Best riff of all time

[idssdi]

Total guitar is doing an issue on greatest riffs and you can vote for it in case you feel like it. I personally have issued a vote for Paradigm because I love that riff

They do have a one riff per artist policy tho so unfortunately that's like a boundary condition

The 50 greatest guitar riffs of all time

From metal to rock, punk to grunge, these are the best guitar riffs ever recorded, as voted for by you

www.guitarworld.com

 

[Dominik Gräber]

That was a hard one!
The ones that especially caught me were
Slipknot - Psychosocial (c'mon, no explanation needed)
'Tallica - Enter Sandman (not the most techy riff but sooo iconic)
John Mayer - Neon (genius riff, but I wouldn't say it has what the greatest riff needs)

However, I went with Polyphia - GOAT. Although a couple of bands do that style right now, this riff is iconic, fresh and an instant classic.

 

[Edward John]

Total guitar is doing an issue on greatest riffs and you can vote for it in case you feel like it. I personally have issued a vote for Paradigm because I love that riff

They do have a one riff per artist policy tho so unfortunately that's like a boundary condition

The 50 greatest guitar riffs of all time

From metal to rock, punk to grunge, these are the best guitar riffs ever recorded, as voted for by you

www.guitarworld.com

Really Total Guitar? They honestly put Rammstein's Deutschland on their greatest ever riff selection? WTF.

 

[idssdi]

Really Total Guitar? They honestly put Rammstein's Deutschland on their greatest ever riff selection? WTF.

Then don't vote for it

 

[Edward John]

Then don't vote for it

I certainly won't. I found it odd that someone would even suggest that riff. Its not even the best Rammstein riff.

 

[idssdi]

I certainly won't. I found it odd that someone would even suggest that riff. Its not even the best Rammstein riff.

Maybe other people think differently about that

I mean in the end it's all just taste and there's probably a reason they chose that one

 

[Alicia Willis]

Sooo glad they let you choose more than one in this round ! Of course I chose Layla, La Grange, Entersandman, and Ironman....and even wrote in some A7X

You really cannot say what is or is not the “best” but I personally find these things fun to participate in. Thanks for sharing ids !

 

[Daniel Sobota]

Maybe other people think differently about that

I mean in the end it's all just taste and there's probably a reason they chose that one

They probably got paid by labels to throw some of those picks in there. In no way is Greta Van Fleet a contender for having the greatest riff ever (plus they already had Led Zeppelin in the list anyway).

But these things are stupid imo. There isn't an arguably best riff ever. My favorite riff ever is I Am the Black Wizards by Emperor and I can't argue it's objectively better than any classic rock/metal riff you can name.

 

[idssdi]

Sooo glad they let you choose more than one in this round ! Of course I chose Layla, La Grange, Entersandman, and Ironman....and even wrote in some A7X

Same here! I hate it when they only give on pick for these

I mean gotta represent your favourites isn't it

 

[Adin Shepherd]

Enter Sandman? Symphony Of Destruction? Some of the 'best' riffs they have listed are not even the best on their respective albums, let alone the best each band has on offer. It's almost as if they just picked a bunch of bands and wrote their most commercially popular song next to it.

 

[Alicia Willis]

Enter Sandman? Symphony Of Destruction? Some of the 'best' riffs they have listed are not even the best on their respective albums, let alone the best each band has on offer. It's almost as if they just picked a bunch of bands and wrote their most commercially popular song next to it.

I think that’s kind of the point. I could be missing the mark, but i think a lot of times when magazines or websites put out these “best” categories they do choose things that are commercially popular. I think often times “best” isn’t used in the sense of most technical but rather most memorable. Just my take.

 

[Muz Malek]

I think that’s kind of the point. I could be missing the mark, but i think a lot of times when magazines or websites put out these “best” categories they do choose things that are commercially popular. I think often times “best” isn’t used in the sense of most technical but rather most memorable. Just my take.

I'd personally say the word "Best" is really...not right. They could even try to use "Most popular" or "Most groovy", but it can never, I repeat, never be defined as the top or the best, simply because music by itself is purely, purely subjective - and that's the beauty of it.

For example, 2 people may like A7X as a band, but one may prefer CoE over Self-Titled. Or even, both may like Self-Titled, but one likes Afterlife, the other likes A Little Piece of Heaven. The debate can go on forever, hence, "commercially popular" is the closest one can get to just a mutually agreed conclusion since they're liked by majority based on statistics like most streamed, most sales made, etc. hahaha

There can never be a day someone agrees with another party over what is really the best music or artist. I find people pointlessly arguing why this band is better than the other, why this song is better than the other.

There really is no point in arguing, at the end of the day.

 

[Alicia Willis]

I'd personally say the word "Best" is really...not right. They could even try to use "Most popular" or "Most groovy", but it can never, I repeat, never be defined as the top or the best, simply because music by itself is purely, purely subjective - and that's the beauty of it.

For example, 2 people may like A7X as a band, but one may prefer CoE over Self-Titled. Or even, both may like Self-Titled, but one likes Afterlife, the other likes A Little Piece of Heaven. The debate can go on forever, hence, "commercially popular" is the closest one can get to just a mutually agreed conclusion hahaha

There can never be a day someone agrees with another party over what is really the best music or artist. I find people pointlessly arguing why this band is better than the other, why this song is better than the other.

There really is no point in arguing, at the end of the day.

You hit the nail on the head my friend !

 

[Forgetabull]

0 3 5




/troll

 

[idssdi]

I'd personally say the word "Best" is really...not right. They could even try to use "Most popular" or "Most groovy", but it can never, I repeat, never be defined as the top or the best, simply because music by itself is purely, purely subjective - and that's the beauty of it.

For example, 2 people may like A7X as a band, but one may prefer CoE over Self-Titled. Or even, both may like Self-Titled, but one likes Afterlife, the other likes A Little Piece of Heaven. The debate can go on forever, hence, "commercially popular" is the closest one can get to just a mutually agreed conclusion since they're liked by majority based on statistics like most streamed, most sales made, etc. hahaha

There can never be a day someone agrees with another party over what is really the best music or artist. I find people pointlessly arguing why this band is better than the other, why this song is better than the other.

There really is no point in arguing, at the end of the day.

In all honesty, there are Definetely artist you can say are objectively the best. The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson and metallica to name a few. I mean The Beatles for their role in music history and how they revolutionized music, jimi Hendrix for how he revolutionized guitar playing and MJ is the king of pop you know. Metallica had such an important role in metal that you can't deny how great they are even if you don't like them.

Does this mean your own personal taste has to align with this? Hell no. I mean I happen to agree with The Beatles part but I prefer listening to Syn over jimi Hendrix so for me Syn's one of the greatest guitar players of all time and I don't even like Metallica but I would be a fool to deny their impact on music history. It's just a matter whether the argument is stated as '... Is the greatest of all time' and 'for me ... Is the greatest of all time'. The is statement is only valid for a select group of artists but the for me statement is valid for all of them.

If somebody says jimi hendrix is the greatest guitarist I'm really not gonna argue because I totally get it. If somebody says metallica is the greatest metal band I'm also not gonna argue because it is understandable. At the same time my personal favourite guitarists of all time are Syn, John Mayer, SRV, Django Reinhardt and George Harrison and my favourite metal band of all time is Avenged sevenfold so doesn't really correspond to that at all.

I sincerely believe it's possible to get to an objectively greatest artists of all time but for that the artist had to stand the test of time and IMHO also have had a certain impact on music history. Your personal taste doesn't have to agree with it but that doesn't deny how great their music is. I also do believe if something is commercial succesful and stands the test of time it tells you a lot about quality. I mean Abbey Road went number 1 in 2019 50 years after its original release, if that isn't a sign it's objectively an amazing record then I don't know what is even if you don't like it so much.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

They probably got paid by labels to throw some of those picks in there. In no way is Greta Van Fleet a contender for having the greatest riff ever (plus they already had Led Zeppelin in the list anyway).

But these things are stupid imo. There isn't an arguably best riff ever. My favorite riff ever is I Am the Black Wizards by Emperor and I can't argue it's objectively better than any classic rock/metal riff you can name.

It's a popularity contest really. Man in the box isn't even really a riff.. lol I mean it is but it's a simple chug. They easily could have went with something off dirt which is more memorial to a hardcord fan. This contest is a casual riff/popular song contest which magazines are famous for. They really just want the click due to theb38383884 adds before thr page. (I had to hit back 3 times to get through the adds to get back to thr schools site).

Cause of that I won't vote here. I have a hard time doing these because it's always the most popular bands that win for songs that aren't even catchy in the way the contest says. But im also not a casual fan.

I think that's the point Edward.was getting at. I don't bother with any magazine votes really. Always the same band winning. (Alter bridge or korn). And half the time they arent even in the right category. Just voted cause they are there. (Put in rock metal even punk lists).

 

[Muz Malek]

In all honesty, there are Definetely artist you can say are objectively the best. The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson and metallica to name a few. I mean The Beatles for their role in music history and how they revolutionized music, jimi Hendrix for how he revolutionized guitar playing and MJ is the king of pop you know. Metallica had such an important role in metal that you can't deny how great they are even if you don't like them.

Does this mean your own personal taste has to align with this? Hell no. I mean I happen to agree with The Beatles part but I prefer listening to Syn over jimi Hendrix so for me Syn's one of the greatest guitar players of all time and I don't even like Metallica but I would be a fool to deny their impact on music history. It's just a matter whether the argument is stated as '... Is the greatest of all time' and 'for me ... Is the greatest of all time'. The is statement is only valid for a select group of artists but the for me statement is valid for all of them.

If somebody says jimi hendrix is the greatest guitarist I'm really not gonna argue because I totally get it. If somebody says metallica is the greatest metal band I'm also not gonna argue because it is understandable. At the same time my personal favourite guitarists of all time are Syn, John Mayer, SRV, Django Reinhardt and George Harrison and my favourite metal band of all time is Avenged sevenfold so doesn't really correspond to that at all.

I sincerely believe it's possible to get to an objectively greatest artists of all time but for that the artist had to stand the test of time and IMHO also have had a certain impact on music history. Your personal taste doesn't have to agree with it but that doesn't deny how great their music is. I also do believe if something is commercial succesful and stands the test of time it tells you a lot about quality. I mean Abbey Road went number 1 in 2019 50 years after its original release, if that isn't a sign it's objectively an amazing record then I don't know what is even if you don't like it so much.

Agreed. So all in all, objective and/or commercially popular. If there's a need to compare, gotta compare objectively.

In fact, that's how life works x) Some things are the best for us, but not in the eyes of others. Everything's gotta be discussed in context to be/stay relevant. Not everything can easily be "generalized".

 

[marc2000z]

Hmm.. the best guitar riff of all time is a hard one to answer, but off the top of my head, I'll go with Burn by Deep Purple. I've been in Deep Purple mood these last few days and haven't fully appreciated them until now (recommended albums to listen to: In Rock, Burn, Stormbringer, Perfect Strangers)

 

[Kim]

Children of Bodom, are you dead yet, that just came up when reading this topic, love that riff, voted for it