Guitar School Reveals “Top 25 Riffs Of All Time,” Flatters Ghosts Of Jimi, Dimebag

anthonyjmiccio | April 2, 2008 2:45 am

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“Smoke On The Water” features the best guitar riff of all time, according to a poll conducted by the British music school Guitar X. As you’d expect from a list based on the opinions of young guitar students, you’ve got some Hendrix, some Angus, three from Slash in the Top 10. But two Frusciantes? A Dimebag? A Knopfler? The full 25 after the jump.

1. “Smoke On The Water” – Deep Purple 2. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Nirvana 3. “Walk This Way” – Aerosmith 4. “Purple Haze” – Jimi Hendrix 5. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” – Guns’n’Roses 6. “Paradise City” – Guns’n’Roses 7. “Ace Of Spades” – Motorhead 8. “Enter Sandman” – Metallica 9. “Under The Bridge” – Red Hot Chili Peppers 10. “Welcome To The Jungle” – Guns’n’Roses 11. “Run To The Hills” – Iron Maiden 12. “Walk” – Pantera 13. “Johnny Be Goode” – Chuck Berry 14. “Back In Black” – AC/DC 15. “Immigrant Song” – Led Zeppelin 16. “Wake Up” – Rage Against The Machine 17. “Highway To Hell” – AC/DC 18. “My Generation” – The Who 19. “Seven Nation Army” – The White Stripes 20. “Born To Be Wild” – Steppenwolf 21. “Give It Away” – Red Hot Chili Peppers 22. “Paranoid” – Black Sabbath 23. “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” – Jimi Hendrix 24. “Eye Of The Tiger” – Survivor 25. “Money For Nothing” – Dire Straits

Duuuuuuude, no “Stone Cold Crazy?” And if you’re going to bother with Jack White, you have to go with “Icky Thump.” Maybe it’s just my patriotism talking, I think an American school would have made a much fiercer list. One with some Kerry King! Some John Petrucci! Some John Mayer!

Deep Purple top guitar heroes [The Sun]