Can anyone recommend some good riffs from bands that are somewhat famous?

nirvana - lounge act
red hot chili peppers - otherside(bridge)
creed - my own prison
limp bizkit - my way
our lady peace - life

theres a couple good riffs. not all that hard, but sound good.

No offense, but that's like asking "Does anyone know of a book that has words that people have heard of?" There are countless songs by countless people that have recognizable riffs. Are you looking for a specific genre or band?

By the way, questions like this would get the most responses from the "Recordings" forum. :)

I say rearranged...not hard but it is probably the most recognizable bass riff in pop music today....limp bizkit is pop (rock/metal/pop)

Originally posted by akajuve400g
I say rearranged...not hard but it is probably the most recognizable bass riff in pop music today....limp bizkit is pop (rock/metal/pop)

I second that notion. Man that was like the second riff I ever learned and I played it for weeks non-stop. Still do.

Is it metal you want? These songs have well known, easily recognizable riffs.

For Whom the Bell Tolls...Metallica
Enter Sandman...Metallica
Theme from Mission Impossible...Limp Bizkit version
My Way...Limp Bizkit
Break Stuff...Limp Bizkit
Patience...Guns n Roses
Paradise City...Guns n Roses
Walk...Pantera
Iron Man...Black Sabbath
War Pigs...Black Sabbath
Man in the Box...Alice in Chains
Rooster...Alice in Chains
Smack My B**** Up...Prodigy
The Number of the Beast...Iron Maiden
Fear of the Dark...Iron Maiden
Dr. Feel Good...Motley Crew
Back in Black...AC/DC
Fight for Our Right to Party...Beastie Boys
Rock and Roll All Night...Kiss


That's just for starters.

JO

Sabbath are always good for riffs, like, N.I.B, Children of the Grave, Symptom of the Universe, Dirty Women etc..

Stu

Originally posted by Stu
Sabbath are always good for riffs, like, N.I.B, Children of the Grave, Symptom of the Universe, Dirty Women etc..

Stu

NIB!!!! hehe

Cream-Sunshine of your love, Badge, Politician

Hendrix-Fire, Hey Joe

Queen-Another one bites the dust

Sonny & Cher :eek: The beat goes on

Temptations-Papa was a rolling stone, My Girl

When you have all those down, anything by Jaco. :D

Cream - Sunshine of your love is definetely an easy yet cool riff... the whole song is cool too.

i would add Radiohead - National Anthem if you want to make good impression in the college radio listeners. and is easy and impresive (more with effects)

and if you happen to have (and like) distortion, use it in:

Blur - Song 2... very cool track! i like to play the guitar strumming intro-verse on bass and then crank the distortion for the chorus-bridge-solo thing.

Les Claypool, you remind me of two songs with excellent riffs.

Jerry, The Race Car Driver...Primus
Tommy The Cat...Primus

jo

I would like to nominate the mountain song by jane's addiction

Welcome To The Jungle - Guns N Roses
Paradise City - Guns N Roses
Eat The Rich - Aerosmith
Living On The Edge - Aerosmith
Living On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
In These Arms - Bon Jovi
Whole Lot Of Rosie - AC/DC
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
Alright Now - Free
Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor

Try any stuff buy Ian Dury and the Blockheads (Some brilliant bass lines but not to everyones taste!)

Longview by greenday is a cool bass riff everyone knows.

Originally posted by JasonOldsted
Les Claypool, you remind me of two songs with excellent riffs.

Jerry, The Race Car Driver...Primus
Tommy The Cat...Primus

jo

are those riffs for beginners? :D

yeah they are kind of easy... but better try these ones first, then those:

Too many Puppies (strumming 101)
DMV (tapping 101)
My name is mud
Groundhog´s day
Spegetti western
Those damn blue collar tweekers
Air is getting slippery (too easy :))
most Antipop album

Originally posted by FLEABITE
Longview by greenday is a cool bass riff everyone knows.

Longview, Money (Pink Floyd) and Guerrilla Radio (RATM) were my first riffs :)...

BTW: anything from RATM is fairly easy and funky!
I finally learned ALL the self titled album, it´s pretty good practice!

has:
Slow Riffs: like settle for nothing
medium riffs: Freedom, Bombtrack...
Fast Riffs: the second part of Bullet in the head
Slap Riff: take the power back
Slide riffs: fistfull of steel
mixed riffs: Know your enemy...love that song...starts with slap, continues with normal fingering, ends with distorted bass... love it, love it :D

Another cool one is "Black dog" by Zeppelin. :)

...I was wonderin' when Led Zep would show up! ;)
In addition to "Black Dog", there's "Heartbreaker", "Living Loving Maid", "Four Sticks"(in 5/8 time), "Misty Mountain Hop", "The Crunge"(in 5/4 time), "The Ocean", "The Wanton Song", etc.

Here's one that just came to me-
Living Colour's "Cult Of Personality"(it even has a bar of 3/4 in there admidst all the 4/4 bars). Check it out...it can put your fretting hand into a twisted mess! ;)

The verse riff from Midnight Oil's 'Stand in Line' is quite good.

Blood and Roses - The Smithereens

Originally posted by HeavyDuty
Blood and Roses - The Smithereens

...which is pretty much "Riders On The Storm". ;)

you want famous riffs try these stairway or going to calf. barney miller mash the sting or love is arose lemon song old man rain paperback the fish school days roundabout heart of the sunrise petergunn fanfare for the common man

punctuation punctuation comma capital letters colons semi-colons full stops or periods if you are in the us yeah can not make much sense of what you typed ;)

most of the jerks that are out thier would not know a good song if it bites them in the ass

Originally posted by MJB
Cream-Sunshine of your love

i play that all the time

Originally posted by chubby28081us
most of the jerks that are out thier would not know a good song if it bites them in the ass

i agree i was playing bass today and these kids come up to me and ask to play marilyn manson and stuff and all this crap and im like no they suck and their like then play something cool and then i played some jaco and their like that was crap you suck so i was like maybe your just stupid. yeah that made no sense

I think if a lot of you young guys would start finding out how a lot of these bands got thier start it would make you sick so at least you will know what you are up for . A lot of the bands you see on Mtv are what we use to call factory bands they have someone who is kin working in the music industry or a group or team of insiders make them a band. lots of people don;t know that when the groups like led zepplin or the who or the beatles or fleetwood mac or eagles and even niel young started they would play 12 hours at a time for one gig plus you could get in for only five bucks.hey you could see 20 motown groups for even cheaper

Originally posted by chubby28081us
I think if a lot of you young guys would start finding out how a lot of these bands got thier start it would make you sick so at least you will know what you are up for . A lot of the bands you see on Mtv are what we use to call factory bands they have someone who is kin working in the music industry or a group or team of insiders make them a band. lots of people don;t know that when the groups like led zepplin or the who or the beatles or fleetwood mac or eagles and even niel young started they would play 12 hours at a time for one gig plus you could get in for only five bucks.hey you could see 20 motown groups for even cheaper

HALLELUJAH!!!

Hah, good point chubby. I can't believe the intro for GnR's Sweet Child of Mine hasn't made the list, thats an great sounding, and not overly difficult riff.

IF you're into simple grooves,how about...:"Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen
"Groove Is In The Heart"by Dee-Lite
"RollerCoaster"The Chili Pepper's version
"Low Rider" by Edwin Starr(?)
"The Crunge" by Zeppelin(Jim K. knows this one)
"Misty Mountain Hop" another Zep classic
"Play That Funky Music" The Average White Band

The first riff I learned was from No Rain, by Blind Melon. Easy enough.

Originally posted by Willie Dizon
IF you're into simple grooves,how about...:"Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen
"Groove Is In The Heart"by Dee-Lite
"RollerCoaster"The Chili Pepper's version
"Low Rider" by Edwin Starr(?)
"The Crunge" by Zeppelin(Jim K. knows this one)
"Misty Mountain Hop" another Zep classic "Play That Funky Music" The Average White Band

Dude-
...Don't insult The Average White band like that! That tune is by Wild Cherry(I saw both bands back in the '70s @Scope; really, there's no comparing them! ;)
"Low Rider" is by War(same band that did "Cisco Kid" & "The World Is A Ghetto").
"Another One Bites The Dust" is eerily similiar to Chic's "Good Times". ;)

Jim K, ooops,thanks for fixing the mix up!!! Wild Cherry,how could I forget.You lucky stiff,you got to see them. Arrgh! Warr, that's who I meant.Yeah,that's the ticket...At least I'll know who to look for when I search for the old school stuff.

I like Rappers Delight by the Sugarhill Gang it has a pretty easy riff to play. It's simple, easy and sure to get a party started :). Also any Curtis Mayfield or the theme from Shaft seem to be pretty good to learn.

Originally posted by BigJH
Also any Curtis Mayfield or the theme from Shaft seem to be pretty good to learn.

...thanks for reminding me-
"Freddie's Dead" by Curtis Mayfield off the Superfly soundtrack.

What's been happenin', Willie?

BigJH; I wouldn't call "Rapper's Delight" overly simple...or maybe I'm just a dolt and thinking of the wrong riff. I've been trying to practice it for weeks now; I use all strings (EADG) and find it moves quick. Actually this is the riff I try to practice on, before moving to simpler ones. Fun to play though... Also other fun ones (and good practice) are the bass lines from "Disco Inferno" and "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now". Someone mentioned AWB, I always thought their bassist to be superb. Nothin' like old school!