An interesting poll........

[mattblack850]

Zeppelin: Greatest riff
(Tuesday March 28, 2006 10:16 AM)

The guitar solo in "Stairway To Heaven" by Led Zeppelin has been voted the greatest in rock history.

The landmark 1971 track, which first appeared on "Led Zeppelin IV", topped a survey of 2,000 people, finishing ahead of Van Halen's "Eruption" and "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses.

Tracks from The Eagles, Metallica, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne, Free and Queen also featured in the Top 10, which is published in this month's issue of Total Guitar magazine.

The full Top 10 is as follows:

01 Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven"
02 Van Halen - "Eruption"
03 Guns N' Roses - "Paradise City"
04 The Eagles - "Hotel California"
05 Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
06 Cream - "Crossroads"
07 Jimi Hendrix - "Voodoo Child"
08 Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
09 Free - "All Right Now"
10 Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"


Not that these things really hold any sway with me, but it would be interesting to find out who these 2000 people are and how many actually play a guitar!!!

[EricV]

I might be wrong, but this looks very very similar to the Guitar World poll from 1998, where there was a poll on greatest guitar solo. Stairway was No.1, I think ( or 2 ? ) while Eruption was right behind it ( as far as I recall )
The subject line of the article is "greatest riff", so maybe the editor confused solo and riff ?
Check it out... the subject line says riff, while in the first sentence he mentioned that STH was voted the "best solo". When I read that, I immediately thought "apples and oranges".
Eric

[mattblack850]

Yeah, I'd noticed those discrepecies as well Eric!! I don't know if it is the same poll, as the date shows, I just found it on Yahoo Music News yesterday! That's not to say that it isn't just a re-print of an older poll. It does intrigue me as to who they ask in these polls though and how many of their 'panel' are actually muso's!!!

[gersdal]

There should be a minimum of agreement of the basics when having a poll. Is the poll about the best riff or the best solo. This poll dosn't hold the minimum req IMHO.

Would be like having a poll on favourite pre 1600 classical music and ending up with:
01 Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven"
02 Van Halen - "Eruption"
03 Guns N' Roses - "Paradise City"
04 The Eagles - "Hotel California"
05 Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
06 Cream - "Crossroads"
07 Jimi Hendrix - "Voodoo Child"
08 Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
09 Free - "All Right Now"
10 Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"


But polls in magazines are like that ...

[gersdal]

Comments
01 Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven"
- known as a good song and a nice guitar thing in the opening, also for the solo, but not for any riff..., right.
02 Van Halen - "Eruption"
- this is a solo, not a riff
03 Guns N' Roses - "Paradise City"
- well, here there are a great riff.
04 The Eagles - "Hotel California"
- song is great, no riff.
05 Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
06 Cream - "Crossroads"
- great riff.... ok
07 Jimi Hendrix - "Voodoo Child"
- great riff
08 Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
- great riff
09 Free - "All Right Now"
10 Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
- well, there is a riff here, but it is mostly the solo's and the song itself - again.

[Oceano]

What I would like to know is who votes for these things (because in all these years I have never been aksed to vote for one of these and don't know anybody that has) and what choices are they presented with. Surely they are given a pre chosen list of 30 or 50 and told to pick their favourite 10.

[EasieSeven]

Its hard to argue with that list, but it seems to reflect Classic Rock radio playlists more than anything else. I certainly love lots of those songs, but new music/new styles and new artists are important, even if they are just new to you.