Led Zeppelin tops guitar riffs list -

[bran]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHISn_DCmc0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAQfhZauTLs

[moreblack]

And then there's Hendrix.

Of course: Purple Haze, Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), Fire, Manic Depression et al.

I'll take Hendrix over all of them. Riffs department though? Idk, it's close imo.

Cream has to be in the running too, Sunshine, Crossroads, White Room.

Purple probably just under Zeppelin for me for riffs, Speed King, Smoke, Burn, Fireball, Child In Time, Hard Lovin' Man, Lazy, Into The Fire, Flight Of The Rat. Blackmore had the most nimble fingers of just about anyone at that time.

[DieselDaisy]

Although maybe not as prolific a riffmeister as, an Iommi, Page, Blackmore (or even a Hetfield), Slash did write some gems, e.g. the aforementioned Sweet Child O' Mine, Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Coma, Locomotive, Beggars and Hangers On, Slither, Ghosts, et al. Let's not forget Stradlin also who wrote the greasy riff in You Could Be Mine as well as Double Talkin' Jive. Incidentally, it is a bit unclear about Slash and Stradlin's contributions to Brownstone and Nightrain but, those two songs have monster riffs.

[bran]

Although maybe not as prolific a riffmeister as, an Iommi, Page, Blackmore (or even a Hetfield), Slash did write some gems, e.g. the aforementioned Sweet Child O' Mine, Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Coma, Locomotive, Beggars and Hangers On, Slither, Ghosts, et al. Let's not forget Stradlin also who wrote the greasy riff in You Could Be Mine as well as Double Talkin' Jive. Incidentally, it is a bit unclear about Slash and Stradlin's contributions to Brownstone and Nightrain but, those two songs have monster riffs.

paradise city isnt slash's riff it is tony iommi's riff.

[Rovim]

Although maybe not as prolific a riffmeister as, an Iommi, Page, Blackmore (or even a Hetfield), Slash did write some gems, e.g. the aforementioned Sweet Child O' Mine, Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Coma, Locomotive, Beggars and Hangers On, Slither, Ghosts, et al. Let's not forget Stradlin also who wrote the greasy riff in You Could Be Mine as well as Double Talkin' Jive. Incidentally, it is a bit unclear about Slash and Stradlin's contributions to Brownstone and Nightrain but, those two songs have monster riffs.

Brownstone is probably the best Stradlin riff. It's so...good.

[Iron MikeyJ]

Doom, my man, I gotta disagree with you. To the vast majority of nonmusic fans Iommi really only has Paranoid and Iron Man. Those two are instantly recognizable. Page on the other hand has Heartbreaker, Living Loving Maid, Whole Lotta Love, Immigrant Song, Black Dog, Rock and Roll, The Ocean, and Kashmir. All classic rock staples that are heard on a daily basis, and that's me not counting Dazed and Confused because of the "controversy." Page's riffs have reached a far wider audience than Iommi's have. Personal prefrance aside, Page is the better riffmaster based on the numbers.

[DieselDaisy]

Yes, but only because Sabbath’s music is more of a niche thing (heavy metal; horror) whereas Zeppelin have a wider appeal. Also, Zeppelin’s music is not always built around riffs in the way Sabbath’s music is; Stairway to Heaven for instance is built around an arpeggio chord sequence. Sabbath’s music virtually is, the riff - similar thing with Metallica. Further, Iommi’s riffs are a lot more original. Whereas Page recycled blues licks, Iommi's riffs are colossal twisting affairs which scramble with your brain. And I say this as someone who prefers Deep Purple to either band.

[bacardimayne]

Doom, my man, I gotta disagree with you. To the vast majority of nonmusic fans Iommi really only has Paranoid and Iron Man. Those two are instantly recognizable. Page on the other hand has Heartbreaker, Living Loving Maid, Whole Lotta Love, Immigrant Song, Black Dog, Rock and Roll, The Ocean, and Kashmir. All classic rock staples that are heard on a daily basis, and that's me not counting Dazed and Confused because of the "controversy." Page's riffs have reached a far wider audience than Iommi's have. Personal prefrance aside, Page is the better riffmaster based on the numbers.

I'd say Iommi has Paranoid, Iron Man and War Pigs while Page has Stairway, Kashmir, Black Dog and Immigrant Song. Living Loving Maid and The Ocean are classic rock staples? Fuck off, then so are Sweet Leaf and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

Edited August 27, 2014 by bacardimayne

[moreblack]

No, not on the same level of appeal. Those are deep cuts, they were never really the songs people would go to if anyone asks to hear Sabbath. It's always Paranoid, War Pigs, or Iron Man. Whenever radio plays Sabbath it'll be one of those 3, and if they do back to back, it'll be any 2 of those. Hell, growing up even Psycho Man got more airplay than Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. The riffs of those 3 songs off Paranoid really connected with people, and the best of the rest is a pretty distant second.

[bacardimayne]

And Living Loving Maid and the Ocean are any bigger?

[bran]

Doom, my man, I gotta disagree with you. To the vast majority of nonmusic fans Iommi really only has Paranoid and Iron Man. Those two are instantly recognizable. Page on the other hand has Heartbreaker, Living Loving Maid, Whole Lotta Love, Immigrant Song, Black Dog, Rock and Roll, The Ocean, and Kashmir. All classic rock staples that are heard on a daily basis, and that's me not counting Dazed and Confused because of the "controversy." Page's riffs have reached a far wider audience than Iommi's have. Personal prefrance aside, Page is the better riffmaster based on the numbers.

I'd say Iommi has Paranoid, Iron Man and War Pigs while Page has Stairway, Kashmir, Black Dog and Immigrant Song. Living Loving Maid and The Ocean are classic rock staples? Fuck off, then so are Sweet Leaf and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

or NIB

[Free Bird]

No, not on the same level of appeal. Those are deep cuts, they were never really the songs people would go to if anyone asks to hear Sabbath. It's always Paranoid, War Pigs, or Iron Man. Whenever radio plays Sabbath it'll be one of those 3, and if they do back to back, it'll be any 2 of those. Hell, growing up even Psycho Man got more airplay than Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. The riffs of those 3 songs off Paranoid really connected with people, and the best of the rest is a pretty distant second.

But that doesn't affect the quality of other riffs.

[Crash Diet]

Nice Iommi vs. Page thread (of course Iommi wins)

Btw this is a duplicate thread

[EvH]

Maybe some posters should stop playing the offended fanboy card and understand that this poll is comparing precise riffs. It's NOT comparing guitar players.

[Iron MikeyJ]

No, not on the same level of appeal. Those are deep cuts, they were never really the songs people would go to if anyone asks to hear Sabbath. It's always Paranoid, War Pigs, or Iron Man. Whenever radio plays Sabbath it'll be one of those 3, and if they do back to back, it'll be any 2 of those. Hell, growing up even Psycho Man got more airplay than Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. The riffs of those 3 songs off Paranoid really connected with people, and the best of the rest is a pretty distant second.

I might give you War Pigs, but even that one is pushing it. And yes both living Loving Maid and The Ocean are classic rock staples. I worked construction for many many years, and we always listened to classic rock while working (unless some asshole wanted country), and I swear all of those stations have the same play lists. Living loving maid is ALWAYS played after Heartbreaker, to many people they are the same damn song, so yes it is a classic rock staple. The Ocean is as well, and honestly I could through in Misty Mountain Hop and When The Levee Breaks as well. These songs are heard everyday all across America. If it's a classic rock station they play them. And these are just the riff heavy Zeppelin songs, I didn't even include Babe I'm gonna leave you, Stairway, Trampled Underfoot, All My Love, Fool in the rain, etc. Honestly Zeppelin might have the biggest classic rock staples library out of any band, either them or The Beatles. Which I'm not arguing which band was better, because it's all a matter of opinion anyways. But to the nonhardcore rock fans (not posters on a rock forum, this site) Zeppelin has a lot more well known songs than Sabbath, as well as a lot more well known riff heavy songs. That's me trying to be as objective as possible, just telling hyou what I have observed/heard.

Sorry MoreBlack, I just realized we were making the same point. But my post stands to anyone that honestly thinks Sabbath has more well known riffs than Zeppelin. Hell Aerosmith, Van Halen, Metallica, ZZ Top, and a few others probably have more well known riffs than Sabbath. Again, not talking quality, just intstantly recognizable riffs.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Mike420

[DieselDaisy]

You said you listened to 'classic rock' radio. Of course if you listen to classic rock you will hear deep cuts - heck, you will probably hear Sweet Leaf and Custard Pie also. If however you really narrow it down to the tracks which dented the mainstream, you have,

- Paranoid

- Iron Man

- War Pigs

- Whole Lotta Love

- Stairway

- Kashmir

You could make an argument for Black Dog or Rock N' Roll, but then, you could also make an argument for NIB or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

About even honours I would say.

[moreblack]

The difference being, I don't think Sabbath's stuff was meant for radio, and frankly Zeppelin didn't really write for radio either, hence the "no singles" rule they had. But radio played the hell out of their songs anyway, and not just those 3 either.

Sorry MoreBlack, I just realized we were making the same point. But my post stands to anyone that honestly thinks Sabbath has more well known riffs than Zeppelin. Hell Aerosmith, Van Halen, Metallica, ZZ Top, and a few others probably have more well known riffs than Sabbath. Again, not talking quality, just intstantly recognizable riffs.

People these days have a tendency to overstate or inflate Sabbath's impact due to basically Sharon Orbourne's PR. But they were a festival, theater and sometimes arena band. Bands like Zeppelin and The Who were headlining those festivals, or filling stadiums on their own.

Speaking of The Who, they had some pretty memorable riffs, Can't Explain, Substitute, Won't Get Fooled, Pinball Wizard, My Generation, Who Are You...

Edited August 27, 2014 by moreblack

[Sixes]

i think The Rolling Stones have more recognizable riffs and classic rock staples than both Zep and Sabs combined

[Iron MikeyJ]

@DieselDaisy, my man you have completly skipped over my point and are trying to turn this into a Sabbath vs Zeppelin debate. I never said Sabbath didn't write great songs or didn't write great riffs, but for whatever reasons radio dj's never really played Sabbath much, even during their "prime". But as MoreBlack stated, Sabbath never wanted that anyways, so it didn't bother them. Zeppelin on the other hand didn't write for radio either, but the difference is radio played the shit out of them anyways. So by the sheer numbers, Zeppelin's music reached a far wider audience than Sabbath ever dreamed of. Honestly it probably wasn't until bands like Metallica came along and said "Sabbath this, Sabbath that" that helped Sabbath gain and get the respect they deserve. While Zeppelin had and kept all of their respect and influence from the day Led Zeppelin dropped all the way up until today. Hell I've seen an interview from 1969 where reports where making a HUGE deal about the fact Led Zeppelin II knocked The Beatles out of the #1 album spot. They were calling it a "changing of the guard" etc.

Again I'm not saying one band is better than the other one, just pointing out that Zeppelin were by far the more popular band, and their music reached a much wider audience. That is why SO many of their songs a classic rock staples, while Sabbath only really has a few.

[TeeJay410]

I'll grant that Imommi's riff making might be under appreciated, but it really is difficult to compete with Zeppelin in that regard. Nearly every track has a killer and recognizable riff. Moreover, the riffs led to great songs. Iommi put out killer riff after killer riff but the music never made as much of an impact as Zeppelin's.

[Sixes]

Zep were critically reviled while they were active. Totally shit upon.

As were Sabbath.

But critics are bottom feeding scumfucks

[Iron MikeyJ]

Zep were critically reviled while they were active. Totally shit upon.

As were Sabbath.

But critics are bottom feeding scumfucks

True, but for whatever reasons radio played the shit out of them. Let me ask you this, if we could travel back in time to say 1985, isn't it true that Led Zeppelin were already considered legends? But Black Sabbath on the other hand didn't quite achieve that status until a little later, maybe even the 90's? As MoreBlack said, it took people like Sharon Osbourne screaming Sabbath this and Sabbath that, plus bands like Metallica labeling them as an influence to help put Sabbath on the mountain they are today. But Zeppelin seemed to get there on their own and a lot quicker.

[Sixes]

Zep were critically reviled while they were active. Totally shit upon.

As were Sabbath.

But critics are bottom feeding scumfucks

True, but for whatever reasons radio played the shit out of them. Let me ask you this, if we could travel back in time to say 1985, isn't it true that Led Zeppelin were already considered legends? But Black Sabbath on the other hand didn't quite achieve that status until a little later, maybe even the 90's? As MoreBlack said, it took people like Sharon Osbourne screaming Sabbath this and Sabbath that, plus bands like Metallica labeling them as an influence to help put Sabbath on the mountain they are today. But Zeppelin seemed to get there on their own and a lot quicker.

I would say that in 1985, both Zep and Sabs were considered legends with Sabbath being considered the more influential of the 2 at the time because of metal being so popular and with the heavier styles of metal coming into their own. Plus with Ozzy being a mega popular solo and touring act, he kept Sabbath fresh in people's minds.

I would say that Zeppelin certainly got played on classic rock radio more often and with a wider variety of songs. In NY, there was a nightly spot on the classic rock stations called "Get the Led out" that played a block of Zep songs and that went on for years, decades even. For all I know, it could still be going on. And they would play any Zeppelin song. Not just the usual suspects. Sabbath on the other hand, had maybe 10 songs total that would get picked from.

So, radio wise-Zeppelin easily

Influence...in the mid 80's, Sabbath definitely overtook Zeppelin, not just influencing metal and all of its sub-genres, but goth, industrial as well.

[moreblack]

I would say that in 1985, both Zep and Sabs were considered legends with Sabbath being considered the more influential of the 2 at the time because of metal being so popular and with the heavier styles of metal coming into their own. Plus with Ozzy being a mega popular solo and touring act, he kept Sabbath fresh in people's minds.

At the same time though, Zeppelin was just as big an influence on those same hard rock and metal bands. It was literally attack-of-the-Zeppelin-clones for a while in the 80s on the radio and MTV rock shows.

[Sixes]

I would say that in 1985, both Zep and Sabs were considered legends with Sabbath being considered the more influential of the 2 at the time because of metal being so popular and with the heavier styles of metal coming into their own. Plus with Ozzy being a mega popular solo and touring act, he kept Sabbath fresh in people's minds.

At the same time though, Zeppelin was just as big an influence on those same hard rock and metal bands. It was literally attack-of-the-Zeppelin-clones for a while in the 80s on the radio and MTV rock shows.

Kingdom Come!