor scale, to a dominant or major seventh scale and so on. What matters is that it is memorable, recognisable and can be hummed in its own right. Day Tripper might be a good example (riff in E, then A), but going on what some correspondents have said, would you deem I Feel Fine as NOT being riff because it is totally based on chord shapes (commencing in D - each note of the riff is simply a part of the whole chord)? Ofcause it's a riff! The riff comes out of the D major and D seventh scale, then repeats itself using notes from the C and C7 scale, G & G7 etcetra. It's the most memorable part of the song. What you hear in the song are the single notes, but these are plucked 'out of' the main chords. They stick in your mind due to their melody - an art of the Beatles.

It's a tricky area but should not be a contentious one. We have twelve notes to play with, we can put them in any order and play most of those notes together (though certainly not always). If you can remember it, whether it is played on guitar, keyboards, bass guitar or whatever, then it's a riff.

However, strumming Wonderwall certainly is not a riff!

Originally posted by IanMitchell
A good choice my friend, I wouldn't exactly call led zeppelin a heavy metal band

No, just the band that invented it (more or less)

Walk like a man - Ten Years After
Sunshine of your Love - Cream

Bet you can tell how old I am now!!! :)

What is a "riff"

put this in GOOGLE. define:Riff

I like the defination: A berber from morocco :hihi:

Originally posted by Lostrider
Walk like a man - Ten Years After
Sunshine of your Love - Cream

Bet you can tell how old I am now!!! :)

That's "Love Like A Man" by Ten Years After

Walk Like A Man is by the Four Seasons

Originally posted by IanMitchell
A good choice my friend, I wouldn't exactly call led zeppelin a heavy metal band but however, they definately paved the way for metal bands.


Hehe I love that song....

You may not call them a heavy metal band, but there's no getting away from it - in the overall scheme of rock history, that's exactly what they are.

Maybe not "heavy metal" in the modern meaning of the term, perhaps, but without a handful of late 60s bands (Cream, LZ, Purple etc) who drew up the blueprint for the true metal bands of the 70s, there would have been no Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep and the rest.

Twist & Shout / Daytripper - Beatles

White Wedding - Billy Idol :headbang:

Daytripper is a great riff, and one of the few mentioned on here that I can play!

Sweet Child of Mine- Guns N' Roses
Wicked Game- Chris Isaak
You know Your Right- Nirvana
Today- Smashing Pumpkins
Bullet with Butterfly Wings- Smashing Pumpkins

....To name a few....

Originally posted by mojoworking
Er, depends on your definition of riff. There really isn't one as such in Sultans Of Swing. Lots of soloing, but no repeated riff as in, say, Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream, or Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple, two archetypical riff-based songs smoke on the water, ! that takes you back, best ever, depending on age group of course,

what about ? parision walkways ? or paranoid,?? by black sabbath,eagles live ? hotel calafornia ? every one a classic

Originally posted by mojoworking
Black Dog
Kashmir
Whole Lotta Love
Heartbreaker
Livin' Loving Maid

by Led Zeppelin

I agree with these - plus many others by Led Zep.

No doubt in my mind that they were the greatest rock band ever

I think 'Daytripper', as mentioned by many others, is the best riff ever. As for the best solo, that has to be Eric Bell's fantastic work on Thin Lizzy's 'Whiskey In The Jar'. It's just brilliant, and if you really, in your heart, think that anything by Pantera etc is better than you are kidding yourself big time and have no ears.

Originally posted by depoix
what about ? parision walkways ? or paranoid,?? by black sabbath,eagles live ? hotel calafornia ? every one a classic

At last ... Hotel California :D

Originally posted by depoix
smoke on the water, ! that takes you back, best ever, depending on age group of course,

what about ? parision walkways ? or paranoid,?? by black sabbath,eagles live ? hotel calafornia ? every one a classic

As we've already discussed, Parisian Walkways and Hotel California do NOT contain riffs, but feature long guitar solos which is a very different thing.

Paranoid, of course, does have a classic guitar riff.

I think the 'riffs' on Val Doonican's 'Delaney's Donkey' are good, as is the 'heavier' material on 'Paddy McGinty's Goat'. Neil Reid's seminal 'Mother of Mine' and The Poole Family's 'Milly Molly Mandy' [believed to be the inspiration behind Zeppelin's 'Trampled Under Foot'] are also worthy contenders.

Originally posted by timo
I think the 'riffs' on Val Doonican's 'Delaney's Donkey' are good, as is the 'heavier' material on 'Paddy McGinty's Goat'. Neil Reid's seminal 'Mother of Mine' and The Poole Family's 'Milly Molly Mandy' [believed to be the inspiration behind Zeppelin's 'Trampled Under Foot'] are also worthy contenders.

Oh you are a wag timo. Next you'll be telling us that "Dominique" the Singing Nun's big hit of 1963 was a direct influence on Slipknot's "People Are S**t".

Hang on a minute....

Plenty of good stuff mentioned. My personal favourite is the intro to Stay With Me by the Faces.

http://clickit.go2net.com/search?pos=8&ppos=0&plnks=0&uplnks=8&cat=audio&cid=372671&site=srch&area=srch.noncomm.singingfishaudio&shape=textlink&cp=info.dogpl&cluster-click=0&pd=0&coll=1&query=stay+with+me+faces&rawto=http://musicstore.real.com/music_store/preview.ram?trackid=5839191

Originally posted by mojoworking
As we've already discussed, Parisian Walkways and Hotel California do NOT contain riffs, but feature long guitar solos which is a very different thing.


Apologies. I scanned this thread and obviously missed the lesson on the difference between a "riff" and a "solo". The guitar piece in Hotel California is one of my fave "solos" :D

who lotta rosie - ac/dc

she's so fine - thunder

sunshine of your love - cream

walk this way - aerosmith

seven nation army - white stripes


prob forgotten tons...:cool:

Some of my favorites are...
Working man - Rush
Enter the Sandman - Metallica
She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
Hyseria - Muse
The Zoo - Scorpions
A Hard Road - Sabbath
Possibly not all classic riffs but they do it for me

Iron Maiden: Phantom Of The Opera
The Seahorses: Love Is The Law
Metallica: Master Of Puppets
There's just a few of my faves......I could go on all night :) :headbang: :thumbsup:

Eric Clapton - Layla
Guns 'n' Roses - Sweet Child of Mine
Neil Young - Like a Hurricane

dum dum dum dum dah di dum.

I mean "Smoke on the water" - Deep Purple

One Vision - Queen
:clap:
:headbang:

Money For Nothing - Dire Straits.

You Should Be Mine Intro - Guns & Roses.

Give In To Me - ( Slash ) Michael Jackson.

Before we get into an argument as to what exactly constitutes a riff, perhaps this could be merged with this thread:
http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?threadid=8634&highlight=guitar+riff

Originally posted by mojoworking
Before we get into an argument as to what exactly constitutes a riff, perhaps this could be merged with this thread:
http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?threadid=8634&highlight=guitar+riff
i search for `best guitar riff' and that thread didnt come up!!

pah i say to the search function..

edit:....now it DOES come up.. hmmmm.. bloody thing seems picky!

Damn MTheo as soon as I read the title of this thread, I thought "gotta be Sunshine of Your Love..." but alas, you beat me to it!!!

im all 4 stairway to heaven

Damn good idea for a thread, even if it has been done before.

AC/DC - Back in Black
Led Zep - Whole Lotta Love
Kinks - You Really Got Me
Beatles - I Feel Fine
Stones - Satisfaction

Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry. :cool:

Originally posted by pontious
Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry. :cool:

Here we go again. That's not a riff

Well, if we're gonna be pedantic, Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes is actually predominantly a bass riff :D

I'm going with:

The Stones - Jumping Jack Flash
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Chile
Lynyrd Skynyrd - The Needle & The Spoon
Stone Roses - Waterfall

Originally posted by Bully_Beef
Well, if we're gonna be pedantic, Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes is actually predominantly a bass riff :D


Sorry, can't resist a bit of counter-pedantry. It's actually a guitar played through an octave pedal, I think you'll find, actually, actually.

Originally posted by RodimusPrime
Sorry, can't resist a bit of counter-pedantry. It's actually a guitar played through an octave pedal, I think you'll find, actually, actually.

It's not really pedantry, Johnny B. Goode contains no riffs at all. Chuck is simply playing double note pentatonic blues runs and fills throughout the song, very few of which are repeated or exactly the same.

The definition of a riff is a repeated figure or motif played over the main backing of the song. Smoke On The Water being the textbook example.

Speaking of bass riffs, Money by Pink Floyd has to be the daddy.

Mod: Threads merged. Thanks for the link.

Back in Black AC/DC

Word!

Wilf

Originally posted by RodimusPrime
Sorry, can't resist a bit of counter-pedantry. It's actually a guitar played through an octave pedal, I think you'll find, actually, actually.

The question of the thread is "Best Guitar Riff". The type of guitar or the method of playing it isn't mentioned.

I'd have to go for Sunshine Of Your Love as the best "classic" guitar riff.

Originally posted by Yodameister
The question of the thread is "Best Guitar Riff". The type of guitar or the method of playing it isn't mentioned.


Fine by me. I was just contradicting Bully-Beef's claim that Seven Nation Army didn't count because it was a bass riff. I was saying it does count.

Or did you mean that bass riffs should count as well, because a bass is a kind of guitar? If so, what is the difference between a bass riff and a bass line? Can I have I Am The Resurrection? Or Staying Alive? Or Le Freak? Sounds like a separate thread to me...

'We Gotta Get Outa This Place' by the Animals (circa 1966) Presents an excellent example of the bass guitar holding the main riff of a popular song. Although it is just basically a variation on the 'boogie' theme, it constitutes such a key feature of the recording that I think it can be classed as a 'riff'

As well as it being the opening feature and the instant recognition point of the number, the same 'bass riff' continues throughout the verses of the song, breaking into a more simple rock 'bass line' (Root notes) in the choruses.

...and that was recorded on a bass guitar.

Originally posted by RodimusPrime
Fine by me. I was just contradicting Bully-Beef's claim that Seven Nation Army didn't count because it was a bass riff. I was saying it does count.

Or did you mean that bass riffs should count as well, because a bass is a kind of guitar? If so, what is the difference between a bass riff and a bass line? Can I have I Am The Resurrection? Or Staying Alive? Or Le Freak? Sounds like a separate thread to me...

Just becaue I quoted you it doesn't mean I was countering your point.

Anyway, I mentioned nothing about "Bass Line", and you bringing that into it indicates to me that you know the difference already.
Its a matter of opinion really as to where bass line ends and riff begins.

Of those example, "I am the resurrection" is the only one I know well enough to comment, and thats probably a fairly good example of one thats quite close to the dividing line, but personally I wouldn't call it a riff. I think to call something a riff it has to be just about the most distinctive thing in the piece (or come pretty close to it) and I don't think it does in this case.

Anyway, I'm not getting at anyone, just good natured rough and tumble of debate :)

Bass riffs? Surely it's always a bass line...:cool:

The term 'Bass Line' is originaly a reference to the lower clef (or C clef) in written music. However it has come to be used as a more generic term for any accepted bass pattern in a peice of music as played by the bassist of a combo.

The term: 'riff' is reasonably accurately described in several postings above. I.E. a repeated and distinctive pattern (usually, but certainly not always, performed on guitar) that is fundamental to the accepted sound of a particular piece of music: E.G. 'Sunshine of Your Love'; etc.

...But I suggested (and it was only my opinion) that the bass part in the Animals' hit: 'We Gotta Get Outa This Place' constitutes, by the previously offered definition, a riff.

Out In The Fields:
by Gary Moore

:cool:

How about "Oh well" Fleetwood Mac. That's a great riff IMHO, but then what do I know, I'm not a guitarist but quite nifty on the old Kazoo.

Originally posted by pitsmoorlad
How about "Oh well" Fleetwood Mac. That's a great riff IMHO, but then what do I know, I'm not a guitarist but quite nifty on the old Kazoo.

Yes mate!
That's an ace riff. I was gonna nominate this one myself, but I couldn't remember the name of the song.

Anyway, the kazoo is a highly skilled instrument.
... although I specialise in the Jew's harp myself

Jimmy Page on Heartbraker or Immigrant Song...

Otherwise Noelly G on Headshrinker!!!!!

AC/DC - back in black.
Awesome.

Nick

Originally posted by nicklambert
AC/DC - back in black.
Awesome.

I was just gonna put that! Took the words right off my keyboard...

Layla By Derick And the dominoes (Eric Clapton)
Money For Nothing By Dire Strates

Anything Django Rheinhardt.

Originally posted by mikey
Ok I have just been listening to some old CD's.

What in your opinion is the best guitar riff ever? Try and stay away from the obscure stuff that we have never heard of.

Mine is in Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits

contradiction there already, if you think its the greatest ever and it happens to be by an obscure arist why shouldnt you say


otherwise the title should read greatest riff by a popular artist, or greatest riff by commercial artist

while my guitar gently weeps - jeff healy

Originally posted by michael_v2
while my guitar gently weeps - jeff healy

Where's the riff in that one? There isn't one.

"Dropout Boogie" - Captain Beefheart

Originally posted by mojoworking
Where's the riff in that one? There isn't one.

sorry, mojo, my mistake. got carried away with great guitar players, and lost the theme of the thread. my apologies. :bigsmile:

Originally posted by Dodgymouse
However it has come to be used as a more generic term for any accepted bass pattern in a peice of music as played by the bassist of a combo.



lol i love that word......combo

niiiiice

"and welcome on stage britains best beat combo"

Originally posted by michael_v2
sorry, mojo, my mistake. got carried away with great guitar players, and lost the theme of the thread. my apologies. :bigsmile:

No problems. It is a great version of the song, though.

A Lovely person, Steve Clark

My Sharona - The Knack :headbang:

it has to be either arctic monkeys mardy bum or guns 'n' roses november rain or sweet child o mine

Sweet Jane - Velvets
The Ocean - Led Zep
Riff Raff - ACDC
Jawbone and the Air Rifle - The Fall
Sabotage (the entire bleedin' album) - Black Sabbath
Highway Star, Burn - Deep Purple
Willie The Pimp - Zappa, but it's a violin riff....damn

Listen to 'em :love:

For me existed Steve Clark only on the guitar