Eddie Van Halen shows extraordinary guitar prowess in this song. When he solos, he throws in harmonics, divebombs and other musical flourishes that were quite simply unheard of at that point in heavy-rock history. But the song also owes much to bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Alex Van Halen, who keep it anchored firmly to the groove.
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The band, and especially guitarist extraordinaire ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott, were at the absolute peak of their powers when they released ‘Walk’. Based on a guitar riff that strolls inexorably forward, the song is so simple that it hurts. The drums and bass are locked into the riff with incredible precision, too.
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Perhaps the eighties scariest band, Guns N’ Roses billed themselves as ‘The Most Dangerous Band In The World’. ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, begins with a delayed guitar stutter before the bass and drums join in, and there’s a build-up to the key riff, which is reminiscent of The Sex Pistols.
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Outrageous Black Sabbath front man Ozzy Osbourne had a string of hits with the band before going solo in 1979. With the help of his future wife Sharon, Ozzy was soon part of a new solo band Blizzard Of Ozz, whose first track ‘Crazy Train’ was an instant hit with rock fans thanks to its catchy, hammered-on riff and incredibly fast solos.
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Ozzy Osbourne’s shriek at the beginning of Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ will send shivers down the spine of the most hardy music fan, with an unmissable riff it has since become an iconic heavy metal track. Black Sabbath’s blend of Ozzy’s vocal melodies and the band’s pioneering heavy metal riffs have firmly cemented their place in rock mythology!
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With their fifth album, Metallica moved away from the progressive thrash metal of their previous releases towards more simple, stripped-down grooves and riffs, with none exemplifying this new approach better than the opening song ‘Enter Sandman’. Although simple, Hammett’s riff was original enough to be the foundation of the song, which became a huge hit. Today no Metallica concert is complete without a pyrotechnic-studded rendition of this epic rift-ridden song!
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‘Paranoid’ is fast-paced and boasts a simple arrangement, making it incredibly catchy! Although Black Sabbath were the first true heavy metal band out of the blocks, their best-known song to this day is not really metallic at all. The secret of its appeal lies in Tony Iommi’s nifty three-note turnaround after each line, coupled with Geezer Butler’s bass fill.
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The opening riff to ‘Back in Black’ is pure genius – it’s a riff that everyone recognises and is instantly energised by. This applies to many of the riffs later in the song too: it’s a veritable cornucopia of catchiness distilled into a rock staple. The whole mid-section of the song, a clash of spiralling, duelling guitars, is solid evidence that whatever else AC/DC were, they were advanced musicians!
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Probably one of the most, if not the most recognisable guitar riffs in rock music history. The opening riff is played in two-string chords made up of root-plus-forth, rather than power chords made up of the usual root-plus-fifth. Its popularity has not ceased to grow in the entertainment industry, featuring on numerous movie soundtracks and covered by a plethora of groups.
this song at iTunes or Amazon. The official band site is here.
One of the longest songs to be featured as an album track on the LP of Iron Butterfly’s second album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, at 17 minutes it occupied the whole B-side of the record! The song itself was recorded unintentionally when the band sound-checked for studio engineer, Don Casale, in Long Island. When the band heard back what they had recorded they thought it good enough to grace the album!
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The Ultimate Rock Riffs