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Best riff writers?


Towelie

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I'm finding myself disagreeing with a lot of what's being said here, so instead of arguing I'll ask a question.

What constitutes a good (or great) riff?

To me a good riff is simple, catchy and generally 4 bars long. You can hum it, whistle it or drum it with your hands. If it's a great riff, you can play it with almost any instrument and it sounds good and familiar.

Edited by jekylhyde
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I'm finding myself disagreeing with a lot of what's being said here, so instead of arguing I'll ask a question.

What constitutes a good (or great) riff?

It's a hard thing to quantify, but the best (rock) riffs just make you wanna move. I love big doomy or atmospheric riffs, like Coma or Black Sabbath (the song).

I also love riffs that lock into the groove of the song and just make you go crazy when you hear it live, like Jungle for example.

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I'm finding myself disagreeing with a lot of what's being said here, so instead of arguing I'll ask a question.

What constitutes a good (or great) riff?

It's a hard thing to quantify, but the best (rock) riffs just make you wanna move. I love big doomy or atmospheric riffs, like Coma or Black Sabbath (the song).

I also love riffs that lock into the groove of the song and just make you go crazy when you hear it live, like Jungle for example.

I dont feel 'big' riffs make you wanna move, like Coma and them, groovy riffs make you wanna move, like the second example you noted.

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I'm finding myself disagreeing with a lot of what's being said here, so instead of arguing I'll ask a question.

What constitutes a good (or great) riff?

It's a hard thing to quantify, but the best (rock) riffs just make you wanna move. I love big doomy or atmospheric riffs, like Coma or Black Sabbath (the song).

I also love riffs that lock into the groove of the song and just make you go crazy when you hear it live, like Jungle for example.

I dont feel 'big' riffs make you wanna move, like Coma and them, groovy riffs make you wanna move, like the second example you noted.

Yeah, you're right actually. Jungle makes me wanna move. Coma and Black Sabbath makes me want to rock back and fourth and usher in the apocalypse.

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I'm finding myself disagreeing with a lot of what's being said here, so instead of arguing I'll ask a question.

What constitutes a good (or great) riff?

It's a hard thing to quantify, but the best (rock) riffs just make you wanna move. I love big doomy or atmospheric riffs, like Coma or Black Sabbath (the song).

I also love riffs that lock into the groove of the song and just make you go crazy when you hear it live, like Jungle for example.

I dont feel 'big' riffs make you wanna move, like Coma and them, groovy riffs make you wanna move, like the second example you noted.

Yeah, you're right actually. Jungle makes me wanna move. Coma and Black Sabbath makes me want to rock back and fourth and usher in the apocalypse.

Brownstone, Jungle, and Michelle contain the best riffs on the album imo. But then Paradise City and Rocket Queen are great, too. It's full of great riffs from both Izzy and Slash. And of course Axl's synth riff in Paradise made it truly fart. I mean complex.

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I'm finding myself disagreeing with a lot of what's being said here, so instead of arguing I'll ask a question.

What constitutes a good (or great) riff?

It's a hard thing to quantify, but the best (rock) riffs just make you wanna move. I love big doomy or atmospheric riffs, like Coma or Black Sabbath (the song).

I also love riffs that lock into the groove of the song and just make you go crazy when you hear it live, like Jungle for example.

I dont feel 'big' riffs make you wanna move, like Coma and them, groovy riffs make you wanna move, like the second example you noted.

Yeah, you're right actually. Jungle makes me wanna move. Coma and Black Sabbath makes me want to rock back and fourth and usher in the apocalypse.

Brownstone, Jungle, and Michelle contain the best riffs on the album imo. But then Paradise City and Rocket Queen are great, too. It's full of great riffs from both Izzy and Slash. And of course Axl's synth riff in Paradise made it truly fart. I mean complex.

Pretty much agree with that. And It's So Easy has got that cool punky vibe going for it as well.

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I'm finding myself disagreeing with a lot of what's being said here, so instead of arguing I'll ask a question.

What constitutes a good (or great) riff?

It's a hard thing to quantify, but the best (rock) riffs just make you wanna move. I love big doomy or atmospheric riffs, like Coma or Black Sabbath (the song).

I also love riffs that lock into the groove of the song and just make you go crazy when you hear it live, like Jungle for example.

I dont feel 'big' riffs make you wanna move, like Coma and them, groovy riffs make you wanna move, like the second example you noted.

Yeah, you're right actually. Jungle makes me wanna move. Coma and Black Sabbath makes me want to rock back and fourth and usher in the apocalypse.

This is why Iommi deserves all the props he's getting here. He's great at both. Stuff like Paranoid and N.I.B to move to, Black Sabbath and Iron Man stuff for the heavy, deep groove.

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This is why Iommi deserves all the props he's getting here. He's great at both. Stuff like Paranoid and N.I.B to move to, Black Sabbath and Iron Man stuff for the heavy, deep groove.

And that's just the first two albums :headbang:
Iommi gets at least 2-3 GREAT riffs PER SONG in Sabbath's first 6 albums. He's unbeatable. Those riffs get stuck in your head. Actually, it's more than that. Sometimes, you have never heard the song, yet you feel like it's engraved into your memory somehow.
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My knowledge of Chuck Berry is limited to a 20 song compilation I have on my hard drive. 10 of those songs start with the exact same riff (it's a good riff, but come on!) and the other 10 have completely unremarkable intros.

Pay attention, there are clear differences, only they are subtle.

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Trying to mention some that haven't been mentioned, however, on a top10 list, Iommi takes the first 5 spots by default, that's just how it is.

Dimebag would make my list as well. Nice catch on Morello, would probably forget about him if it wasn't for Snake-pits mentioning him. Got me thinking, what others are there? I love me some 70's Joe Perry, gotta mention Slash. Adam Jones of TOOL as well, Haven't listened much to Pentagram other than "Relentless" and the riffs on that one are Iommi-esque. Wino's another mention. Jack White's got a pretty good track record. Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein are gods of course. And you know what? Fucking Noel Gallagher! Danko Jones has writen loads of great riffs, shame he went shit though. Um, there's lots of swedish guitar players but I never care for learing their names. Cavalera/Kisser. I'm stopping now, list could go on and I'll still forget names.

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What about Rich Robinson? I'm not very knowledgeable about who's done what guitar-wise for the Black Crowes over the years but I'm somewhat sure he's responsible for the riffs. Twice As Hard, Virtue and Vice, My Morning Song, Stare It Cold, No Speak No Slave, Midnight from the Inside Out, Soul Singing, all excellent riffs, plus many others I'm forgetting right now.

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My knowledge of Chuck Berry is limited to a 20 song compilation I have on my hard drive. 10 of those songs start with the exact same riff (it's a good riff, but come on!) and the other 10 have completely unremarkable intros.

Cunt. Cunt, cunt cunt.

Bet you like Jimmy page.

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