![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan7.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/gillan2.jpg)
Another #1 for Smoke on the Water
According to the students of the London Tech Music School, Smoke on the Water riff is still the greatest of all times:
1. Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple (1973)
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana (1991)
3. Walk This Way – Aerosmith (1975)
4. Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix (1967)
5. Sweet Child O Mine – Guns N Roses (1987)
6. Paradise City – Guns N Roses (1987)
7. Ace Of Spades – Motorhead (1980)
8. Enter Sandman – Metallica (1991)
9. Under The Bridge – Red Hot Chilli Peppers (1992)
10. Welcome To The Jungle – Guns N Roses (1987)
11. Run To The Hills – Iron Maiden (1982)
12. Walk – Pantera (1992)
13. Johnny Be Goode – Chuck Berry (1958)
14. Back In Black – AC/DC (1980)
15. Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin (1970)
16. Wake Up – Rage Against The Machine (1992)
17. Highway to Hell – AC/DC (1979)
18. My Generation – The Who (1965)
19. 7 Nation Army – The White Stripes (2003)
20. Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf (1968)
21. Give It Away – Red Hot Chilli Peppers (1991)
22. Paranoid – Black Sabbath (1970)
23. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) – Jimi Hendrix (1967)
24. Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor (1982)
25. Money For Nothing – Dire Straits (1984)
Thanks to Reuters and George Kikonishvili for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
The greatest riff!
April 11th, 2008 at 06:38It is from 1972(composed 1971) not 1973.
And not “still”, but forever.
Ritchie Blackmore forever.
Sorry,
April 11th, 2008 at 06:53but I fear to fault if I say that the riff (SmokeOnTheWater) was discovered by Roger Glover?
the best riff..
forever dp
keep rocking..
all people who start guitar lessons,play smoke on the water.
April 11th, 2008 at 12:42four notes which writte and make history..
the name smoke on the water came from rodger but the riff came from the man in black !
April 11th, 2008 at 18:02the song was written by Ian Gillan, the title is by Roger Glover and this epic riff is by Ritchie Blackmore.
In interview IG said that Smoke On The Water wasn’t intended to include in the Machine Head album, but they hadn’t enough time to fulfill the album and thus, they added SOTW in the tracklist. But they didn’t think seriously about this song. (IG: “it was another 4 minutes added to the album)
But, surprisengly, th song became super hit in the world and the riff is still THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME after 35 years 🙂
yeah, it’s all right, this is rapture of Deep Purple
April 11th, 2008 at 19:56What would happen if they hadn’t included just this one song in the Machine Head???
April 11th, 2008 at 20:59The reason they chose the ’73 date, is due to the fact that it didn’t really catch on until the “Live” version was heard on “Made in Japan”. “Machine Head” was out for a year and SOTW was not noticed yet. Once “Made in Japan” was circulated in ’73, it was then a true “HIT”. Funny, during that time, all you ever heard on the radio, was the “Made in Japan” version, which is the version that was discovered and received notice. Now they only play the studio version on the radio. SOTW was the first song to get it’s great notoriety from a “LIVE” album. It wasn’t supposed to be their “Single”. It was just noticed by the masses and the rest is history. That live album set the standard for generations to come. I don’t think any other LIVE album made as much impact as “Made In Japan”.
Cheers
April 11th, 2008 at 22:49Myself and friends & fellow DP nutters,simply refers to “Made In Japan” as the “audio bible”!!! To us it simply means, as long as you own that album…..that´s really all you need!!!!
April 11th, 2008 at 23:49Putting ‘Smoke on the Water’ at the top of the riff list is a no-brainer. What is ridiculous, however, is the fact that some of these other wannabees have several riffs listed.
Just about every song Blackmore or Purple recorded could have made that list: ‘Space Truckin’,’ ‘Man on the Silver Mountain,’ and ‘Woman From Tokyo’ to name a few. The above list is more a popularity contest than anything else, with some people getting mention by default.
Good to see DP got there on their own merit.
Congrats to Blackmore and DP.
April 12th, 2008 at 15:05Congrats to all who had a hand in writing and performing the classic and to those who continue its legacy. You can tell the poll was not conducted in the US and to Stefan, I agree MIJ is the “audio bible of LIVE LPs”.
April 12th, 2008 at 17:33I know this isn’t a Sabbath site, but…WTF, where is “Iron Man”? C’mon guys!
April 18th, 2008 at 19:44Don’t blame this site for the exclusion of Iron Man. I think the original Sabbath is a great band, but is Iron Man their best riff? There is a sign in the music store where my son buys his equipment, customers can try out guitars anytime they wish, the signs reads: NO IRON MAN or SMOKE kinda’ makes you laugh??
April 19th, 2008 at 12:20NIB is sabbaths best riff it was the very first riff i learned on guitar lol
May 12th, 2008 at 01:43Where’s Sabbath’s Iron Man?
May 21st, 2008 at 20:08Don’t ask this to us, as we don’t know right answer, ask this to the students of london music schooles – Poll is created by their votes.
Iron man?! Common im wondering where Annio Mundi is! Thats one of the best riffs from Sabbath!
May 24th, 2008 at 03:43