Top 5 most iconic riffs

[horns666]

Scootz ..I mentioned

Don't Fear The Peep..

PeepWalk ...Ritchie Valens....? Ritche Van Halens?

[Ward]

They apparently were a glam band in the 80s when they first started out too.

Apparently:

[atomic charvel guy]

not one mention of Runnin' with the Devil, the greatest debut album for American hard rock ever,
and it starts with a bunch of car horns that lead into the most sonic riff i'd ever heard up until that time
when it was released.
The way Eddie subtly hangs on the D chord in the beginning of the riff is perfection as is the tone of it.
There's too many other ones by so many people to possibly try and figure out which is the top 5 for me though.

[atomic charvel guy]

I can't believe no one has mentioned BOCs Godzilla.
Kashmir
Cocaine/Layla
Stranglehold/Cat Scratch Fever
Voodoo Chile


Way too many to pick just 5.

How about BOC's- Cities on flame with rock and roll? That kicks mucho tail

[Scooter]

not one mention of Runnin' with the Devil, the greatest debut album for American hard rock ever,
and it starts with a bunch of car horns that lead into the most sonic riff i'd ever heard up until that time
when it was released.
The way Eddie subtly hangs on the D chord in the beginning of the riff is perfection as is the tone of it.
There's too many other ones by so many people to possibly try and figure out which is the top 5 for me though.

How about BOC's- Cities on flame with rock and roll? That kicks mucho tail

Yep, on both counts. Too many to pick 5.
BillZ-I saw that one and that's what made me think of Godzilla.
You could even throw La Bamba in there too.

[Richard W]

Pantera is not all that great. Dimebag as a guitarist? pshh - he was good at solos, but his rythyms are/were boring. phil anselmo is just a screaming douche-bag. vinnie paul? hahaha, MY drummer is just as good as he is. pantera's songs suck too. there are MANY bands that make MUCH more interesting music!!!

also, based on your fanboy post, are you 14?

No, I'm not 14, and I respect the fact you don't like Pantera, again it's your opinion. Yes Dime was great at solos, but he was also a riffmaster. Cowboys from Hell, Walk, I'm Broken, Mouth for War, 5 minutes alone, living through me, revolution is my name, etc... those are just a few of Dime's kickass riffs. Yes, Phil is one of the best screamers of all time, but listen to his falsetto work on the album Cowboys from Hell, especially Cemetery Gates at the end, when Phil and Dime are dueling between guitar, and vocals. I know it's my opinion that Pantera are Gods, and yours is that they suck, but please name a few bands that make more interesting music, I'm not being a smart aleck, I'd just like to know.

[MartinBarre]

No, I'm not 14, and I respect the fact you don't like Pantera, again it's your opinion. Yes Dime was great at solos, but he was also a riffmaster. Cowboys from Hell, Walk, I'm Broken, Mouth for War, 5 minutes alone, living through me, revolution is my name, etc... those are just a few of Dime's kickass riffs. Yes, Phil is one of the best screamers of all time, but listen to his falsetto work on the album Cowboys from Hell, especially Cemetery Gates at the end, when Phil and Dime are dueling between guitar, and vocals. I know it's my opinion that Pantera are Gods, and yours is that they suck, but please name a few bands that make more interesting music, I'm not being a smart aleck, I'd just like to know.

You're wasting your time. You like Pantera, that guy doesnt (although I have a feeling he really does, and is just trying to get a reaction from you - I think he must be 14). Leave it at that.

[jgcable]

Depends on the genre but let me give it a go...

Not in any particular order:

Layla
Smoke on the Water
25 or 6 to 4
Crazy Train
Whole Lotta Love

Sweet Child/Voodo Chile/Cat Scratch Fever/Walk this Way and that Should I Stay of Should I Go riff should all get honorable mention.

[dvscool]

OT question/observation: why do a lot of Pantera fans say "Dimebag RIP" every 5 to 6 words? I personally liked Pantera AND Dimebag and it's a shame what happened to him, but I can respect him without saying "Dimebag RIP" constantly. It was a bummer what happened to Randy Rhoads as well, but people don't do the "Randy RIP" thing all the time. The whole thing just seems weird.

DUDE....that is SO fukin true....what IS up with that? Maybe someone here knows......

[Animus]

DUDE....that is SO fukin true....what IS up with that? Maybe someone here knows......

It's just a "southern" thing I think.

[jgcable]

I thought Dimebag was a good guitar player and Pantera was a good band. I wasn't really into them though because I thought they had too many marginal songs and Dimebags guitar tone wasn't my favorite. Regarding his chops. At the specific time he was playing and the specific time he was popular he was an average player with average chops. Cool guy though and its so sad that he was killed. The music industry is less because he isn't in it. If you want to talk about guitar gods there really is a very small list and it starts with ULI.
You can include some other players in there too. If you want to talk about guitar gods who penned iconic riffs thats a much larger list.
Jimmy Page and Jimmy Hendrix would be in that list. Eric Clapton would be in there. Randy Rhoads would be in there. Tony Iommi and Slash would be in there. Nugent and Joe Perry would be in there. Richie Blackmore would be in there. Uli would be in there too. So would Rudy Schenker. Kurt Cobaine might have one of the most iconic riffs of all time with Smells like Teen Spirit. What about Billy Squire? He would be in there. So would Joan Jett. I could go on and on and on

[Richard W]

It's just a "southern" thing I think.

It's not a southern thing, people just do it to show respect, but some people do it all the time.

[Animus]

It's not a southern thing, people just do it to show respect, but some people do it all the time.

Right, I meant Pantera was into the whole the "South" and "wild west" thing so that type of "respect" is a more common thing. Not saying anything is wrong with it, just like has been said it seems to be always with Dimebag like it's become part of his name.

[Larz]

Rush's Limelight is a cool simple riff, probably not iconic level though

[PowerTube]

Crazy Train - Ozzy/Randy
Walk This Way - Aerosmith
Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry