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Greatest Riffs of All Time

Ernest Buckley

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MikeRivers Newbie

MikeRivers

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I just realized that we have been offering plenty
examples
of riffs, without answering EB's question of what makes those riffs great and memorable?

 

What makes it memorable is . . . well . . . that you remember it. It's just so infectious that you hear it in your head when you aren't even thinking about it, and you hear its essential elements in other songs (whether it's actually there or not). The take-off in Dust My Broom that I suggested as one that would qualify as one of the Greatest Riffs is like that. It keeps showing up. And it's really easy to play.

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cooterbrown Newbie

cooterbrown

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What makes it memorable is . . . well . . . that you remember it. It's just so infectious that you hear it in your head when you aren't even thinking about it, and you hear its essential elements in other songs (whether it's actually there or not). The take-off in Dust My Broom that I suggested as one that would qualify as one of the Greatest Riffs is like that. It keeps showing up. And it's really easy to play.

 

 

The first time I ever tried playing slide, I tuned to open D and went at it. It is a great riff.

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n9ne Newbie

n9ne

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Crazy Train defintely deserves a spot on the list.

A guy I know played in a band that opened for Ted Nugent a few years ago. They were hanging out with Ted before the show talking about music, and Ted told him, "Man, I'll tell you what....if you can come up with a riff that kicks more ass than Stranglehold, I'll suck your dick right here."


Ted may not be the most delicate or humble individual....but it's hard to argue against his point. :)

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MikeRivers Newbie

MikeRivers

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There's only one really great riff - from Elmore James' "Dust My Broom." It's everywhere.


So good that Robert Johnson covered it 25 years earlier.

 

Maybe. But Elmore James made it electric and made it famous. No controversy about that. It's like another riff where you hum a couple of bars and ask someone what it is. More people will say "The Lone Ranger" than "William Tell Overture." Except with that one, there's no controversy about which one came first.

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Ernest Buckley Newbie

Ernest Buckley

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Geez, I started the thread and haven`t checked in since... I was asking what makes a riff a monster riff. I think its funny how everyone picks stuff that was most likely from their youth. For example, if you grew up in the `60s, you most likely went with The Beatles or Sabbath. The 70s child went with Zep, me from the `90s went with Metallica and yes stranger, I was being serious. :D

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Cry Logic Newbie

Cry Logic

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Geez, I started the thread and haven`t checked in since... I was asking what makes a riff a monster riff. I think its funny how everyone picks stuff that was most likely from their youth. For example, if you grew up in the `60s, you most likely went with The Beatles or Sabbath. The 70s child went with Zep, me from the `90s went with Metallica and yes stranger, I was being serious.
:D



Your chronology is a bit confused.
Led Zeppelin came before Black Sabbath.
Zeppelin's first 2 albums were released in '69.
Sabbath's first 2 albums were released in 1970.

;)

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dparr Newbie

dparr

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Your chronology is a bit confused.

Led Zeppelin came before Black Sabbath.

Zeppelin's first 2 albums were released in '69.

Sabbath's first 2 albums were released in 1970.


;)



But..........Black Sabbath was formed in 1968 just like Led Zeppelin.

It just took BS a little longer to get an album out.

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Cry Logic Newbie

Cry Logic

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Yeah, you would know more than me... wasn`t born yet.

:poke:

Thanks for clarifying.
;)



Cheeky young whippersnapper. ;)

Now you've got me all nostalgic! :love:

Seriously though it's hard to convey now just how
exciting it was being a teenager as those bands
were coming up.

The 1st Zeppelin song I heard was "How Many More Times"
On the radio.
The main riff was a revelation because of it's "unusual" syncopation.
By that stage ... I'd been playing guitar for a couple of years
and I picked up the Riff pretty quickly which impressed my
friends ... hehehe.

The 1st Sabbath song I heard was Paranoid.
It was on TV on the local Teen pop music show.
Blew me away.
Not long after that a mate brought the Album
around to my place and I can still remember
the feeling I had when War Pigs started up.
Total awe and fascination ... Just incredible.
We'd never heard anything like it ...so heavy and doom laden ...
... even heavier than Zeppelin!
And my parents hated it which made it a thousand times cooler!

I was gobsmacked to discover that Paranoid was
actually their 2nd Album!
I soon owned both Albums.
This is pre-CD of course ... we're talking vinyl here.....
The price of an Album was around $3.50 AUD at the time.

Both Sabbath and Zeppelin came to Adelaide.

Saw Sabbath twice .
First at the Myponga Festival :January 1971
so I would've been 17 at the time.
Memory's a bit hazy but as I recall it was about $5.00 AUD
for the 2 day festival!
They came again in 1972 and played at the local basketball stadium.
I think it was around $3.00 AUD!

I saw Zeppelin on Feb 19 1972 at Memorial Drive ... cost $4.50 AUD !!!
About the same price it took to fill my EH Holden Panel Van with petrol!

There's actually audio from that very gig up on Youtube!
The quality is shockingly bad but it captures the vibe on the night.

[YOUTUBE]Bualu_AReL8[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]BDtMEhBf03E[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]mfTRAGTCDec[/YOUTUBE]

Led Zeppelin Since I've Been Loving You, 1972-02-19 Adelaide
[YOUTUBE]Wh0Rerl_qlA[/YOUTUBE]

I was there!

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Cry Logic Newbie

Cry Logic

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But..........Black Sabbath was formed in 1968 just like Led Zeppelin.

It just took BS a little longer to get an album out.

 

 

If you can believe Wikipedia, they didn't actually change their name to

Black Sabbath till August 1969.

Their 1st single, "evil Woman" was released in December 1969.

1st album "Black Sabbath" was recorded in January 1970 and

released in February 1970.

 

Whereas Zeppelin already had 2 albums out by October '69.

And had actually started playing as Led Zeppelin in 1968.

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