GN'R on the list of greatest guitar riffs as chosen by London Tech Music School

[jarmo]

Doo doo doo: "Smoke on the Water" still top riff

LONDON (Reuters) - Deep Purple's 1973 hit "Smoke on the Water" is the greatest guitar riff of all time, according to a poll by a London music school that has taught members of top bands like Radiohead, The Kinks and The Cure.


The majority of the 25 songs selected by current students of the London Tech Music School, were recorded in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Only seven were recorded in the last 20 years.

"It was the iconic era for the electric guitar." head of the school's Guitar and Bass section John Wheatcroft told Reuters.

"A lot of our students started listening to their parents records and discovered these bands through them."

The most recent song selected was "7 Nation Army" recorded by American rock duo The White Stripes in 2003.

But Wheatcroft does not believe this spells the end of modern music.

"The great riffs can simply be the ones that withstood the test of time." he said. "It might just be a question of waiting till the dust settles and in 10 years time it could be completely different."

Other songs include "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix (1967), "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith (1975) and "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits (1984).

A list of the top songs chosen follows:

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 Be 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)

Reuters/Nielsen

[HBK]

Excelent, Congratulations... AXL, GNR & Ex.Gunners.

Thanz J.

 

HBK *

[freedom78]

Nirvana.

*Sigh*


Back in Black should be higher.  That's a legendary riff.

Great that there are THREE GNR songs in the top ten.  Just goes to show how amazing that album was.

[Smoking Guns]

Smells like Teen spirit isn't really even a hook or a riff, that song seems pushed more by the drums if anything, so it should be elimitated for that. 

I love the red hot chilli peppers, but they shouldn't be on that list either.

[ty182]

"always on the run" -kravitz/slash
I think that songs got a pretty groovy riff.

Anyways, the mass number of polls they do these days kind of invalidates the results, in my mind. So many different companies/websites/organizations run polls that come out with such different results.

[Atillla]

LONDON (Reuters) -

 selected by current students of the London Tech Music School

Obviously on that rubbish school they don't teach them the difference between riffs and licks/chord-progressions.

Half of the stuff on the list has no riffs in them 

[ForeverGNR]

"12. Walk - Pantera (1992)"

Hell yeah!!! 

[EagleDiver182]

I love the red hot chilli peppers, but they shouldn't be on that list either.

Yeah totally,  where is the riff in that song?? i mean you could look at the entire list and agree there is some riff there but under the bridge??? thats a mistake...

[freedom78]

"12. Walk - Pantera (1992)"

Hell yeah!!! 

Yeah.  That and Back in Black are both just KILLER groove riffs.

[Smoking Guns]

"12. Walk - Pantera (1992)"

Hell yeah!!! 

Yeah.  That and Back in Black are both just KILLER groove riffs.

Exactly!!!!  A killer riff like those push the songs.  Not the vocals, not the drums, but the guitar.  The Riff in Smells like Teen Spirit does't push shit, the drums and vocals do. 

[Verse Chorus Verse]

Fucking Nirvana? Why are they always at the top of these lists? Dave Grohl is a better singer/guitarist than Cobain evr could've been, and he was a drummer. These lists mean nothing.

[ppbebe]

3 gnr songs in the top 10 is something.

smoke on the water smells like teen spirit

I always find the opening riff of  Doo doo doooo, doo do do doo  comical.

[GNRfan2008]

Teen Spirit's opening riff kicks ass, so I don't understand the hate. But I do think Paradise City and Sweet Child are just as good, if not better than the Teen Spirit riff. They are CERTAINLY better songs overall. Teen Spirit's a ridiculously simple song overall. I think Johnny B. Goode is too low on that list. Chuck Berry had a big influence on every guitarist that came after him and that riff is legendary. And wait a sec. Why the hell is Immigrant Song on there but "Heartbreaker," "Whole Lotta Love," "The Ocean," "Black Dog" and "Kashmir" are missing? Those riffs are INCREDIBLE and probably better than Immigrant Song (which is great of course). Zeppelin had too many good riffs to only be listed once on there.

[freedom78]

Teen Spirit's opening riff kicks ass, so I don't understand the hate. But I do think Paradise City and Sweet Child are just as good, if not better than the Teen Spirit riff. They are CERTAINLY better songs overall. Teen Spirit's a ridiculously simple song overall. I think Johnny B. Goode is too low on that list. Chuck Berry had a big influence on every guitarist that came after him and that riff is legendary. And wait a sec. Why the hell is Immigrant Song on there but "Heartbreaker," "Whole Lotta Love," "The Ocean," "Black Dog" and "Kashmir" are missing? Those riffs are INCREDIBLE and probably better than Immigrant Song (which is great of course). Zeppelin had too many good riffs to only be listed once on there.

The riff is fine, but it's not the second best ever.  It's the typical Nirvana suck up near the top of an otherwise decent (or generally awful, if we're talking Rolling Stone) list.

And I agree on "Whole Lotta Love."  Simple, but classic.

[GNRfan2008]

OK well I do agree there. Teen Spirit is nowhere near being the second best ever. And I think you could easily argue that "Dream On" should be on that list instead of "Walk This Way," and certainly that none of Aerosmith's work is deserving of being 4th on a riffs list. And where the eff are the Stones? "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Satisfaction," "Honky Tonk Women," "Brown Sugar," "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," "Start Me Up," etc. What the hell? The list is just bad altogether. LOL.

[Atillla]

Just like all polls/awards, it never is about quality... it's just a popularity contest among the ones who are voting, nothing more 

And Smells like Teen Spirit's main chords is not a riff, get with the program folks 

There is only a riff in the short break after the chorus, before and after Cobain duplicates the guitar... moaning... aaaaahhh... there you will find a riff.

SCOM opening is not a riff either... it's a lick 

[Genesis]

If they are going to put SLTS by Nirvana in there, they should rename the list as the most 'popular' riffs and not the 'greatest' riffs of all time.

[Nighteyes]

what's the difference between a riff a lick and a chord progression? Know nothing about that but reading this made me curious. 

[Genesis]

And Smells like Teen Spirit's main chords is not a riff, get with the program folks 

The 4 chord progression at the start of the song can be considered to be a riff. Riffs can contain chord progressions.

what's the difference between a riff a lick and a chord progression? Know nothing about that but reading this made me curious. 

A chord progression is simply a series of chords played one after the other. All songs have chord progressions.

A riff is a catchy repeated tune or chord progression,  that forms the basis for a song.

A lick is a series of notes that make a short solo or melodic pattern. The difference between a lick and a riff is that riffs can contain chord progressions while licks are always composed of individual notes.

Example:

Taking SCOM as an example:

The basic chord progression over the vocals is: D -> C -> G.

The intro to SCOM is a riff, the first two bars of which are also repeated during the chorus.

If you break down the solo, they are made of individual licks and 'stitched together'.

[fuckin crazy]

Not a bad list.

And I think you could easily argue that "Dream On" should be on that list instead

Dream On? Really? I think that is one of the worst songs that band ever did. Hell, I saw them booed off a stage when they started playing it years ago at a show. Most hard core rockers in the mid 70s considered it a pop diddy.