The Big Four's Best Riff Writers

[ZeroTolerance]

They are all good. Every one of them has it's good and bad sites.

 

[sakeido]

James is good but I grew out of Metallica and into Megadeth somehow, so I voted Dave. Holy Wars, Tornado of Souls, Hangar 18, Almost Honest...

 

[Black Mamba]

Dave for me.

 

[Joose]

Hetfield all the way. I've never heard an Anthrax or Megadeth song I like. And while Slayer is awesome, I've never been able to truly get into them.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

Another Hetfield vote. The opening riff in "Shortest Straw" alone is enough. "Holy Wars" is pretty bad ass for a runner up Dave.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Gary Holt is significantly better than all of them IMHO.


But from that list I have to go with Papa Het

 

[gunch]

Hanneman but when it comes to Thrash riffers Max Cavalera was something else.

 

[Andromalia]

I'd place Dave and James on equal footing, as they do a very different thing. James has that right hand rythm and uses a lot of chords, Dave wrote a lot of single note riffs with a few chords here and there. Jeff Hanneman wrote excellent killer riffs but followed a trademark recipe that can be copied easily. As for Scott Ian, never really was into Anthrax.

 

[AdamMaz]

Gary Holt is significantly better than all of them IMHO.

BBB is easily the best collection of riffs, Holt however has been tapped out for years.

@ the guy who said Slayer wrote the heaviest riffs:

 

[Nats]

I'm gonna go with Metallica first, Anthrax second, Slayer third and Megadeth in no place because I hate their music.

 

[spawnofthesith]

BBB is easily the best collection of riffs, Holt however has been tapped out for years.

Idk, I'd personally take modern Exodus over any of the big 4's modern out put -shrug-

 

[kris_jammage]

James for me! He's the reason I started playing guitar, much like many other people here I guess.

 

[Maggai]

I think Kirk deserves to be on this list as well.

 

[ArtDecade]

I think Kirk deserves to be on this list as well.

Riff writers only.

Kirk may have had some input, but in Metallica-land, James is King!

 

[BucketheadRules]

Hetfield, took me about half a second to think about it.

Mustaine and the Slayer guys write some killer riffs too. Never been into Anthrax.

 

[AliceLG]

Until I can convince the world that Anthrax has been usurping Testament's place in The Big Four, Papa Het takes the win handsomely.

Now when the rest of the world finally comes to its senses, Skolnick's and Peterson's riffs take Het's up the ass ... every time.

 

[elrrek]

Slayer.
Hell Awaits : the riff post intro
Reign in Blood : all of it
Mandatory Suicide : the signature riff
War Ensemble : the verse and the mid section before Jeff'S solo
Discipline : it's like a tank!
Catalyst : another tank.
Psycopathy Red : a tank with a super charger!

 

[ArtDecade]

Until I can convince the world that Anthrax has been usurping Testament's place in The Big Four, Papa Het takes the win handsomely.

Anthrax had three classic thrash albums out before Testament released their first album. Testament is a great band, but they came to the game later. Thrash was already established.

Now when the rest of the world finally comes to its senses, Skolnick's and Peterson's riffs take Het's up the ass ... every time.

False statement.

 

[Curt]

Slayer.
Hell Awaits : the riff post intro
Reign in Blood : all of it
Mandatory Suicide : the signature riff
War Ensemble : the verse and the mid section before Jeff'S solo
Discipline : it's like a tank!
Catalyst : another tank.
Psycopathy Red : a tank with a super charger!

+1 to all of this.

I would've voted Het, but Slayer was my jump into metal.

 

[Rosal76]

I love all of the individuals listed but had to pick Dave Mustaine for the fact that I just like his style more than the other guys. If this was a poll as to has a lot of power behind their playing, than I would definately vote for James Hetfield.