“As soon as you hear it it’s just, ‘Wow’. The simplicity of it and how powerful it is.” Watch Zakk Wylde reveal his five favourite riffs of all time – and his opinion on what makes a truly great guitar riff

From his breakthrough moment becoming Ozzy Osbourne‘s lead guitarist and later forming Black Label Society to his Zakk Sabbath project, involvement in the Experience Hendrix tour and filling Dimebag Darrell‘s shoes for the widely covered Pantera reunion, it’s safe to say that Zakk Wylde knows a thing or two about iconic riffs.

With that in mind, we sat down with the man himself last week to ask him to name his five favourite riffs of all time – and he didn’t disappoint. First up, Wylde picks out one of the most iconic riffs ever laid down and everybody’s favourite first motif to learn on the guitar – Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water. “All us rock/metal guys, rock guitar players, you would have to learn Smoke On The Water,” he tells us.

“As soon as you hear that riff, it’s just like, ‘Wow’. The simplicity of it and how powerful it is. Just amazing. It was Sabbath [I first discovered], and then I found Zeppelin and then Deep Purple after that. Aside of the great musicianship of all three bands, it’s just great songs. Song power. And all these iconic riffs, but great performances by all the guys: the vocals, the bass-playing, the drumming and the production on the albums, just timeless.”

Wylde also chooses classic riffs from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and AC/DC. Watch the whole interview below.

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N’ Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.