Money for Nothing and no Sultans of Swing? WTF is this shiat?

SilentStrider: Needs Tom Sawyer though.

Or maybe Spirit of the Radio.

List had some good tunes on it.

I think these riffs deserve a mention in a Top 50:

Hocus Pocus by Focus
Cities on Flame by Blue Oyster Cult
Red by King Crimson

Rev.K: As much as Raining Blood rules, the most iconic Slayer riff of all-time will always be the midsection of Angel of Death.

Word.

GAT_00: Money for Nothing and no Sultans of Swing? WTF is this shiat?

That and no ZZ Topp

CitizenTed: Cities on Flame by Blue Oyster Cult

Godzilla > Cities on Flame. Well, Astronomy trumps both of them, but there's no killer riff in Astronomy.

FredaDeStilleto: GAT_00: Money for Nothing and no Sultans of Swing? WTF is this shiat?

That and no ZZ Topp

I'd also say Eliminator > La Grange, but I think I'm in the minority there

FirstNationalBastard: You miss "Sharp Dressed Man" at #35?

Bah.

Did Sultans of Swing really have a memorable riff?

The whole damn song should count as a memorable riff. There is no point as memorable as the opening riff to Money for Nothing, so you may have a point.

#1 being "Satisfaction" was completely predictable, though.

Yeah. I can't stand that song anymore. It's the same damn lick played 75 times with a guy ranting over it. That qualifies as a song?

Sharp Dressed Man and Eliminator are good. But La Grange has something special about it for me.

Even with Marc Bolan, I would rate Jeepster as the better song.

No Zeppelin, 20th century Schizoid man, while my guitar gently weeps or pantera.

But voodoo child was #2, so it's not all bad.

Iranoobie: No Zeppelin, 20th century Schizoid man, while my guitar gently weeps or pantera.

But voodoo child was #2, so it's not all bad.

Heartbreaker #4

Picking the best Jimmy Page riff is a lot like picking the best sexual position: You can make a convincing argument for most of them. Some involve more technique and manual dexterity ('Black Dog'), while others involve sheer power ('Kashmir'), but they all leave you tired and happy. We're going with Led Zeppelin's 'Heartbreaker' because, well, we had to pick one, and it kicks copious amounts of ass.

Well said.

Immigrant Song > Heartbreaker

/wake up to Immigrant Song every. morning. Like kicking off the day with a shot of gasoline.

Oh, and Money deserves to be on there. I never liked the song all that much because it was overplayed on the radio when I was a kid, but lately I have come to realize that Gilmour is just spectacular on it.

I also prefer the lick from I Disappear over Enter Sandman, but I won't quibble over that too much.

Godscrack: vernonFL: Its funny that many aren't difficult to play at all, but they are classics.

I think that's what makes a good riff.

So simple, it has musicians saying "Hell, anyone can play that" or 'Hell that's easy, why didn't I think of that?"

A really good example of that is Cinnamon Girl.

SilentStrider: That list is actually not bad. I was expecting hipster fail, and it turned out to be a competent list.


Needs Tom Sawyer Limelight though.

FTFY


/ "Sweet Child o' Mine" is a poorly disguised "Xanadu"

Sharp Dressed Man over La Grange? Everyone knows the riff to La Grange.

And I think the Cowgirl in the Sand riff is better than Cinnamon Girl - and if I thought about it there are a lot better NY songs than either of those(Down by the River and others come to mind). But I think part of being on this list is uber-popular/common. So you have to pick tunes that a director, making a pop culture movie that wants to provide touchstones for the the audience, might pick.

So in that sense, LaGrange makes a lot more sense.

"Know Your Enemy" is a much better riff than "Killing in the Name", but I guess it wasn't a single and wasn't known as well. But shiat, "Bulls on Parade" is a better riff, too, and that was a big song too.

Rev.K: As much as Raining Blood rules, the most iconic Slayer riff of all-time will always be the midsection of Angel of Death.

Monarch to the kingdom of the dead?

For years I thought the Angel Of Death riff was originated by KMFDM...

///Still a great, great guitar piece.

elchip: "Know Your Enemy" is a much better riff than "Killing in the Name", but I guess it wasn't a single and wasn't known as well. But shiat, "Bulls on Parade" is a better riff, too, and that was a big song too.

Agreed. Still a decent list.

Not a bad list at all, there was only 1 or 2 that I couldn't call up from memory, and I remember trying to learn many of the licks listed when I was attempting to learn guitar.

I really liked this article. Just as I liked it the last thirty times I've read it over the last ten years.

Fairly inoffensive list... but nothing by the Fall? Come on!

Heh, surprisingly decent list. I would add Tool's "Jambi" one of the coolest odd time riffs, I think.

Enter Sandman for Metallica?

Give me Fade to Black, Sanitarium or One over Sandman any day.

Lists like this usually suck. And this one starts off with Pearl Jam which had me less than enthused. Pretty interesting after that, though. It is not perfect (no Marquee Moon), but they never are. But they have the good sense to include Joe Walsh twice and to exclude Rush. Pissing off Rush fans is always good for a laugh. BONUS: Not a slideshow + audio clips for every one.

List fails without Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell.

These lists are still unofficial, remember.

So many riffs out there and then added effects lead to other things.
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One thing leads to another.
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And then something different

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leads to something else.

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I suppose you could say that the iconic Bo Diddly sound is a "beat" and not a "riff," thereby making this list not a complete and utter mockery. That sound is the grandaddy of about 25% of all rock and roll.

SCUBA_Archer: Enter Sandman for Metallica?

Give me Fade to Black, Sanitarium or One over Sandman any day.

While those may be better songs, and your average metalhead would likely pick something like For Whom the Bell Tolls, or One as more iconic Metallica riffs, the article was going more by what your average Joe listening to some top 40 station will have heard. You have to admit, shiatloads more people know Enter Sandman than One or anything else before the black album.

I would put Muffin Man on there because it pulled me into the whole Zappa world.

Would add "Stone Cold Crazy" by Queen. Just sayin'.