Judging by the title of this entry, you can probably assume what this article is about. It is a single, four-lettered word that packs a punch and makes every rock n’ roll song a fist pumping anthem, and that word if Riff. Riff’s are an essential piece of music, and people who enjoy some good rock usually can appreciate the power of a single riff. You know the kind that just make you want to take an axe to your couch, or smash a nazi in the knee with a ballpeen hammer. I just get excited thinking about great riffs, it gets my blood flowing and feet stomping. The thing about doing a mix of awesome riffs is that there are more than just a few out there, some peoples of what a good riff is may differ, and therefore some great ones are bound to not make it on. That didn’t stop me though, and I am bringing you a mix that I feel is full of some heavy riffs, catchy riffs, some classic, and some that should be.
Riffs have been important in rock n roll since the beginning, and in the 60’s we started to really see some hard pounding riffs introduced into the music. You look at some of the inspirations for heavy metal and you will see the Kinks “You really goy me” or Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild”. If you even take a step back further you will find the Troggs hitting heavy with their most known song “Wild Thing” and even “Louie Louie” had such a distinct riff that pounded through and is recognizable by most people.
Riffs have come along way since “Louie Louie” in terms of sheer heaviness and the punch that they pack. Starting in the late 60’s and 70’s we see the advent of heavy metal and hard rock, we see the sheer loudness of riffs increase and the raw power that comes with it. You know a good riff when you just want to bob along all rock n roll, but you know a great riff when you wanna punch through the stage as the band is blaring it out in true apocalyptic fashion. Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath are two bands that can easily be seen as the major paths to influence rock n roll riffs to come. Led Zeppelin definitely had its influence in later day metal with the take of a more bluesy approach, and bangin out straight rockers that makes your fist pump in sequential rhythm. Black Sabbath on the other hand are the forefathers of all that is Doom. Their riffs were slow, heavy, and soul-wrenching. The maniacal feel of the feedback is enough to get the heart racing, and the listener banging their head in succession. One of the most memorable riffs of all time is probably Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”. It is a cadence of the early metal era, and has had long haired vagrants smashing beer cans and fist pumping for over 30 years now. The 70’s overall produced some of the most memorable riffs with “Cat Scratch Fever” by Ted Nugent, “Mississippi Queen” by Mountain, and many other acts such as Judas Priest, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Motorhead and everything Dio was a part of.
The 80’s were a great time for Riffs. Sure the airwaves were saturated with bad pop, new wave and hair bands, and at the same time there was so much else happening that has been overlooked. There was a thriving punk and hardcore scene, hip hop was on the rise, and riffs were still dominated by a lot of the hard rock pioneers of yesteryear, and metal bands were inheriting the torch. Pentagram from D.C. assumed the doom metal throne, and Metallica introduced the world to thrash metal. While they disintegrated in the 90’s into some sort of mall commodity, early Metallica produced 4 of the greatest metal albums and wrote some of the best riffs of the 80’s. Their debut ‘Kill em All’ is loaded from start to finish with fast-paced guitars and a crunching bass guitar that I find impossible to not bang my head to. I can remember so many specific experiences of metallica finding it’s way on a roadtrip or a drive across town and the instant rock out that follows.
The 90’s saw the emergence of a new wave of current doom/stoner rock bands entire into a more public spotlight with the likes of Sleep, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, and The Obssessed leading the charge. Alternative and grunge music began to make more of a name for itself, and while these bands definitely produced some memorable songs, the sheer power was lacking for most (Alice and Chains and Janes Addiction aside). All aside, it is safe to say that Sleep produced probably one of the finest albums of the 90’s with ‘Holy Mountain’, and their follow up of the single song LP ‘Dopesmoker/Jerusalem’ left an impression on the doom scene. Bands like Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth started to lose a step, and the baton was passed to a new generation recycling and reinventing the formula's for great riffs.
Now we find our selves in the 2000’s with the advent of the internet, and the ability to search out and find different styles of music greatly increased. We see new directions based off the foundations of old styles, and we also see a lot of throwback and retro sounding groups arising. Mastadon came onto the scene and made a name for themselves with ‘Leviathan’, and while they have released numerous other albums, I don’t feel any of them are as consistently good and as well linked throughout. Two other bands who have consistently written some great rock n roll are The Atomic Bitchwax and Inepsy. T.A.B. definitely are a throwback to that 70’s hard rock with a modern stoner rock feel to modernize it. You can hear the Mountain, Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer influence in their songs, and while the vocals are minimal, they are made up for with a ton of sweet guitar leads that lambast you any chance they can. Inepsy is clearly influenced heavily by Motorhead as well as Discharge and other 80’s d-beat styled bands. They make me want to buy a motorcycle just so I can live to ride, and ride to live. They definitely create that jean-vested, shit-kicker, bottle smashin biker feel with their songs, riffs that give a person the courage to puke on some dudes girlfriend and pull a blade on him before he has a chance to retaliate.
The thing about these riffs, is that they helped make the song what it is, and without a good riff no solo would be complete. The solo awes you, but it is a good riff that keeps you hooked to the song, and baits you for the solo. Without the consistency of riffs you just get Yngwie Malamsteen, and no one really wants that. So Here you are, some nice meaty riffs for the ears to enjoy!
SFMTC Vol. 6 - Rifftastic! Playlist
01. Mastadon - Blood and Thunder
02. Manowar - Kings of Metal
03. Dust - Suicide
04. Graveyard - Dont Take Us For Fools
05. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
06. Sleep - Dragonaut
07. Metallica - Seek and Destroy
08. AC/DC - Riif Raff
09. Pentagram - Wartime
10. Thin Lizzy - Emerald
11. Pantera - Heresy
12. Deep Purple - Burn
13. The Atomic Bitchwax - Marching on the Skulls of the Dead
14. Inepsy - Warriors of the Wasteland
15. Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused
16. Exodus - The Toxic Waltz
17. Dio - Straight Through the Heart
18. Madball - Hold it Down
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