Best riff creators
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Forum Name: Music and Musicians Exchange
Forum Description: Talk with and get feedback from other musicians on the site
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28862
Printed Date: November 22 2024 at 06:16
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Topic: Best riff creators
Posted By: WickerRocker
Subject: Best riff creators
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 10:39
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You should suggest some guitarists (or other musicians)who you think are top-riff creators. From names, which would appear more times, we can create a voting competition for a single champion. You should also add some riffs you like from that person.
------------- 'You can`t kill, what`s stronger than death': Zakk Wylde |
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Posted By: WickerRocker
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 10:41
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I suggest Tony Iommi with riffs like Iron Man, Sabbath bloody sabbath, Paranoid, Sabbra cadabra, Lord of THis world, Into the void,... ------------- 'You can`t kill, what`s stronger than death': Zakk Wylde |
Posted By: WaywardSon
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 10:42
| Blackmore and Iommi, the riff meisters!! |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 10:47
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Jimmy Page, no contest: -
Whole Lotta Love
Custard Pie
Immigrant Song
Heartbreaker
Need I go on?
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Posted By: JayDee
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 10:58
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Riff you say?:
Steve Vai
Joe Satriani
Dave Mustaine
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 11:27
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Michael Romeo. I'd have to list most Symphony X songs ... I guess that Symphony X - V: The New Mythology suite contains the best ones. Evolution, Fallen, ... riff heaven. And in The Odyssey (the epic) he plays two or three amazingly long riffs. John Petrucci: Pull Me Under, Learning to Live, Take the Time, Erotomania, 6:00, ... the list goes on and on and on. James Hetfield - No comment necessary.  ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to: 
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Posted By: Abstrakt
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 11:28
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James Hetfield
Steve Howe
Tony Iommi
Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 11:39
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I think we need to define the word "riff" ... I never thought of Jimi Hendrix as a riff-oriented guitarist.
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 11:41
Blackmore, Page, Tony Iommi - i read somewhere that he has a huge collection of riffs on tape - a "rifflopaedia"
-------------  Prog Archives Tour Van 
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Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 11:44
i would say it was "a sequence of notes repeated during a piece of music, or song, forming a framework for the song to be built around"......???
 ------------- Prog Archives Tour Van
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MikeEnRegalia wrote:Posted By: OpethGuitarist
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 11:45
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Laurent Lebec/Trevor de Brauw(Pelican) Mikael Akerfeldt(Opeth) ------------- back from the dead, i will begin posting reviews again and musing through the forums |
Posted By: toolis
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 11:49
it doesn't have to be notes but chords as well... ------------- -music is like pornography... sometimes amateurs turn us on, even more... -sometimes you are the pigeon and sometimes you are the statue... |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 12:25
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a band with some of the greatest riffs of all time are VdGG (the song "Sleepwalkers" alone has enough great riffs to make a whole album from). and since Hammill writes most of the music for VdGG, he is the big riff creator. and indeed we find a lot of great riffs on his soloalbums too
-------------  A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Leningrad
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 19:57
| Alex Lifeson. |
Posted By: The Wizard
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 19:57
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Jimmy Page -------------  
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Posted By: The Wizard
Date Posted: September 21 2006 at 19:58
Page could make a better riff off the spot than most guitarist.  -------------
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 22 2006 at 01:55
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Ok ... the wikipedia page makes sense: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riff - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riff Apparently they're not 100% sure either ... but I'd say that not every repeating pattern or chord progression is a riff. It should have a rhythm (guitar) character - if it has a lead (guitar) character then I'd rather call it a lick. And it should not be based on complex chord voicings - it's more a melody than a chord progression. But you're free to use any other definition!  ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: krusty
Date Posted: September 22 2006 at 06:51
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I'm a big Page / Zepplin fan as well but when you read sites like http://www.furious.com/perfect/jimmypage.html - this You may question exactly how original Page is/was. I doubt whether he is the sole guitarist to 'borrow' riffs but the author of the above site seems to have a unhealthy dislike for both Page and Zepplin. Regardless of any plagiarism my vote would go to Tony Iommi, btw. ------------- http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentChapterView.asp?chapter=309" rel="nofollow - Humanism |
Posted By: Abstrakt
Date Posted: September 25 2006 at 13:13
How can i forget Dave Mustain?
 MEGADETH RULES!
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Posted By: Mumakil
Date Posted: September 25 2006 at 13:38
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C'mom people! Why hasn't anybody mentioned the greatest riff Masters of all time: AC/DC's ANGUS and MALCOM YOUNG!!!!! - For those about to rock; - Highway to Hell; - Hell's Bells; - Whole lotta Rosie; - TNT; - Beatin' around the Bush; - Everything else... They created the greatest pure and harsh Rock and Roll riffs ever, and when you think they are done with it, they come with a lot more! And by the way, their riffs are always simple and easy to play and they tend to stick to your mind forever... ------------- "Fly, you fools!" |
Posted By: Zargus
Date Posted: September 26 2006 at 20:40
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Tony Iommi, Dave Mustain, Dave Wyndorf. ------------- 
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Posted By: Asyte2c00
Date Posted: September 26 2006 at 20:50
| Ritchie Blackmore |
Posted By: SolariS
Date Posted: September 26 2006 at 20:52
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lol. when i clicked this i thought you were talking about a program that automatically creates riffs. -------------  
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Posted By: Sasquamo
Date Posted: September 27 2006 at 19:43
The problem with calling Page the riff master is that he, uh, "borrowed" a lot of his riffs from other artists.
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Posted By: Marcos
Date Posted: February 19 2007 at 13:40
Blackmore, and friends...  ------------- www.postmortemweb.com.ar |
Posted By: progismylife
Date Posted: February 23 2007 at 14:09
| Alex Lifeson. |
Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: February 23 2007 at 14:47
| Awesome riff play that immediately comes to my mind: Alex Lifeson in YYZ, Robby Krieger in Peace Frog, Jimmy Page in Whole Lotta Love .... |
Posted By: Chus
Date Posted: February 23 2007 at 20:36
Yeah... like Cubase or Cakewalk ------------- Jesus Gabriel |
Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: February 24 2007 at 03:05
| what about Eddie Van Halen and John Sykes? Both have made some of the most known riffs ever. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: February 24 2007 at 03:23
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I agree with the Young Brothers, and of course Jimmy Page, who stole everything he ever played in the most wonderful way. Eddie VH was also great not just for standard riffery ('Aint Talking Bout Love', 'Meanstreet', etc.) but for his special pyrotechnics as in 'Eruption', the Fair Warning intro, 'Cathedral'.
But I would add a trailblazer who picked up where Page left-off, made Eddie VH seem simplistic and McLaughlin old fashioned, and practically invented modern metal guitar riffery... Randy Rhoads. |
Posted By: magnus
Date Posted: March 06 2007 at 16:44
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James Hetfield.
------------- The scattered jigsaw of my redemption laid out before my eyes Each piece as amorphous as the other - Each piece in its lack of shape a lie 
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Posted By: el böthy
Date Posted: March 14 2007 at 23:49
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When you open the dictonary in order to find the meaning of riff, there is a photo of Jimmy Page... Page is da man! Heartbreaker, Whole lotta love, Lemmon song, Living lovin maid, Inmigrant song, No Quarter...bla bla bla bla...so many!!!!!!!!! ------------- "You want me to play what, Robert?" 
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Posted By: Hacketeer
Date Posted: July 12 2007 at 15:35
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Ritchie Blackmore & Tony Iommi, the uberlords of riffery.
The link to the Page article was fascinating. I always had him pegged as a poor Muddy Waters clone. Now I know his thievery has no bounds! ------------- "Just keep me nose clean, egg, chips & beans, I'm always full of steam" |
Posted By: Slayertplsko
Date Posted: July 23 2007 at 17:00
| Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi |
Posted By: queenlerxst
Date Posted: July 23 2007 at 17:04
Funny, one of the reasons I like him so much is that he's not really a "riff" person. ------------- 
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Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: September 11 2007 at 20:25
| Ritchie Blackmore, James Hetfield and AC/DC. Where's the lightning bolt on this damn keyboard!!! |
Posted By: Hirgwath
Date Posted: September 11 2007 at 20:29
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Charlie Parker? (Ever heard a little number called "Thrivin' From a Riff"?) ------------- Skwisgaar Skwigelf: taller than a tree. Toki Wartooth: not a bumblebee. |
Posted By: mrcozdude
Date Posted: September 11 2007 at 20:34
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iommi,page,blackmore,angus young,joe perry,paul kossof (dunno how to spell it),brain may,slash i gues ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/cozfunkel/" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: sircosick
Date Posted: September 11 2007 at 20:56
And not just that: listen to The Song Remains The Same. How many riffs did Jimmy create in improvs of songs like No quarter, Stairway to Heaven, among others? Undoubtely, he's the man. ------------- The best you can is good enough... |
Posted By: The T
Date Posted: September 11 2007 at 20:59
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Great thread...
I guess metal and hard rock dominates this field... LZ is good, Blackmore is a master, but Iommi is one of the best... Also, for really dark, satanic riffs, ask Jeff Hanneman; for interesting, HEAVy riffs, ask Hetfield; but one of the true masters of the metallic riff: the underrated (+) Dimebag Darrelll...
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 11 2007 at 21:06
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Page takes the cake but special mention to Randy Rhoads, Hendrix, and the Young Bros. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 11 2007 at 21:08
so did most guitarists in heavy blues/rock, Sas, you know that-- and if you wanna talk about 'lifting riffs', who has been more borrowed from than Page? |
Posted By: Snipergoat
Date Posted: September 22 2007 at 10:09
| Tony Iommi |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: September 22 2007 at 10:16
Page, Blackmore and Iommi - I always go with the classics!
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Posted By: andu
Date Posted: September 22 2007 at 10:21
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How 'bout some John Paul Jones?
------------- "PA's own GI Joe!" 
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Posted By: Zitro
Date Posted: September 22 2007 at 22:46
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Jimmy Page Other worthy mentions: _Richie Blackmore _The 2 guys from Opeth _maybe the guy from Symphony X ? Great riffs. _A bunch of prog (especially prog metal) bands |
Posted By: debrewguy
Date Posted: September 24 2007 at 20:08
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Hey, a big shout out for Willie Dixon (zep's treasure trove), Beethoven (Prog metal's first hero), and ... Bob Ezrin.
------------- "Here I am talking to some of the smartest people in the world and I didn't even notice,” Lieutenant Columbo, episode The Bye-Bye Sky-High I.Q. Murder Case. |
Posted By: Time Signature
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 16:30
| I have to go with Tony Iommi, because as Ronnie James Dio once put it "there's no-one like him". |
Posted By: jikai55
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 21:48
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I can't believe no one said them yet...Iron Maiden! Adrian Smith / Dave Murray / Janick Gers ------------- 
I like cheese and I like metal! --Mikael Åkerfeldt |
Posted By: debrewguy
Date Posted: September 26 2007 at 20:06
You mean mustachioed, ex-bouncers with cut off fingertips ?  ------------- "Here I am talking to some of the smartest people in the world and I didn't even notice,” Lieutenant Columbo, episode The Bye-Bye Sky-High I.Q. Murder Case. |
Posted By: debrewguy
Date Posted: September 26 2007 at 20:08
You may want to check the writing credits - Steve Harris is responsible for most of Maiden's songs ... ------------- "Here I am talking to some of the smartest people in the world and I didn't even notice,” Lieutenant Columbo, episode The Bye-Bye Sky-High I.Q. Murder Case. |
Posted By: reality
Date Posted: November 06 2007 at 02:18
Who cares Up the Irons!!! Nobody does the gallop riff like the Maiden! |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: November 06 2007 at 02:22
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anyone mention Marty Barre? |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: November 06 2007 at 02:29
 The opening riff to "Aqualung" should be enough to earn him a mention... |
Posted By: jimmy_row
Date Posted: November 06 2007 at 11:36
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^^I would part ol' Marty right up with the Blackmore's, Iommi's, and Tipton/Downing....the only problem is, being in a prog-rock band moving away from blues, he got less and less oppuntunities.
New Day Yesterday and To Cry You a Song are two of my favorite riffs ever. ------------- Signature Writers Guild on strike |
Posted By: The Doctor
Date Posted: November 06 2007 at 11:45
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I think Brian May should get mention here. ------------- I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you? |
Posted By: sean
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 20:52
glad someone finally mentioned iron maiden. there's also a somewhat obscure band from sweden called machinae supremacy that i think has some really great riffs. |
Posted By: Dim
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 20:54
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Ome of those drop D metal riffs are really good, suprising considereing how easy it is to make a very bland riff. ------------- 
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Posted By: King Crimson776
Date Posted: November 15 2007 at 20:57
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Tom Morello; almost every Rage and Audioslave song has an epic riff (Killing in the Name, Bulls on Parade, Cochise, Show Me How to Live)
Neal Morse: Spock's Beard and Transatlantic have great melodies, but I also think that their riffs are awesome (Go the Way You Go, In the Mouth of Madness, All of the Above (and all their other epics) have about a hundred great riffs each, Mystery Train) Steven Wilson: PT have some supercatchy riffs as well (Even Less, Piano Lessons, Blackest Eyes, Shallow) |
Posted By: ProgBagel
Date Posted: November 26 2007 at 16:31
| Micheal Romeo of Symphony X...every riff is a complete killer. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: January 09 2008 at 00:13
Eric Peterson And Alex Skolnick in Testament
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Posted By: Jshutt64
Date Posted: January 09 2008 at 20:45
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Michael Romeo (Symphony X)
John Petrucci (Dream Theater)
Kerry King/Jeff Hanneman (Slayer)
James Hetfield (Metallica)
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)
Each one writes GREAT riffs.
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: January 10 2008 at 01:43
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Jeff Loomis/Steve Smyth of Nevermore (although Steve has since left the band) ------------- 
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Posted By: Jim Garten
Date Posted: January 17 2008 at 07:49
Nice to see the dynamic duos of Tipton/Downing & Young/Young mentioned here:
 
 
...and of course, Page & Blackmore couldn't be left out:  
But the bottom line is (and this seems to be borne out by the responses), step up to the podium, undisputed King Of The Riff: 
All hail! ------------- 
Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
Posted By: Peter
Date Posted: January 17 2008 at 09:00
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The Ventures!
Tom Verlaine!
 Menudo?  ------------- "And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy. |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: January 18 2008 at 11:15
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Dimebag Darrel Abbot-Pantera
Randy Rhoads-Ozzy Osbourne (not much of a fan of the Quiet Riot era)
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Posted By: keiser willhelm
Date Posted: January 18 2008 at 11:39
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Page of course (see immigrant song, black dog, the ocean, kashmir, some of the most killer riffs of all time) Id also agree with Morello, Dimebag (if not for the song "walk" alone) and Hetfield (Metallica) but i think Thorendall (Meshuggah) is getting overlooked here. absolutely monstrous riffs.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/KeiserWillhelm" rel="nofollow - What im listening to |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: January 18 2008 at 22:56
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I forgot about Morello. Not forgetting his ability to make some of the coolest noises with a minimum of effect pedals and a few other items. -------------
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