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Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit named the best guitar riff of all time

January 2, 2025

Determining the ‘best’ of anything is always an inherently subjective concept, but that doesn’t stop media outlets (including this one) from putting together lists of what they think are the best or most important things on a regular basis.
This week, it’s the turn of guitar riffs. A list of the 40 greatest riffs of all time has been published on popular music site, UDiscoverMusic – a website that’s owned by Universal Music Group – and there are some interesting entries for sure.

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Kirsten Hersh’s Your Dirty Answer is an unconventional but welcome entry at number 40 with the author celebrating Hersh’s “intricate fingerpicking and ability to play striking distorted riffs”.
Elsewhere, it’s great to see the blues icons represented with John Lee Hooker’s Boogie Chillun getting some well-earned celebration at number 35 while it’s great to see the legendary Sister Rosetta Tharpe getting her due with a slot at number 28 for the incendiary Above My Head (I Hear Music In The Air), calling the SG-toting Tharpe a “cultural trailblazer” while the track itself “contains all the elements that made her so popular: inspired gospel singing and rousing guitar playing”.

Elsewhere you’ll find many of the usual suspects, though notably lower down the list than you’re used to seeing them – Van Halen arrives with Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love at number 25, Aerosmith’s Walk This Way comes in at number 17 and Ozzy’s Crazy Train at number 15.
We’re probably used to seeing those songs higher up these best- riff lists… whether their status as non-Universal artists counted against them is unknown but it’s notable that AC/DC’s Back In Black (Atlantic), which topped NME’s riff poll in 2012 is relegated to number 16 here, while Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love (also Atlantic) topped Guitar World’s most recent best riff poll, but fails to crack the top five here at number 7.
The top five are all perhaps unsurprisingly published by Universal or one of its many subsidies, but it’s also hard to argue with them as killer riffs in their own right. Sweet Child O’ Mine, Smoke On The Water, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Johnny B Goode are all absolutely iconic songs with some of the most memorable guitar parts of all time.

And then there’s Smells Like Teen Spirit – the defining guitar riff of the 90s and one that continues to spawn generations of new guitarists over 30 years later – though it is quite depressing that there’s no place for any riff written in the last 20 years on the list.
Despite ranking it top of the tree, UDiscoverMusic describes the riffs as “unoriginal” but notes that “the quiet-loud dynamic contrasts of the song, and Cobain’s visceral delivery, add to the potency of one of the best guitar riffs of the 90s.”
We should stress that this ranking is the opinion of UDiscoverMusic and its writers, and NOT the views of Guitar.com – should we ever decide to publish our own list of the best riffs of all time, we imagine it’d look dramatically different in some ways, and very similar in others – we’d certainly include a few from the last two decades in there. Check out UDiscoverMusic’s full list of the 40 best guitar riffs of all time below:
40: Kristin Hersh: Your Dirty Answer (2001)
39: Grant Green: Idle Moments (1963)
38: Poison Ivy: What’s Inside a Girl (2006)
37: Free: All Right Now (1970)
36: The Who: I Can’t Explain (1971)
35: John Lee Hooker: Boogie Chillen’ (1948)
34: Hole: Celebrity Skin (1998)
33: Joan Armatrading: Steppin’ Out (1976)
32: Bonnie Raitt: Something To Talk About (1991)
31: The Smashing Pumpkins: Today (1993)
30: Judas Priest: Breaking The Law (1980)
29: Howlin’ Wolf: Smokestack Lightnin’ (1956)
28: Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Above My Head (I Hear Music In The Air) (1947)
27: The Sex Pistols: Pretty Vacant (1977)
26: Heart: Barracuda (1977)
25: Van Halen: Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love (1978)
24: The Smiths: This Charming Man (1983)
23: Dire Straits: Money For Nothing (1985)
22: Queens Of The Stone Age: No One Knows (2002)
21: Muddy Waters: Mannish Boy (1955)
20: The Beatles: Day Tripper (1965)
19: Derek And The Dominoes: Layla (1970)
18: Queen: Killer Queen (1974)
17: Aerosmith: Walk This Way (1975)
16: AC/DC: Back In Black (1980)
15: Ozzy Osbourne: Crazy Train (1980)
14: Metallica: Enter Sandman (1991)
13: U2: With Or Without You (1987)
12: Tom Petty: Free Fallin’ (1981)
11: Rush: Tom Sawyer (1981)
10: The Kinks: You Really Got Me (1964)
9: ZZ Top: La Grange (1973)
8: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Purple Haze (1967)
7: Led Zeppelin: Whole Lotta Love (1969)
6: Link Wray: Rumble (1958)
5: Guns N’ Roses: Sweet Child O’ Mine (1988)
4: Deep Purple: Smoke On The Water (1972)
3: The Rolling Stones: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (1965)
2: Chuck Berry: Johnny B Goode (1958)
1: Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
See more at udiscovermusic.com
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