In your opinion what is the greatest guitar riff of all time?

sweet child o’mine

Probably something culled from the Led Zeppelin catalog.

Layla

Satisfaction…Keith Richard’s rift lives on and on. When you hear it…you know what’s coming. It’s classic!

one riff i realy like is from Mastodon, blood and thunder

The smokin’ riff on White Zombie’s “More human than human” or Ramon’s Blues by Roy Buchanan or Jimmy Page’s Immigrant Song.

Plug in Baby by Muse written by Matthew Bellamy.
It’s a hard riff to learn, but once you have it it’s exceedingly nice. It’s been voted as one of the best in multiple polls.

so hard to say cause there is so many good ones!

96 Quite Bitter Beings by C.K.Y has a pretty awesome riff that always gets stuck in my head.

There are so many good ones its hard to think, but off the top of my head I totally agree with cage, Plug In Baby.

Randy Rhodes’ solo in Flying High Again!

Money for nothing, Dire straits

there are so many good riffs… starting with sunshine of your love, by cream, back in black by ac/dc, paranoid by black sabbath, peace sells by megadeth…

Zakk Wylde’s Solo in Ozzy Osbourne’s “No More Tears”

Okay, so I’m a product of the 80s…one of my tops would have to be Eddie Van Halen’s solo (done in one take no less!), in Michael Jackson’s epic hit “Beat It.”

After all these years I still love Back in Black everybody recognizes that riff.

Not a riff, but I have always loved the song Eruption

You really got me by the Kinks

So many good ones to choose from – a lot of which are already mentioned, but to name a few that I just love:
G’n’R: Sweet Child o’ Mine, Paradise City
Bon Jovi: Wanted Dead or Alive
AC/DC: Thunderstruck
Skid Row: 18 and Life
Deep Purple: Smoke on the Water (which by the way can cure any ‘song stuck in your head’)
....I’ll stop now.

Led Zeppelin ‘s Stairway To Heaven

my iron lung by radiohead

Tenacious D’s “Master Exploder” is really awesome too

“walk this way”
-aerosmith has always been one of my favorites, but there are so many that I’m sure it can’t be the best of all time

I love this….with every new post I can hear the riff in my head.

White Stripes, Seven Nation Army.

Purple Haze too…^^ Seven Nation Army rocks!

Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson

purple haze

The “Faded” slide, Ben Harper.

How about “Hunting for Witches” by Bloc Party.
Or “Bad Touch” by the Bloodhound Gang.

Apparently, riff and solo (or melody) is not the same thing. At least according to the dictionary. So some of you good people should read up on it ;-)

To answer the question, I’d say perhaps West Coast Blues by Wes Montgomery.

Jackboot by The Smashing Pumpkins/Billy Corgan

Seriously, this riff melts faces.

Life In The Fast Lane – Eagles

Day Tripper by The Beatles. Jimi Hendrix did a great take of this song for the BBC shortly after it came out.

I’ve been trying to teach myself the bass line for awhile now. McCartney switches it up in the choruses, I’ve discovered. That Macca!

i really like the chord progressions in Tragic Comic by Extreme, but then again, it’s not very “Rock ‘n Roll” ;)

Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)