Grumpyrocker

I've been having a think about my favourite rock riffs the last few days, probably because I've been noodling around with my electric guitar for the first time in ages. For those uninitiated in the dark arts of rock, a riff is a repetitive phrase often (but not exclusively) played on guitar. Riffs are the mainstay of rock rhythm tracks, or at least they were until the current generation of dull distorted chord strumming weeds arrived.

So without further ado I present my own personal favourite ten rock riffs. I've limited myself to only one riff per band, which made for some very difficult decisions indeed. If I hadn't done that, they most probably would have all been Led Zeppelin riffs.

10. The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
Billy Duffy's jangly riff is easily the lightest here in the selection, but it really is a great little guitar figure. The band went on to produce many riffs in the Led Zeppelin stomping style, but I still think this was their catchiest musical moment.

9. AC/DC - Highway to Hell
Opening riffs, played solo before the rest of the band kicks in, are always great in getting an audience going. And when they are as recognisable as this, it's no surprise that when Angus Young fires this riff into a crowd it gets everyone going. It's a hugely copied riff in both style and usage.

8. Metallica - Master of Puppets
James Hetfield's musical legacy will be that he gave us some monster riffs to most to. Alas with Kirk Hammet allowed to provide rhythm work on recent Metallica albums it seems those days are gone. Sometimes Hetfield would produced even better less famous riffs hidden in the middle of a song with a more well known musical figure. It's hard to choose just one riff from this band - but Master of Puppets sums up the bands epic early sound.

7. Megadeth - Train of Consequences
In my humble opinion Dave Mustaine is Metallica's best ever guitarist, but that band's loss is Megadeth's gain. Mustaine is unusual in that his rhythm work is just as good as his soloing, making him an excellent all round musician. Train of Consequences is an interesting song in that the main riff is almost funky, driving the song ahead of the beat with its urgency. The song comes from the album Youthenasia, the whole of which offers a masterclass in great riffing.

6. Diamond Head - Am I Evil?
It's the song that launched Metallica, everything you need to know about Hetfield's band you can discover here in the classic song by Stourbridge's favourite sons. The main riff is a chugging gem and perhaps one of the greatest to emerge from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

5 . Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
So simple it's the first thing many young guitarists learn, but sometimes simple is best. The whole song is a genuine classic, but Richie Blackmore's opening riff is one of the most recognisable in rock. You just can't have a list of great riffs and not include it. Burn was a pretty close runner up though.

4. Cathedral - Midnight Mountain
Perhaps the best modern exponent of the rock riff is Cathedral's Gaz Jennings. His powerful playing is at odds with much of modern heavy metal - with its focus on speed and syncopated chords. Jennings has created some fantastic riffs but my favourite is Midnight Mountain. What makes this one stand out though isn't the guitar playing, rather it's a very odd production decision that seems at odds with doom metal, that is clapping along with the riff. Yep i've chosen Midnight Mountain because the clap along with the guitar makes it so damn catchy.

3. Iron Maiden - The Clairvoyant
Maiden isn't a particularly riff based band. While there are harmony lead sections aplenty, actual traditional rhythm riffs are surprisingly uncommon in the band. But that's not to say they don't exist. Often these riffs come from the bass guitar of Steve Harris, in my mind the best bass player in rock. And while Hallowed Be Thy Name is my favourite six string riff from the band, my overall favourite is the bass intro riff to The Clairvoyant. It's fantastic stuff and a slight in-joke, it being the opening riff from The Number of the Beast played in reverse order.

2. Black Sabbath - Symptom of the Universe
Should we all ever stand on trial for the love of heavy metal, it'll be Tony Iommi we blame for starting it all. His riffs are the blueprint for metal. Together with Geezer Butler he invented something so new that it spawned its own genre. Picking one great riff from all those amazing songs such as War Pigs, Paranoid etc. is pretty tricky. But Symptom of the Universe is my favourite. It's the wrongness of it that makes it sounds so good, the heavy E followed by the jarring higher Bb, followed later by the almost delicate sounding run. This is heavy metal, power and the fusion of blues and classical music motifs.

1. Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love
Was there any doubt Led Zeppelin would be at number one. Like Dave Mustaine, Jimmy Page is a guitarist equally skilled in lead work and throwing out sublime riffs. And here is a band that has created so many memorable musical moments it's very hard to know where to start. Every album features colossal riffs that every guitarist at some point will have a crack at. The one I've choses as the very best though is the sexy, powerful, machine gun staccato opening to Whole Lotta Love. It's the musical equivalent of a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

So that's my ten choices, but what are your favourite rock riffs?