Top 10 guitar riffs

Guitar riffs are the life-blood of a great rock 'n' roll record, making the hair on the back of your next stand on end, or better wrecking your head like a bullet to the brain. So here are 10 of the best, and as ever, let us know your favourites in the comments below...

10. Enter Sandman - Metallica (1991)



'Here it is, black sleeve, black logo, fuck you.' So said Metallica frontman and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield about their most commercially successful, self-titled 1991 album and its minimalist artwork. The opening song is the sensational Enter Sandman, a building, thumping monster of a track that takes almost a minute to kick in, but when it does it leaves you battered, bruised but utterly satisfied. The album that became known as The Black Album went on to sell over 20 million copies, with little mainstream radio airplay. Take that, 'The Man'.

9. Jumping Jack Flash - The Rolling Stones (1968)



Narrowly edging out (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction as The Rolling Stones' contribution to this list, Jumping Jack Flash is a foot-stomping blues tour-de-force, and almost certainly the most rocking song ever to be written about a gardener. Appearing in Scorsese's seminal Mean Streets, continuing the New York director's long love affair with the band (he would go on to direct documentary concert film Shine a Light about the band), it was originally released as a single in 1968, but doesn't actually appear on any studio album. Keef obviously loves playing the riff too; it's officially the most heard song at Stones concerts, having been performed on every tour since its release. What a gas.

8. I'm a Man - Bo Diddley (1955)



A man that dealt almost exclusively in songs about himself, Bo Diddley also knew his way around a primitive blues riff or two. While this song seems pretty light on content itself, the secret here again is the simplicity. Along with other classics like Bo Diddley's a Gunslinger and Bo Diddley, and along with other even earlier trailblazers such as Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt and Son House, the charismatic story-teller from south-west Mississippi helped to lay down the blues blueprint for just about everything that followed. You may not be able to name it off the top of your head, but you've definitely heard I'm a Man before; it's been covered by The Who and The Yardbirds (featuring Jimmy Page) and was made famous by George Thorogood on Bad to the Bone.

7. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix (1968)



It would be remiss to not feature the most eminent guitarist that ever lived in this list, and Voodoo Child (Slight Return) is as good a place as any to celebrate Jimi Hendrix. Another who appreciated that simplicity is the key to a good riff, he was also capable of taking the guitar to places others could only dream of. Born out of the more lengthy Voodoo Chile and released again posthumously in 1970, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) was the only Jimi Hendrix Experience number to reach the top of the charts in the UK, and the wah-wah heavy riff is sends the hairs on the back of the neck sky high. The solo ain't half bad either.

6. Dirty Water - The Standells (1966)



Seven notes, that's all it is, yet the riff that underpins unquestionably the best garage rock song of all time is as addictive as a rock of crack in a Pringles tube. An homage to Boston and the Charles River's polluted water, Larry Tamblyn's Jagger-esque drawl guides the song aided and abetted by the rest of the band's exuberant backing vocals, but it's the chugging, repetitive riff that makes it instantly recognisable as a '60s classic. Interestingly enough, none of the band had ever actually visited Boston at the time of recording, and the song's writer Ed Cobb also wrote Tainted Love.

5. Rumble - Link Wray (1958)



Banned in many territories for 'encouraging juvenile delinquency' (A 'rumble' is/was a slang for a fight), Link Wray's instrumental masterpiece in simplicity is fuzzy, dirty and infectiously listenable. Not only is it a great song in its own right, it influenced a huge number of (predominantly British) rock 'n' roll bands, such as the aforementioned Rolling Stones and The Who. Despite being over 50 years old, it endures too; it was recently given a new lease of life as the main sample for avant-hiphop artist Death Grips' tremendous Spread Eagle Cross the Block.

4. Back in Black - AC/DC (1980)



The opening song to side two of the album of the same name, Back in Black is Angus Young's finest moment in a career of six-string finery. Recorded mere months after frontman and leader of the band Bon Scott had sadly died at the age of just 33, the title track was designed to be a celebration of, and tribute to, his life and attitude. And what a tribute it is; the album went on to become the second biggest-selling record of all time, behind only Michael Jackson's Thriller. RIP, Bon.

3. Sweet Child o'Mine - Guns 'n' Roses (1987)



A riff that emerged during G'n'R rehearsals thanks to Slash just 'mucking around', Sweet Child o'Mine is absolutely timeless. Showing Guns 'n' Roses ever-so-slightly softer side (setting the tone for much of what would follow on the Use Your Illusion releases), it garnered their only number one single in the US. Covered scores of times, yet never bettered, it's simply the best riff Slash ever laid down. And he's laid down a few.

2. Rebel Rebel - David Bowie (1974)



David Bowie spent the majority of his most celebrated period with guitarist Mick Ronson, an excellent, inventive and interesting guitarist and performer. However, when Ronson departed Bowie's band, Bowie did the decent thing and picked up a guitar and wrote his most celebrated guitar riff himself. Rebel Rebel is the centrepiece of Diamond Dogs - a dystopian, unsettling long-player based on Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four - and achieved anthemic status almost instantly. And rightly so.

1. Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin (1969)



The greatest riff of all time, Whole Lotta Love heads up Led Zeppelin II, a record that sold in its tens of millions and secured Led Zeppelin as a household name all over the world, going to the number one spot in both the UK and the US. The great thing about Page is his undoubted talent as a guitarist hasn't sullied his appreciation for arguably the most important thing to remember in popular music: KEEP IT SIMPLE. Whole Lotta Love epitomises this attitude by harnessing the 'less-is-more' aesthetic like nothing else, a riff that is effectively just five notes.