Top 100 Guitarist songs
 

Rolling Stones did an entire section on top 100 guitar songs, I wanna know what everyone thinks. Here is the list:

1) Chuck Berry - "Johnny B. Goode"
2) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Purple Haze"
3) Cream - "Crossroads"
4) The Kinks - "You Really Got Me"
5) The Rolling Stones - "Brown Sugar"
6) Van Halen - "Eruption"
7) The Beatles - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
8) Led Zeppelin - "Stairway To Heaven"
9) The Allman Brothers Band - "Statesboro Blues"
10) Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
11) Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love"
12) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
13) Derek And The Dominos - "Layla"
14) Born To Run - "Bruce Springsteen"
15) The Who - "My Generation"
16) Neil Young With Crazy Horse - "Cowgirl In The Sand"
17) Black Sabbath - "Black Sabbath"
18) Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
19) Prince And The Revolution - "Purple Rain"
20) The Impressions - "People Get Ready"
21) The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army"
22) The Beatles - "A Hard Day's Night"
23) The Yardbirds - "Over Under Sideways Down"
24) Rage Against The Machine - "Killing In The Name"
25) The Rolling Stones - "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"
26) B.B. King - "How Blue Can You Get?"
27) The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - "Look Over Tonders Wall"
28) U2 - "Where The Streets Have No Name"
29) AC/DC - "Back In Black"
30) Bill Haley And His Comets - "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock"
31) Queen - "Keep Yourself Alive"
32) Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing"
33) Metallica - "Master Of Puppets"
34) Aerosmith - "Walk This Way"
35) The Stooges - "1969"
36) Pink Floyd - "Interstellar Overdrive"
37) Elvis Presley - "That's All Right"
38) The Faces - "Stay With Me"
39) Santana - "Black Magic Women"
40) The Who - "I Can See For Miles"
41) Television - "Marquee Moon"
42) John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers - "Hideaway"
43) The Sex Pistols - "Holidays In The Sun"
44) Sleater-Kinney - "Dig Me Out"
45) The Beatles - "I Saw Her Standing There"
46) **** Dale And The Del-Tones - "Miserlou"
47) Van Halen - "Panama"
48) The Clash - "London Calling"
49) Jimi Hendrix - "Machine Gun"
50) Pixies - "Debaser"
51) Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
52) Radiohead - "My Iron Lung"
53) Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Born On The Bayou"
54) Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Little Wing"
55) Cream - "White Room"
56) The Byrds - "Eight Miles High"
57) Grateful Dead - "Dark Star"
58) Link Wray - "Rumble"
59) Jeff Beck - "Freeway Jam"
60) Funkadelic - "Maggot Brain"
61) Sam And Dave - "Soul Man"
62) Albert King - "Born Under A Bad Sign"
63) Guns N' Roses - "Sweet Child O' Mine"
64) Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird"
65) The Police - "Message In A Bottle"
66) Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Texas Flood"
67) Bruce Springsteen - "Adam Raised A Cain"
68) B.B. King - "The Thrill Is Gone"
69) Pink Floyd - "Money"
70) Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
71) The Strokes - "Take It Or Leave It"
72) Weezer - "Say It Ain't So"
73) Blue Cheer - "Summertime Blues"
74) ZZ Top - "La Grange"
75) Frank Zappa - "Willie The Pimp"
76) Tom Petty And Teh Heartbreakers - "American Girl"
77) Pearl Jam - "Even Flow"
78) Buddy Guy - "Stone Crazy"
79) Sonic Youth - "Silver Rocket"
80) Steely Dan - "Kid Charlemagne"
81) Michael Jackson - "Beat It"
82) The Ventures - "Walk-Don't Run"
83) Sublime - "What I Got"
84) John Mayer - "Gravity"
85) Phish - "You Enjoy Myself"
86) Jeff Beck - "I Ain't Superstitious"
87) King Crimson - "Red"
88) Quicksilver Messenger Service - "Mona"
89) Joan Jett And The Blackhearts - "I Love Rock N' Roll"
90) The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?"
91) The Mars Volta - "Drunkship Lanterns"
92) Mick Jagger - "Memo From Turner"
93) My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow"
94) Dire Straits - "Money For Nothing"
95) Moby Grape - "Omaha"
96) Husker Du - "New Day Rising"
97) Queens Of The Stoneage - No One Knows"
98) Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under The Bridge"
99) My Mourning Jacket - "Run Thru"
100) Tool - "Vicarious"

What y'all think?

Terrible, just like every other Rolling Stone list. Good #1 choice though.

Eh some tracks were deserved...Personally, Nirvana is too high up and missing a bunch of truly great bands.

as soon as i read 'Rolling Stones did an entire..' i knew the list was bull****

Terrible list.

The fact that "Seven Nation Army" is in the top 25 makes me giggle.

I taught this "great guitar" song to my 10 year old brother and it took him a single day to play it

Typical Rolling Stone list, hit and miss. My two cents.

98) Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under The Bridge"

Love the song, such a simple guitar part though, and theres a lot of RHCP songs that make better examples of Frusciantes talent. Scar Tissue or Californication would have been a better choice.

96) Husker Du - "New Day Rising"

Are you kidding me? One of the weakest songs on the album, just a few feedback covered notes and repetitive chanting, I don't see any real guitar genius in that.

87) King Crimson - "Red"

21st Century Schizoid Man and Fallen Angel would have been better choices, but hey I can't complain.

83) Sublime - "What I Got"

Hahahahahahaha, what?

81) Michael Jackson - "Beat It"

It's a great pop song and a great riff, so why not? Certainly wasn't usual for an R&B/Soul singer to do a song with a hard rock riff and a heavy metal guitar solo.

70) Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"

Of all the Smashing Pumpkins songs, they pick this one? Is this nothing more than a popularity contest?

69) Pink Floyd - "Money"

Its a sweet solo, but Gilmours best guitar song? No way, not even close.

39) Santana - "Black Magic Women"
46) **** Dale And The Del-Tones - "Miserlou"
49) Jimi Hendrix - "Machine Gun"
51) Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
55) Cream - "White Room"
57) Grateful Dead - "Dark Star"
58) Link Wray - "Rumble"
59) Jeff Beck - "Freeway Jam"
60) Funkadelic - "Maggot Brain"
75) Frank Zappa - "Willie The Pimp"

These should all be higher.

48) The Clash - "London Calling"

Great song, but no.

36) Pink Floyd - "Interstellar Overdrive"

Astronomy Domine is a better choice.

32) Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing"

Well they got this one right, that solo is divine.

24) Rage Against The Machine - "Killing In The Name"

Great choice, it should be here, but nowhere near this high.

21) The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army"

No way no way no way.

Sure its a hot song, but c'mon, it's just a ridiculously simple riff repeated into oblivion, it's the whole damn song.

18) Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"

And it was such a great riff they kept using it over and over.

15) The Who - "My Generation"

The Live at leeds performance alone is top 10 worthy.

11) Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love"
8) Led Zeppelin - "Stairway To Heaven"

Theres god knows how many Zep songs that are more deserving. Dazed & Confused, Heartbreaker, Since I've Been Lovin' You and Song Remains the Same are all better choices.

10) Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

I love Nirvana, but hell f*cking no.

7) The Beatles - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

Great choice, I could see this being top 10. My favorite Clapton solo.

6) Van Halen - "Eruption"

Laugh all you want, it's one of the most influencial guitar solos ever, so yeah it deserves to be top 10.

5) The Rolling Stones - "Brown Sugar"

I always thought this was a dull riff, dosen't excite me at all. Where in the hell is Satisfaction?

4) The Kinks - "You Really Got Me"

Great choice, but not this high.

2) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Purple Haze"

Meh, a lot of better choices IMO. Voodoo Chile, All Along the Watchtower, Little Wing, Third Stone From the Sun.

1) Chuck Berry - "Johnny B. Goode"

Sure why not?

In there defense, thats a pretty damn hard list to make. Although you are correct they could have definitely done a better job.

@boo boo dude you have way too much time on your hands

Well someones gota do it, right?

Well it's rubbish, but then again these lists always are. Never mind.

Just because it's technically easy to play doesn't make it a bad song.

exactly i mean look at 'smoke on the water' by deep purple

Inside Looking Out - The cover by Grand Funk Railroad. The album and live version are both insane.

facing extreme boredom this afternoon i'm going to make a stupid long post. you've been warned.

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1) Chuck Berry - "Johnny B. Goode"
classic - one of the first great guitar rock tunes and a standard in guitar lessons everywhere.

2) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Purple Haze"
same as above. i can only imagine the look on teenagers faces when the first notes of this one came through their speakers after thinking the riff from 'day tripper' was heavy.

3) Cream - "Crossroads"
clapton overplays a bit on this one but it's still a great example of the skill he had

4) The Kinks - "You Really Got Me"
the birth of power chord riff rock another song just about every guitar player knows.

5) The Rolling Stones - "Brown Sugar"
yes

6) Van Halen - "Eruption"
takes cheesy wanking so far that it loops over to cool again.

7) The Beatles - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
you can thank clapton for this one.

8) Led Zeppelin - "Stairway To Heaven"
as much as its overplayed on the radio, it's nowhere near as bad as the amount of piss poor attempts made by guitar players worldwide.

9) The Allman Brothers Band - "Statesboro Blues"
never really got into the allman brothers. can't really comment.

10) Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
it changed rock music and i've yet to meet a guitar player who got into music in the 90s who couldn't at least play the main riff to this one.

11) Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love"
the riff plows through you like a locomotive chugging down the tracks there's no escaping it.

12) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
one on hand it's probably the simplest tune in this list, it's a blues vamp in E minor. on the other it's probably the coolest blues vamp in E minor i've ever heard.

13) Derek And The Dominos - "Layla"
you can thank duane allman for this one.

14) Born To Run - "Bruce Springsteen"
rolling stone does have to hit the boomer demographic after all.

15) The Who - "My Generation"
who says guitar players have to be flashy lead players?

16) Neil Young With Crazy Horse - "Cowgirl In The Sand"
i think this song is great but it's still just 10 minutes of fuzzed out psychedelic noodling that never really goes anywhere.

17) Black Sabbath - "Black Sabbath"
the birth of metal. **** yes.

18) Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
the first single and the birth of american punk in the eyes of the mainstream. i've yet to meet a guitar playing punk who doesn't know some ramones.

19) Prince And The Revolution - "Purple Rain"
the only reason this is a classic guitar track is the intro solo, which was normally edited for radio play. now with prince being a crazy uptight control freak on the indirect use of his music you can't even hear fans trying to cover it on youtube. **please don't sue me**

20) The Impressions - "People Get Ready"
a soulful preview of the style hendrix would overdrive into the stratosphere just a few years later.

21) The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army"
that riff = badass

22) The Beatles - "A Hard Day's Night"
the first real glimpse that the beatles might be able to rock.

23) The Yardbirds - "Over Under Sideways Down"
jeff beck, jimmy page, and eric clapton all played in this band at one time or another - need i say more?

24) Rage Against The Machine - "Killing In The Name"
as much as i dislike tom morello and think he's overrated the rhythm in this track is golden.

25) The Rolling Stones - "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"
i can see why people like it but it doesn't really do much for me.

26) B.B. King - "How Blue Can You Get?"
YouTube - BB King : How Blue Can You Get
not necessarily a great 'guitar' song but if your hair doesn't stand on end during that clip check for a pulse.

27) The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - "Look Over Yonders Wall"
it's a good blues rock tune i guess.

28) U2 - "Where The Streets Have No Name"
i thought this list was about guitar songs... why not 'bullet the blue sky'?

29) AC/DC - "Back In Black"
hell yes

30) Bill Haley And His Comets - "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock"
it should be up there with johnny b. goode.

31) Queen - "Keep Yourself Alive"
queen has never really done anything for me.

32) Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing"
i know it's popular with guitar players, it's just too slick for me.

33) Metallica - "Master Of Puppets"
i prefer 'battery' but it's like choosing between your righticle and lefticle.

34) Aerosmith - "Walk This Way"
i've seen people try to cite the original as the birth of rap rock due to tyler's vocal delivery. there's no denying the remake was the commercial birth of rap rock though. but the riff still kicks.

35) The Stooges - "1969"
great song, yes. great guitar rock song, not so much.

36) Pink Floyd - "Interstellar Overdrive"
spaced out psychedelic perfection.

37) Elvis Presley - "That's All Right"
seems the editors at RS forgot this was a list of great guitar songs.

38) The Faces - "Stay With Me"
jeff beck is awesome and the faces serve as a perminent reminder of just how far rod stewart has strayed.

39) Santana - "Black Magic Women"
let's just check the original instead - YouTube - Black Magic Woman (live) - Fleetwood Mac

40) The Who - "I Can See For Miles"
why not?

41) Television - "Marquee Moon"
gotta represent the origins of post punk somewhere

42) John Mayall And The Blesbreakers - "Hideaway"
clapton.

43) The Sex Pistols - "Holidays In The Sun"
cultural significance does not equal great guitar tune.

44) Sleater-Kinney - "Dig Me Out"
i can't differentiate the guitar in this song from a myriad of other punk inspired indie offerings.

45) The Beatles - "I Saw Her Standing There"
because it rocks harder than 'helter skelter'... yeah... ...

46) **** Dale And The Del-Tones - "Miserlou"
you can thank 'pulp fiction' for this position.

47) Van Halen - "Panama"
why so low on the list?

48) The Clash - "London Calling"
absolutely

49) Jimi Hendrix - "Machine Gun"
hell yes, being that it was only released on a live disc is probably why it's so low on the list.

50) Pixies - "Debaser"
great song, but a more recognizable guitar part than 'where is my mind?'... doubt it.

51) Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
randy rhoads deserves to be higher on this list.

52) Radiohead - "My Iron Lung"
not with 'just' on the same album.

53) Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Born On The Bayou"
you could pick just about any john fogerty tune and have it on here as a perfect example of the instrument supporting the song.

54) Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Little Wing"
thank you for overplaying hendrix.

55) Cream - "White Room"
classic, why so low?

56) The Byrds - "Eight Miles High"
cultural significance

57) Grateful Dead - "Dark Star"
if psychedelic noodling is your thing it doesn't get much better than live versions of this tune.

58) Link Wray - "Rumble"
top 10. seriously.

59) Jeff Beck - "Freeway Jam"
i guess they hadn't used his name on its own yet.

60) Funkadelic - "Maggot Brain"
again, why so low on the list?

61) Sam And Dave - "Soul Man"
but no james brown on the list?...

62) Albert King - "Born Under A Bad Sign"
too low on the list.

63) Guns N' Roses - "Sweet Child O' Mine"
when both clapton and page are calling a solo one of the best they've ever heard you know it's a great guitar tune.

64) Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird"
the southern rock answer to stairway to heaven.

65) The Police - "Message In A Bottle"
sure

66) Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Texas Flood"
sensible choice

67) Bruce Springsteen - "Adam Raised A Cain"
springsteen has never done anything for me but i can see why people would dig this one.

68) B.B. King - "The Thrill Is Gone"
only because it's so low on the list.

69) Pink Floyd - "Money"
if you want to stick with DSotM then 'time' is a greater guitar track than 'money' by a huge margin.

70) Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
correct answer is 'soma'

71) The Strokes - "Take It Or Leave It"
is it just me or do all their songs sound REALLY similar?

72) Weezer - "Say It Ain't So"
wtf?

73) Blue Cheer - "Summertime Blues"
fair, but too low on the list.

74) ZZ Top - "La Grange"
hell yes, ah how how how how.... but should be higher up the list

75) Frank Zappa - "Willie The Pimp"
i prefer the muffin man but whatever, it's RS after all.

76) Tom Petty And Teh Heartbreakers - "American Girl"
i remember an interview with the lead guitarist for the heartbreakers saying this was the fastest solo he had to play with the band. all 2 licks of it...

77) Pearl Jam - "Even Flow"
predictable choice for the band, i'd take 'spin the black circle' over this one any day of the week.

78) Buddy Guy - "Stone Crazy"
at least they're giving BG some props.

79) Sonic Youth - "Silver Rocket"
i'd take 'death valley 69' instead.

80) Steely Dan - "Kid Charlemagne"
as cliche as 'do it again' would have been for a choice, it's far more recognizable and still has a great guitar part throughout.

81) Michael Jackson - "Beat It"
classic and well deserving riff.

82) The Ventures - "Walk-Don't Run"
hell yes, but way too low on the list. should be up there with miserlou.

83) Sublime - "What I Got"
about as significant as 'no rain'

84) John Mayer - "Gravity"
in a list that already includes some good electric blues there's absolutely no need for this watered down attempt.

85) Phish - "You Enjoy Myself"
see my comment on the grateful dead.

86) Jeff Beck - "I Ain't Superstitious"
great tune but do people even notice the guitar over stevie wonder's clavinet?

87) King Crimson - "Red"
it's tough to chose a single KC track, but 'red' wouldn't be it for me. 'one more red nightmare' or 'discipline' or 'lark's tongue in aspic pt.2' or ....

88) Quicksilver Messenger Service - "Mona"
psychedelic noodling that fails to differentiate itself.

89) Joan Jett And The Blackhearts - "I Love Rock N' Roll"
cliche pop hit masquerading as rock.

90) The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?"
arguably birth of shoegaze

91) The Mars Volta - "Drunkship Lanterns"
why not?

92) Mick Jagger - "Memo From Turner"
guitar songs... ....

93) My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow"
the pinnacle of shoegaze

94) Dire Straits - "Money For Nothing"
greatest music video ever, instantly recognizable by the riff.

95) Moby Grape - "Omaha"
why?

96) Husker Du - "New Day Rising"
i'd take 'something i learned today' over this one.

97) Queens Of The Stoneage - No One Knows"
not when you have 4 albums worth of kyuss tracks to choose from first.

98) Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under The Bridge"
best example of frusciante channeling hendrix without sounding like a clone.

99) My Mourning Jacket - "Run Thru"
i suppose they had to fill out the list somehow.

100) Tool - "Vicarious"
i'd take 'jambi' or 'rosetta stoned' over this one from their last disc.


i realize this is a RS list and all but how the hell is 'smoke on the water' not on this list? and weezer but no soundgarden? it's like they forgot what they were trying to compile half way through.

I hear what you mean. But what they were trying to do was cover such a vast range of great riffs, I think no matter what they would've choose, or the number they put them in it wouls still be debated. I agree ALOT of the tracks are not deserving (Nirvana....wtf?).....(Weezer?...need I say more?) but I think they just were trying to decide the best of something so hard to figure out.

@ mr dave

Good Job!

thanks rezz

gotta disagree with loser though. that nirvana track TOTALLY deserves to be in that list. the smells like teen spirit riff was monumental in its day. being that it's a list of 'guitar' songs you can't really leave that one out. it single handedly inspired a generation of kids to pick up the guitar.

No I mean it should be on the list, Just not so high...Maybe late 20's would be resonable. I mean I love Nirvana but there were better riffs that deserve that 10 spot.

my bad hehe

sorting the list numerically is pretty tough though. especially once you get near the top. i guess it depends on the criteria you use to select the tunes in the first place. i really couldn't see myself dropping SLTS much if i had to compile my own list.

I don't even get this list. Is this an air guitar dream list? Riffs? Solos? Most of the list is akin to a Smash Hits poll.

Pffft.

Santana's version is better by a huge margin, never got all the hype for Peter Green. He is a great player, but he wasn't doing anything that other bluesmen like Clapton weren't already doing at the time. Santana took what in it's original form was just an average blues song and made something completely different out of it.

i was just going with the tune. i'd never actually heard the peter green version before today. so when it came up on youtube i decided to check it out. i chose that one instead.

besides, the gist of the song is still the same. santana's outro bit is even listed as a 2nd track (gypsy queen). plus santana's version is WAY overplayed. :p:

He pretty much made that song his own though, and his playing on it is amazing.

Abraxas is an incredible album overall.

Any list that doesn't have Inside Looking Out by Grand Funk Railroad is pretty lame IMHO. So the list fails.

Abraxas is easily his best album. Not only that but if you buy the original vinyl, the album art is breathtaking as are many of Santana's other works. I am not sure who does them, but spot on job.

http://bluestormmusic.com/store/imag...na_abraxas.jpg

Mati Klarwein... He's really amazing. He also did the cover for Bitches Brew.

Surrealist and Visionary Art by Mati Klarwein - psychedelic art

I am not saying it's a bad song. I rock to 7 nation army all the time.

But if my 10 year old brother, who is no guitar prodigy, can play number 21 on the greatest guitar songs their is something wrong with the list.

Now it doesn't have to be malsteem material, but I think the 100 greatest guitar songs should involve a little talent and expertise in them. And I find neither in this song

Complete bullshit list...but, honestly what were you expecting?

Just because he takes the time to make constructive worthwhile posts doesn't mean you need to be hating.

who said i was hating? i aint no hater, im just saying maybe u need to find a hobby. but the list was unnecessary i mean we've all seen enough of rolling stones lists to know, they but the same tired **** on there

Chill dawg...we're all friends here right?

yeh i know, i know, sorry =\

I think there's a lot of talent in that song. I doubt many bands could write a riff which is THAT addictive and well known. And it has a nice solo.

I don't think it's that hard to write a riff like that.

I like the Stripes, but they have much better material. I mean the whole song consists of that riff, even the damn solo is just a version of the riff, and its like theres a climax coming but it never comes.

I can appreciate simple melodies, Beethoven did. But Seven Nation Army is as basic as it can possibly get. It's literally something anyone could play on the spot without any practice.

Of course they have better material. But that song still deserves to be in there, and that's coming from someone who thinks its enormously overplayed.

Well I could see it being in there since it's one of the most popular riffs there is. But it's way way too high.

It's in the 30's/40's for me.

Well that riff is helped out a ton by the drums, but its still one of the most loved guitar riffs.

I think when we consider what riffs matter most, we shouldn't look at rock fans, but fans of other genres who generally don't like rock but still love that riff.

Its crossover appeal is nearly universal, its primal, it a booty shaker surrounded by some classic rock thunder and its absolutly untouchable.

I think it should have been in the top 5.

Yeah but you're a fanboy.

I think you're right. We shouldn't let people with a genuine interest in a band ever make a comment about them.

Only those who don't care about an act can really judge, with the clarity of distance both emotional and physical, how a band, or more specifically their guitar rifts are.

Well said.

thnx