Matthew Taylor wrote:Sweet Little Hifi by Pussy Galore. obviously.

Ooohhhh yes.

STF wrote:By opening riff I assumed what was meant was the guitar starts out alone and prefigures the rest of the song. But these posts are all over the place. Might as well pick anything.

I was thinking along these same lines. If we're talking about riffs that open songs then my votes go for :

Black Sabbath - Into the Void
Mastodon - Blood and Thunder
Mastodon - Mother Puncher
Bis - Wee Love
The Sonics - Have Love, Will Travel



Oh hang on a minute.
DRAGONAUT by Sleep!

This case is closed.

By "opening riff" I just mean an introductory part with a particularly impressive or recognizable hook. That's it. I'd say it doesn't necessarily have to be the main motif for the song, but in most cases it tends to be.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a guitar line either. The instrumental arrangement shouldn't matter. An opening riff could be played on guitar, bass, sax, keys, bassoon, glockenspiel, whatever as long as it's some kind of melody. It could be that 4-bar chord progression from "Clash City Rockers" or the opening glissando from "Rhapsody In Blue."

I don't know if drum/percussion-only openers would be included here, because to me a "riff" means some sort of a melodic motive. I've heard it used before, but is it even proper to use the expression "riff" for drum parts?

And yeah, you can pretty much pick anything you want to, I guess. It's a matter of taste so that's entirely up to you. I'd say the idea is to post examples that other people will most likely agree with.

i know this isn't cool around these parts, but the opening riff of my name is mud is one of the heaviest things ever.

The definition of this is surely the intro of a song, played solo, that causes you to stampede to the dancefloor like a mentalist.

"Into The Void" gets my vote also.
Or
"Just Got Paid"

"Just Got Paid" yeah. good call.

STF wrote:By opening riff I assumed what was meant was the guitar starts out alone and prefigures the rest of the song. But these posts are all over the place. Might as well pick anything.

If this is not the case:
Don't Look Back - S K W M

primate fly heavyweight wrote:the friend catcher. the birthday party.

check. mate.

I'll see that and raise you "Faint Heart."

Passing Complexion.
Has that been said here? couldn't be fucked to check. But my god...

King Ink (B-day Party)