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April 5, 2008

'Greatest guitar riff of all time'

Press the play icon above and remind yourself why.

I won't argue with the winner of a poll of current students of the London Tech Music School, where members of bands like Radiohead, the Kinks and the Cure leaned to play.

FunFact: 16 of the top 25 were written in the U.S. and seven in the U.K.

FunFact #2: The majority were recorded in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, only seven in the past 20 years.

The complete results follow.

    Top 25 Guitar Riffs of All Time

    1 Smoke On The Water — Deep Purple (1973)

    2 Smells Like Teen Spirit — Nirvana (1991)

    3 Walk This Way — Aerosmith (1975)

    4 Purple Haze — Jimi Hendrix (1967)

    5 Sweet Child O Mine — Guns N Roses (1987)

    6 Paradise City — Guns N Roses (1987)

    7 Ace Of Spades — Motorhead (1980)

    8 Enter Sandman — Metallica (1991)

    9 Under The Bridge — Red Hot Chilli Peppers (1992)

    10 Welcome To The Jungle — Guns N Roses (1987)

    11 Run To The Hills — Iron Maiden (1982)

    12 Walk — Pantera (1992)

    13 Johnny B Goode — Chuck Berry (1958)

    14 Back In Black — AC/DC (1980)

    15 Immigrant Song — Led Zeppelin (1970)

    16 Wake Up — Rage Against The Machine (1992)

    17 Highway to Hell — AC/DC (1979)

    18 My Generation — The Who (1965)

    19 7 Nation Army — The White Stripes (2003)

    20 Born To Be Wild — Steppenwolf (1968)

    21 Give It Away — Red Hot Chilli Peppers (1991)

    22 Paranoid — Black Sabbath (1970)

    23 Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) — Jimi Hendrix (1967)

    24 Eye Of The Tiger — Survivor (1982)

    25 Money For Nothing — Dire Straits (1984)

April 5, 2008 at 12:01 PM | Permalink


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Comments

Oh, well

Posted by: teg | Apr 6, 2008 7:20:07 AM

Excuse me; What happened to Alvin Lee "Ten Years After"? http://youtube.com/watch?v=tHw9b4BBV9Y

Posted by: wistrade | Apr 5, 2008 10:26:59 PM

What?!! No Van Halen?

Posted by: Rob O. | Apr 5, 2008 10:25:50 PM

No Santana? No Clapton? No way!

Posted by: 6.02*10^23 | Apr 5, 2008 8:29:28 PM

Pantera's 'Walk' riff over Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B Goode'? Jimi Hendrix's 'Voodoo Chile' at the lowly # 23 position? This 'list' isn't even legitimate in any way. It looks like it was created by a Guns 'n' Roses fan.

Posted by: Jenn | Apr 5, 2008 12:59:13 PM

The opening riff on this tune had a pretty huge impact:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArxmEglKMU0

If you don't believe me, read this:

http://www.acousticguitar.com/issues/ag92/everlybros.shtml

Posted by: Flautist | Apr 5, 2008 12:41:35 PM

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