Eddie Van Halen’s iconic riff to “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” is among the five greatest of all time, according to readers of Total Guitar & Guitar World.
Readers of the publications voted “ATBL” behind Richie Blackmore’s “Smoke On The Water” (Deep Purple), Angus Young’s “Back In Black” (AC/DC) and Randy Rhoads’ “Crazy Train” (Ozzy Osbourne) riffs.
The full, 50-strong list is published in Total Guitar‘s July 2021 issue. To compile it, the magazine asked Guitar World readers to cast their votes from a shortlist of 125 riffs, picked by the Total Guitar staffers.
Guitar.com wrote, “The top 50 as a whole is mostly a classic-rock-dominated selection, although some modern metal such as Opeth and Slipknot did make the cut. With the exception of “Money” by Pink Floyd, all of the riffs are in 4/4 time. The tempo of the riffs featured showed a larger variation, however, ranging from 84 to 170bpm. It’s also worth noting that 98% of the guitarists featured are male, with Heart’s Nancy Wilson bucking the trend of the other 49 entries.”
You can see Total Guitar‘s full list below.
50: Heir Apparent — Opeth
49: Ticket To Ride — The Beatles
48: All Right Now — Free
47: G.O.A.T. — Polyphia
46: Outshined — Soundgarden
45: No One Knows — Queens Of The Stone Age
44: Can’t Stop — Red Hot Chili Peppers
43: Life In The Fast Lane — Eagles
42: Message In A Bottle — The Police
41: Stargazer — Rainbow
40: Alive — Pearl Jam
39: Born To Be Wild — Steppenwolf
38: Psychosocial — Slipknot
37: Scuttle Buttin’ — Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
36: Mississippi Queen — Mountain
35: Sweet Child O’ Mine — Guns N’ Roses
34: Man In The Box — Alice In Chains
33: You Really Got Me — The Kinks
32: The Boys Are Back In Town — Thin Lizzy
31: Lateralus — Tool
30: Seven Nation Army — The White Stripes
29: The Spirit Of Radio — Rush
28: (Don’t Fear) The Reaper — Blue Oyster Cult
27: Barracuda — Heart
26: Breaking The Law — Judas Priest
25: Walk This Way — Aerosmith
24: 2 Minutes To Midnight — Iron Maiden
23: Beat It — Michael Jackson
22: Ace Of Spades — Motörhead
21: Money — Pink Floyd
20: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction — The Rolling Stones
19: Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd
18: Angel Of Death — Slayer
17: Smells Like Teen Spirit — Nirvana
16: Killing In The Name — Rage Against The Machine
15: Symphony Of Destruction — Megadeth
14: Sunshine Of Your Love — Cream
13: Money For Nothing — Dire Straits
12: Johnny B. Goode — Chuck Berry
11: Layla — Derek And The Dominos
10: Purple Haze — Jimi Hendrix
9: La Grange — ZZ Top
8: Walk — Pantera
7: Iron Man — Black Sabbath
6: Enter Sandman — Metallica
5: Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love — Van Halen
4: Smoke On The Water — Deep Purple
3: Back In Black — AC/DC
2: Crazy Train — Ozzy Osbourne
1: Whole Lotta Love — Led Zeppelin
Main photo credit: Neil Zlozower