AC/DC Wrote Best Riff Of The 80s

New list says the Aussie legends were riff kings

Published 22nd Oct 2012

The band's 1980 classic Back In Black topped the Gibson.com list of songs from the 80s ahead of the Rolling Stones' Start Me Up.

Gibson.com says of the song "Perhaps the greatest riff-oriented album of all time is the band’s 1980 farewell to dearly departed singer Bon Scott. Brothers Angus and Malcolm Young cooked up some of the greatest riffs of their career on this magnum opus (including "You Shook Me All Night Long,” "Hell’s Bells” and "Have a Drink on Me”), but none is more memorable than the hard and heavy title track."

Here's the top ten:

  1. AC/DC: Back in Black (1980)
  1. Rolling Stones: Start Me Up (1981)
  1. Ozzy Osbourne featuring Randy Rhoads: Crazy Train (1980)
  1. Scorpions: Rock You Like a Hurricane (1984)
  1. Def Leppard: Photograph (1983)
  1. Judas Priest: Breaking the Law (1980)
  1. Michael Jackson (Steve Lukather): Beat It (1982)
  1. The Clash: Should I Stay or Should I Go (1981)
  1. Guns n’Roses: Sweet Child o’Mine (1987)
  1. Rush: Limelight (1981)

(Gibson)