20 most recognizable guitar riffs?

[CCTAU]

Interesting list.

I would have to say Nirvana, Blur, Motorhead, and Rage Against the Machine are not common rifts that the everyday person would get.

[wesfau2]

Wrong.

[Kaos]

A.  That asshole isn't playing any of that and I don't think he knows what a riff actually is.  

B. Some just don't belong.  

#4.  Lenny Kravitz - Are you gonna
#7.  Not Michael Fucking Jackson, bitch.  Get it right. 
#9. Blur my dinglehole. 
#10. White Stripes? Nope.  Not when there's no Motley Crue way ahead of that.  Kiss my striped ass. 
#13. Queens of the Stone Age?  What is this? Best cheesy Guitar Hero riffs that nobody ever heard of? 
#17. Way more inconic Iron Maiden riffs than this.  

That was just a bad, bad list.  

No Crue. No Richie Sambora. No George Harrison. No Stevie Ray Vaughn. No Ace Frehley. No Santana. No Keith Richards. No BB King. No Ted Nugent. No Randy Rhoads. No Brian May. No David Gilmour. No Joe Fucking Walsh. No Don Felder.  

Even the ones he selected for like Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Slash, etc. aren't what I'd consider the best.  Except maybe Layla.  That's gonna be played at my funeral. 

Sorry.  Fake guitar dude list is shit.  

I'd be happy to entertain a legit list that included some of the best -- and even some that he chose.  Just not that.  

Wes was more succinct.  I just like words.  

[CCTAU]

It would be hard to put together a list that didn't include a lot of those that Kaos listed. I guess fifty would be a good number.

Cat scratch fever.
Crazy Train
Enter sandman
Voodoo child
The start of Play that funky music by Wild Cherry
American Woman
I don't have a problem with Beat It since that is Eddie Van Halen and it is instantly recognizable.

This guy hits some oldies in there but you could probably weed out fifty of these.

I think the point of this would be to put a group of random people in a room and play these. And the ones that most got right would be the ones you choose. You would have to have a large cross section of ages in there. And unfortunately, you would leave out a lot of old greats(hardly anyone remembers Chet Atkins). 



When he gets up above 75, the new stuff is not AS instantly recognizable to me. But some of these young punks may get it!

[Token]

75 to 88 are 20+ years old. New stuff. 

[Snaggletiger]

Here's the thing, just change the title of the video.  "Most recognizable" is something no two people in the world are going to agree on.  That's a great compilation he put together.  All very recognizable and highly popular.  Most likely just his list.

I may have come up with 20 different myself.

[CCTAU]

75 to 88 are 20+ years old. New stuff.

When you are a child of the seventies and eighties, that shit is NEW!

[wesfau2]

I don't have a problem with Beat It since that is Eddie Van Halen and it is instantly recognizable.

EVH didn't write/play the riff...only the solo.

Ya boy, Steve Lukather, wrote the riff.

[bgreene]

The original "top 20" was crap!!  Half of those didn't belong at all.  Maybe those were the top over in the sandbox where that dude is from, but here in the god ole USofA that is junk! The first song that came to mind that wasn't even on the list, War Pigs. 

[AUJarhead]

The original "top 20" was crap!!  Half of those didn't belong at all.  Maybe those were the top over in the sandbox where that dude is from, but here in the god ole USofA that is junk! The first song that came to mind that wasn't even on the list, War Pigs.

For me, it was (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.

[Snaggletiger]

For me, it was (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.

Along those lines...Honkey Tonk Women

How about 25 or 6 to 4?

Anyone who ever started playing the guitar, myself included, had to learn Smoke on the Water and 25 or 6 to 4 right off the bat.  They were the coolest and easiest things you could play.

[bgreene]

Bob Seger-Night Moves

[GH2001]

For me, it was (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.

You could prob pick out 5-6 of Keith Richards riffs and put them in the top 25. But hey Blur and Rage...

[Kaos]

I'm still pointing and laughing at that clown pretending to play any of that.  

[GH2001]

I'm still pointing and laughing at that clown pretending to play any of that. 

Recognize his greatness you old timer asshole!

[Buzz Killington]

Any list without Paint it Black is total crap

[wesfau2]

Along those lines...Honkey Tonk Women

How about 25 or 6 to 4?

Anyone who ever started playing the guitar, myself included, had to learn Smoke on the Water and 25 or 6 to 4 right off the bat.  They were the coolest and easiest things you could play.

You share this with Slash.  The first song he was shown/learned was "25 or 6 to 4."

I always thought that was a weird song to fixate on as a guitar player because I cannot conjure any discernible guitar part in that song from memory.