Jimmy Page’s riff from the Led Zeppelin classic ‘Whole Lotta Love’ has been named the greatest riff of all time and, honestly, there can’t be many complaints.
As per Blabbermouth, readers of Total Guitar and Guitar World magazines voted that riff the greatest but the rest of the top 10 offers fierce competition. It pipped Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’ and AC/DC’s Back in Black to the top spot.
The late, great Eddie Van Halen obviously got included for his work in Van Halen’s ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love. Metal powerhouses Black Sabbath and Metallica featured. Cliche classic ‘Smoke On The Water’ by Deep Purple placed fourth. Just incredible guitar talent wherever you look.
I’m just surprised that Nirvana’s iconic ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and Rage Against the Machine’s furious ‘Killing In The Name’ didn’t land higher in the list. Surely top 10 material.
‘Whole Lotta Love’ was a worthy inner though. As Total Guitar put it in their July issue: “In 1969, the year Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, Jimmy Page launched his own giant leap for mankind. ‘Whole Lotta Love’s guitar figure took just 2.7 seconds to play, but it immediately projected music into another decade. While everyone else was still playing the ’60s, ZEPPELIN were now playing the ’70s.”
They continued: “It wasn’t the first great riff, but it is the defining one. It’s why riffs became central to guitar music, the reason bands search for the guitar hook that can propel a whole song — or even a whole career.”
In an interview with Total Guitar last year, Page said that the ‘Whole Lotta Love’ riff “was so fresh and it still is. If somebody plays that riff, it brings a smile to people’s faces. It’s a really positive thing.”
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1. ‘Whole Lotta Love’ (Led Zeppelin)
2. ‘Crazy Train’ (Ozzy Osbourne)
3. ‘Back in Black’ (AC/DC)
4. ‘Smoke on the Water’ (Deep Purple)
5. ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love’ (Van Halen)
6. ‘Enter Sandman’ (Metallica)
7. ‘Iron Man’ (Black Sabbath)
8. ‘Walk’ (Pantera)
9. ‘La Grange’ (ZZ Tio)
10. ‘Purple Haze’ (Jimi Hendrix)
Listen to ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin:
