Which guitar riff reigns supreme? At guitarplayers.net, we’re diving into the age-old debate to definitively rank the most earth-shattering, head-banging, and unforgettable guitar riffs ever created. To settle this once and for all, we turned to the discerning ears of Guitar World readers, launching a comprehensive poll to capture their collective wisdom. Our starting point? A meticulously curated shortlist of our own top riffs – a list that proved harder to trim than we initially thought!
Despite imposing a strict “one riff per artist” rule, we still amassed a staggering 125 riffs. This meant agonizingly omitting classics like Paranoid and even Highway to Hell. One riff per band was the unwavering law. While we welcomed alternative suggestions, the overwhelming consensus from Guitar World’s knowledgeable readership largely validated our initial selections.
So, join us as we count down 50 of the most glorious riffs ever committed to record. We’ll delve into the stories behind these iconic hooks and hear insights from some of the guitarists who conjured them into existence.
Let’s get this riff party started…
50. Heir Apparent – Opeth (2008)
Opeth – Heir Apparent (Audio) – YouTube
Prog Metal Mastery from Sweden’s Titans
We launch our riff countdown with this progressive metal behemoth from Opeth’s death metal era. Heir Apparent, from the album Watershed, is a masterclass in complex songwriting and sonic aggression. While the entire track is brimming with intricate riffs, it’s the riff that explodes around the 2:30 mark that truly showcases Mikael Åkerfeldt’s unparalleled genius for crafting devastatingly heavy yet sophisticated guitar work.
This particular riff begins with crushing power chords starting from the 1st fret and moving to open position, creating a foundation of raw power. It then transitions into rapid-fire descending octave shapes higher up the neck, juxtaposed with palm-muted chromatic notes in the lower register. This interplay of contrasting elements creates a sense of controlled chaos and musical tension that is both mesmerizing and brutal. Fredrik Åkesson’s subsequent solo amplifies this chaos, featuring a dramatic blend of blues-infused bends and diminished runs, perfectly capturing the riff’s unsettling and dissonant character.
49. Ticket to Ride – The Beatles (1965)
The Beatles – Ticket To Ride – YouTube
Rickenbacker Chime and a Hint of India
Released in April 1965, Ticket to Ride became The Beatles’ seventh consecutive UK number one hit, instantly recognizable thanks to its iconic opening riff. This chiming motif, played with two fingers on a 12-string Rickenbacker 360/12 by George Harrison, is deceptively simple yet incredibly effective.
The arpeggiated riff, underpinned by repeating A chords and a low A drone, subtly hints at the Indian classical music that would increasingly influence the band’s sound in later years. Harrison’s Rickenbacker lends an ethereal, slightly bright and ringing quality to the riff. The staggered phrasing, incorporating a quarter-note triplet at the end of the main phrase, adds to the song’s laid-back, yet subtly complex, 60s vibe, making it a landmark riff in the evolution of pop music.
48. All Right Now – Free (1970)
Free – All Right Now (Doing Their Thing, 1970) Official Live Video – YouTube
Paul Kossoff: Tone and Control Personified
It’s almost unbelievable that Free’s 1970 anthem, All Right Now, only just breaks into our Top 50! The opening seconds, featuring Paul Kossoff’s explosively powerful Les Paul locked in step with Simon Kirke’s driving drum beat, is arguably one of the most instantly recognizable song intros of all time. Kossoff, known for his soulful vibrato and blues-infused style, used one of his beloved Les Paul sunbursts on All Right Now, plugged into a cranked Marshall stack to achieve that legendary tone.
As singer Paul Rodgers has described, “Koss had such an amazing sound on that opening chord and with his chord structure on the A chord. He had such a long reach and could actually hold the A note on the E string on the 5th fret. He could get a real ripping sound and it had a lot of depth to it.” This riff is a testament to Kossoff’s feel and tone, proving that simplicity, when executed with such mastery, can be utterly captivating.
47. G.O.A.T. – Polyphia (2018)
Polyphia | G.O.A.T. (Official Music Video) – YouTube
Redefining Modern Guitar with Dazzling Sounds and Techniques
Polyphia guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage have, in recent years, firmly established themselves as pioneers of modern guitar playing. Their innovative approach blends elements of fusion, progressive metal, djent, and even trap beats, creating a mind-bending and genre-defying sonic cocktail. G.O.A.T., a track from their album New Levels New Devils, released in 2018, stands as one of their most popular and influential songs to date, racking up over 50 million combined plays on YouTube and Spotify.
The song’s main riff is a showcase of their groundbreaking techniques, built upon a foundation of pinch harmonics, 19th and 20th fret tapping, artfully incorporated open strings, and B natural minor arpeggios. Both Henson and LePage are known for their use of Ibanez guitars, instruments perfectly suited to their technical and virtuosic playing styles. Tone-wise, Henson relied primarily on the Fractal Axe-Fx and a touch of BIAS FX for amp modeling and effects, while LePage opted for a more traditional setup using an Orange amplifier and cabinet, demonstrating the band’s blend of modern digital and classic analog approaches to guitar tone.
46. Outshined – Soundgarden (1991)
Soundgarden – Outshined – YouTube
Grunge Power in Unconventional Time
1991 was the year Seattle grunge exploded onto the global music scene, and Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger was a pivotal album in this movement. Outshined emerged as one of its most accessible and impactful tracks. The song’s opening groove and verse riff, tuned to Drop D, are pure stoner rock gold, with single-finger bends from guitarists Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell perfectly complementing the song’s raw, sludgy hook. It’s a riff that epitomizes badass, grunge-era guitar work.
Adding to Soundgarden’s signature unconventionality, the riff is in 7/4 time signature, a rhythmic complexity that sets them apart from many of their contemporaries. In grunge’s most experimental and sonically adventurous band, Kim Thayil’s guitar playing was crucial, masterfully blending Stooges-esque aggression with the psychedelic heaviness of Black Sabbath through his favored ’70s Guild SG-100 guitar. Outshined is a testament to Soundgarden’s unique approach to heavy rock.
45. No One Knows – Queens of the Stone Age (2002)
Queens Of The Stone Age – No One Knows (Official Music Video) – YouTube
Stoner Rock’s Defining Moment
Queens of the Stone Age’s breakout hit, No One Knows, boasts a riff so powerful it effectively functions as the song’s chorus. While the lyrical “I realize you’re mine” section is repeated, it’s undeniably the guitar riff that ignites crowds at every QOTSA concert and has become synonymous with the band.
Josh Homme, known for his distinctive guitar tones and gear choices, adopted a deliberately anti-establishment approach during the recording of Songs For The Deaf. For No One Knows, he famously avoided using typical rock amps like Marshalls, Voxes, Fenders, or Gibsons. Instead, he creatively combined three amplifiers: a solid-state Peavey, an Ampeg VT40, and an older Tube Works head. The unique and instantly recognizable recorded guitar tone of No One Knows is a result of carefully blending microphones placed on this idiosyncratic amp setup, showcasing Homme’s innovative approach to sound.
44. Can’t Stop – Red Hot Chili Peppers (2002)
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Can’t Stop [Official Music Video] – YouTube
A Funk Guitar Masterclass in Fret-Hand Muting
Few rock guitarists embody funk as deeply as Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante, and Can’t Stop, the third single from their 2002 album By The Way, features arguably the album’s most rhythmically infectious riff. Frusciante, a devoted player of vintage Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters, employs a sharp, punchy single-coil bridge pickup tone for this track, perfectly capturing the song’s funky energy.
The verse riff is built around a repeated two-note figure, D to E (played on the G string, 5th and 7th frets), representing the flat 7th and root of the E minor key. Frusciante masterfully emphasizes the root notes of the underlying chord progression (Em, D, Bm, C), maintaining a remarkably clean sound thanks to his deceptively intricate fret-hand string muting technique. Combined with his aggressive and funky right-hand attack, this riff becomes an unstoppable force of rhythmic groove and funk guitar brilliance.
43. Life in the Fast Lane – Eagles (1976)
Life In The Fast Lane – YouTube
Country Rockers Take a Hard Rock Turn
Another iconic riff born from a warm-up jam session, Life In The Fast Lane began as a guitar exercise by Joe Walsh that quickly grabbed the attention of his Eagles bandmates. The brilliance of this riff lies in its use of rhythmic displacement. It’s essentially the same melodic idea repeated three times with subtle variations, but the crucial fourth repetition enters half a beat earlier, creating a powerful sense of urgency and drive.
The Eagles’ guitar tones during their Hotel California era were largely Fender-based, and Life In The Fast Lane showcases the raw, overdriven sound of Fender Tweed Deluxe and Champ amplifiers pushed to their limits. Joe Walsh played his signature Stratocaster on this track, while Don Felder contributed with his iconic ’59 Les Paul. This combination of guitarists and instruments represents the ultimate tag team of classic rock guitar tones, perfectly capturing the song’s high-octane energy.
42. Message in a Bottle – The Police (1979)
The Police – Message In A Bottle (Official Music Video) – YouTube
Their Breakthrough Number One Hit
Fueled by Andy Summers’ signature, hook-laden riff, Message In A Bottle became The Police’s first number one single and, for many, remains their quintessential song. The track perfectly distilled the trio’s innovative blend of post-punk energy and white reggae rhythms into what Summers himself described as “a very different-sounding pop song.” Despite the well-documented creative tensions within the band, Summers recognized that The Police were the ideal vehicle for his distinctive guitar playing.
“It was a unique chemistry,” Summers reflected, “between the guitar, the bassline, the high vocals that Sting had then, and Stewart (Copeland)’s unique drumming. Never to be repeated.” Message In A Bottle‘s riff is a testament to this unique chemistry, showcasing Summers’ ability to craft intricate and memorable guitar parts that were integral to The Police’s groundbreaking sound.
41. Stargazer – Rainbow (1976)
Ritchie Blackmore at His Unstoppable Peak
Stargazer, an epic track from Rainbow’s seminal second album Rising, features a main riff with a distinct walking feel, achieved through the incorporation of passing tones within its pentatonic framework. A key element of the riff is a three-note chromatic run, starting on the fifth fret of the fifth string, moving from the minor 7th to the major 7th, and finally resolving to the E octave. This chromatic element adds a touch of sophistication and drama to the otherwise blues-rock based riff.
During this period, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore primarily used Olympic White ’73 and sunburst ’74 Fender Stratocasters, both equipped with scalloped necks, a modification he favored for enhanced vibrato and bending control. He ran his guitars through a Marshall Major amplifier, which he had modified for even greater power and distortion. Blackmore once revealed, “This extra output stage basically made the 200-watt into a 280-watt. So I did have the loudest amp in the world.” This quest for volume and power, combined with his distinctive Stratocaster tone and neoclassical-influenced playing, made the Stargazer riff a true showcase of Blackmore at his most formidable and influential.
