AC/DC, OZZY OSBOURNE, RUSH, GUNS N' ROSES On List Of '80s' Greatest Riffs

November 19, 2010

According to The Pulse of Radio, Gibson.com has compiled a list of the 10 greatest guitar riffs of the Eighties, or as the site put it, the 10 riffs "we deem the most totally awesome of the (decade)." Included on the list are riffs from acts like RUSH, GUNS N' ROSES, JUDAS PRIEST and AC/DC, along with more surprising inclusions from MICHAEL JACKSON and THE CLASH. The list is below, along with an excerpt from the reason for each.

10. RUSH - "Limelight":

"Sharing trio space with one of the best bass players on the planet and probably the best drummer on Earth, (Alex) Lifeson still manages to stand out."

09. GUNS N' ROSES - "Sweet Child o' Mine":

"While the album was stacked with heavy hitters . . . it was the ballad of the set that had the most unique and memorable riff."

08. THE CLASH - "Should I Stay or Should I Go":

"Sometimes you only need two chords to kick an audience in the teeth, and certainly Mick Jones and Joe Strummer did just that with this Combat Rock fave."

07. MICHAEL JACKSON (featuring Steve Lukather) - "Beat It":

"Yes, it had that insane guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen, but the engine driving the song was a weighty bounce by session whiz Steve Lukather."

06. JUDAS PRIEST - "Breaking the Law":

"It's hard to deny the brutal simplicity of this 'British Steel' classic."

05. DEF LEPPARD - "Photograph":

"There are actually two guitar parts interwoven on this seemingly simple blast from 'Pyromania'."

04. SCORPIONS - "Rock You Like a Hurricane":

"Maybe the heaviest combination of simple power chords ever . . . the key to any great riff."

03. OZZY OSBOURNE (featuring Randy Rhoads) - "Crazy Train":

"The churning, sinister opening section hurls the song forward and creates a momentum that never lets up."

02. THE ROLLING STONES - "Start Me Up":

"This 1981 classic is so stirring that nearly 30 years later you're still unlikely see a football stadium not use it to psych their fans up for a kickoff."

01. AC/DC - "Back in Black":

"Angus and Malcolm Young cooked up some of the greatest riffs of their career on this magnum opus, but none is more memorable than the hard and heavy title track."

See more about each riff at Gibson.com.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).