Collaboration between Isak Pickel and Ashlyn Taylor

There is a lot of music out there, especially music that highlights a solid guitar riff. Most of us can instantly think of one or two of them, especially from the 70’s or 80’s, where Ozzy Osbourne built his career on great songs with even better guitar riffs. Wherever your mind might go when you think of the best guitar riff of all time, we compiled a list of our personal favorites throughout the decades.

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1959: SLEEP WALK BY SANTO & JOHNNY

Santo and Johnny provide us with one of the first heart-wrenching guitar features in a song. From the year 1959, this song has a strong emotional pull and it doesn’t have any lyrics. It’s an all-instrumental classic that I’d imagine you’d slow dance to during wartime.

1966: PAINT IT, BLACK BY THE ROLLING STONES

With another instant classic intro followed by that four-beat count-off snare, we know we are all in for a ride. Interestingly, this riff is also paired with the sitar to make create more of a dissonant atmosphere that opens up the whole song. To this day it is easily one of the most recognized rock songs.

1968: ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER BY JIMI HENDRIX

Of course, no “top ten guitar licks/solos/riffs” list is ever complete without the mention of Jimi Hendrix. He is simply a guitar god. This song was originally a folk song by Bob Dylan and Hendrix maximized what he could do on the electric guitar to it. From the intro to the guitar solo in towards the end, we knew it was this song to capture all-around excellent contextual playing from a legend.

1971: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN BY LED ZEPPELIN

Ah yes. As to what some of us guitar players and other musicians refer this song to as the ‘forbidden riff’ because it is often played in guitar stores nationwide, there is no doubt that it belongs on this list. Another guitar legend, Jimmy Page is responsible for melting our faces from the very beginning with a beautiful acoustic walk down. It is however when the solo hits that we are transported to HIS song. Page does that bend we’re all familiar with reaches the climax in a song that has been building for six minutes. I know that timestamp just to let me know when to crank that volume dial.

1971: MAGGOT BRAIN BY FUNKADELIC

Alright, this song is just a simple progression in 6/8 that will blow your mind with what the guitarist, Eddie Hazel can do. If you are in the mood to just listen to a jam for 10 minutes, look no further. In addition to technical playing, I love listening to what Hazel does with his effects at a time that effects were still in the pioneer days. Guitarists were still toying with what they could accomplish musically with them. One more thing, this song is incredible for the headphone experience.

1973: MONEY BY PINK FLOYD

All of the psychedelic fans rise up here. The godfather of all psychedelic guitar tones, David Gilmour had arrived. He is amazing at creating simple licks for the verses in this song because most of this song really highlights the bass. The whole song is in 7/4 which is interesting and stays like this until we get to the guitar solo which hits hard with the 4/4. I think this section of the song is one of my favorite Pink Floyd moments for sure.

1976: HOTEL CALIFORNIA BY EAGLES

Everybody and their Grandpa knows this song. Arguably one of the best storytelling songs of all time, this is an intoxicating 6:31 seconds. The country-rock hippie hangover adventure the Eagles take you through is brought together by a guitar riff that literally sends a shiver down your spine, and makes the hair on your arms stand up. Hotel California screams backyard BBQ in the middle of the summer, and this song playing as the sun sets. This song brings more people together than most other songs could ever hope to accomplish.

1980: ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST BY QUEEN

There are few songs that you can identify from the first note, but this is one of those songs. Sure, it’s simple, but goddamn is it effective. This song makes you bop your head along to it, and Freddie Mercury simply adds to the charm of the song. A staple of sporting events, Another One Bites The Dust is easily one of the best examples of doing just enough and not over complicating something so perfect to begin with. 

1982: NUMBER OF THE BEAST BY IRON MAIDEN

First things first, we have to address the spoken word at the beginning of this song, as its being read directly from Revelations 12:12 and 13:18. Following the spoken word, you’re hit with a killer riff and Bruce Dickinson’s unique voice. This is a staple song for dads who grew up in the 80’s, and it has aged incredibly well. This is a rock anthem that stands out amongst the rest, and makes you want to scream the lyrics going 75 on the highway. By far some of the best work by Iron Maiden, and one of their best.

1984: HOT FOR TEACHER BY VAN HALEN

You have a lot of things going for this song in the intro alone: an idle car sample, which blends perfectly into a drum solo, and then you’re introduced to the absolutely impressive work of Eddie Van Halen. If there is any intro that should leave you speechless, its this one. After all the energy going into the first minute, you have the guitar riff that we all know incredibly well (and David Lee Roth speaking). Van Halen is for everybody, Van Halen is a rock band everybody should know, Van Halen is who every rock group should look up to, and in simple terms, Van fucking Halen absolutely kills it.

1984: ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE BY SCORPIONS

From the intro, we know this song does indeed has some serious balls on the guitar. This is also the first song mentioned here that features two guitar parts. Scorpions are a great example of a band that has two excellent guitarists that have different styles to come together and make something great. While the solo is being shredded, the rhythm guitarist is there keeping the structure along with the bass and drums. Speaking of the guitar solo… It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s got everything you want in an 80s glam metal solo with the fast legato licks, pick scrapes, and of course that 80s distortion sound.

1988: I HATE MYSELF FOR LOVING YOU BY JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS

If there was any artist we had a hard time picking the “best” guitar riff from, it would be Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. Between I Hate Myself for Loving You and I love Rock ‘N Roll, we had to go with the track that you could ID solely on the guitar alone. The guitar is the leader of this song, and everything else is simply a follower. Not only is Joan Jett one of the most badass women in the rock industry, but this song was Top 40 for a good reason, and the guitar really aids in that. 

1991: COME AS YOU ARE BY NIRVANA

It’s heavy, it’s comforting and it’s haunting all at the same time. Kurt Cobain keeps his chorus pedal on to create that ‘grunge sound’ and this song is a perfect example of a grunge riff as well as structure. The verses are soft and the chorus just slams your ears with everything they’ve got. Just a great song overall and is one of the easier songs to learn on guitar I’d say, especially from Nirvana.

1991: NO MORE TEARS BY OZZY OSBOURNE

In light of recent news that Ozzy just made a statement that he will never tour again, I wanted to put one of my favorite songs of his here. Guitarist Zakk Wylde is featured many times throughout this track most notably in the beginning and parts 1 and 2 of his solo. Zakk Wylde is known to have his own tone and it shines through in the first part of his solo and it transitions to another solo which doesn’t happen a whole lot.

1992: THEM BONES BY ALICE IN CHAINS

The best thing about Them Bones is that you are brought right into the guitar with no hesitation. This is heavy in the perfect way, and there’s no doubt that Alice In Chains is one of the best bands that emerged from Seattle, but their ability to push limits, make an incredibly impressive discography, and produce songs such as Them Bones, is alone to solidify their influence on grunge. If you aren’t listening to the riff in this with your mouth gaped open out of what you had just heard (because its that good), you’re doing it wrong.

1996: BULLS ON PARADE RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

I’ll take “what noise just came out of that guitar” for 800 please. 

Listening to this song for the first time was a defining moment for me, where everything had changed, and my ears were really at the mercy of Tom Morello. I’ve played only the first 30 seconds of this song, and gone back to the beginning just to hear it again (x10). Impressive is the best way to describe Bulls on Parade, just because of how many people are impressed by this track. Rage has a great discography, but if anything of theirs had to stand out, it’s this one just because of that funky shit Morello is doing with his guitar throughout the entire runtime. You don’t have to be a rock fan to enjoy this song by any-means, it’s got a little something for everybody. 

1997: SYMPHONY OF DESTRUCTION BY MEGADETH

This song lives up to its name. We’re really all at the hand of Dave Mustaine as he does orchestrate this Symphony of Destruction. Megadeth is constantly showing off in their songs, but the standout feature of this song is how the guitar is able to stand out amongst the rest. There are a lot of really good things to say about this, but if I were to play the guitar riff for my dad, he would instantly know who this is. Great all around, even better for air-guitar. 

2003: REPTILIA BY THE STROKES

Representing indie rock here with one of my favorite cleaner-toned solos. In addition to that though the riff throughout the whole song is interesting. It’s very simple, the notes go down and repeat the pattern but go up those same notes. This makes the song more upbeat but also makes those guitar breaks and chorus more pronounced. It’s also just a fun song to listen to as it makes you want to move but you can also just chill and relax to it.

2007: BRIANSTORM BY ARCTIC MONKEYS

I could go on for paragraphs and pages about how much I love this song, and how it’s arguably the best Arctic Monkeys song of all time, but I’ll spare you the details. It’s impossible to listen to Brianstorm and not think at least once “wow, that sounds hard to do”. The pure awe of the guitar throughout this song is enough to leave you impressed, and it’s by far one of the best from the past 20 years. I could talk about how great the lyrics are to this as well, but the guitar is really the defining feature here.

2007: ICKY THUMP BY THE WHITE STRIPES

Icky Thump is another one of those songs that bring you in just from the intro alone. You have a consistent drum beat going throughout the entire song, but the guitar on this one is the one to crown. The White Stripes is full of songs where Jack White really takes the driver’s seat with the guitar, but Icky Thump just stands out from the rest. Right near the end is really where you just get a minute between yourself and guitar. Is it different? Yeah! Is it something you can’t forget? Absolutely.