Alex Chadwick from the Chicago Music Exchange has performed 100 rock riffs spanning the history of the genre in one epic 12-minute video. Scroll down to see it in action.
The medley of rock history is performed on a 1958 Fender Stratocaster running through a 1957 reissue tweed Fender Deluxe amp, which sounds all the better for Alex's masterful playing.
Starting with Chet Atkin's "Mr. Sandman", the video runs through early rock n' roll through 1960s legends like The Beatles and Rolling Stones, to hits from Thin Lizzy, The Police and Michael Jackson — and that's before making it halfway through the video.
By the end, you can hear how rock is still alive with so many classic riffs still emerging in the modern day. Perhaps the only thing more impressive than hearing rock's entire history in such a short time is that Alex plays the video in one take.
Watch Alex playing a history of rock in 100 riffs here:
What do you think? Which classic riffs did Alex miss out, and did you discover any rock gems that you hadn't heard before? Post your thoughts in the comments.
You have to inclue ATLEAST The Trooper and one or two more songs such as Back in the Village, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Hallowed Be Thy Name, The Prisoner,or really ny of their songs up to the Blaze Baily era and a few after.
Fucking hell that was rad, don't think I can even play 100 songs haha. It's funny how many riffs I knew but hadn't a clue who they were by. Absolutley delighted Mastodon made an appearance
Starts with blues, goes to heavy distortion all the time in the 70s, transitions to more harmonically challenging stuff in the 80s, reverts to blues in the 90s and 00s, melds with synthpop in the 10s. I hope the 20s present a better challenge.
Fucking hell that was rad, don't think I can even play 100 songs haha. It's funny how many riffs I knew but hadn't a clue who they were by. Absolutley delighted Mastodon made an appearance
i was kind of surprised by how they were randomly thrown in there with the other modern rock songs he put in (mostly indie)
Very awesome. Did Van Halen & Jack White has the most riffs in this list? I counted 3 Each.
I only counted 2 for van halen (running with the devil and hot for teacher). If the most is 2 songs, there's like 10 or so artists who were in that list twice
cmon, where the ****'s zeppelin? heartbreaker? rock n roll? black dog? i could go on...
He did play "Communication Breakdown".
Overall, definitely cool, I would've also liked to see Sex Pistols (Bodies), King Crimson (21st Century Schizoid Man), Pretenders (Talk of the Town), and Presidents of the USA (Lump)
cmon, where the ****'s zeppelin? heartbreaker? rock n roll? black dog? i could go on...
You must not have even watched the video. They were on twice, 18 and 22, pay attention. Besides, it's a brief history of rock, not brief history of zeppelin, however much of an influence they were
Wow. That was awesome. Although, I can't believe he didn't do Sunshine of Your Love. And I was so happy to see the Strokes on this list. It warmed my heart. It would have been cool to see 25 Or 6 To 4 on here as well. But, I won't complain anymore. This was so good.
i don't think that "welcome to paradise" and "boulevard of broken dreams" are more influental than "american idiot" that's it about green day, other songs were just great. learned new riffs by the way.
That was awesome... glad to see that nobody is hating on this and just supporting good music and paying respect to Rock n' Roll's past even though each of us may have our favorites.
i know its in my name and people will think im a fanboy but... no Iron Maiden...?
Just what I was thinking. Also no Incubus? come on they have some good riffs, System of a down? Tool? Megadeth? Anthrax? Pantera, Nothingface? a lot of good bands missed out here in my opinion.
amazing, ok...I wanna start. ...scorpions, kiss, iron maiden , judas priest, tool, oasis, radiohead...i was waiting for paranoid android, stairway to heaven, sunshine of your love, breaking the law, ..master of puppets, blur, more of rush ....i mean...nobody will be happy with the list , but hey....very cool
I think he did a good job with the modern parts, in choosing the riffs that hopefully will be remembered. Keep in mind, there has always been shitty pop music; we just don't remember the pop music from the days of Led Zeppelin and Hendrix, because, well.... it was shitty pop music. He choose the music that will more than likely outlast all the modern pop music.
Its an amazing piece of guitarwork but would mean him tuning to Bb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb, Eb. Something im sure he wouldnt be able to do in this kind of situation lol
Nice job. But of course the tone on a lot of the songs could use some work, just doubt that would be possible in this type of vid. And loving his appreciation of newer blues based bands like the Keys and Stripes.
Heyy he plays Mastodon...No its Mastadon my mistake...I really enjoyed this..liked how he played through all the grunge period soundgarden,pearl jam , nirvana ,AIC ,STP
I've alreardy seen the vid. Is pretty cool,but, I find upsetting how he plays alternative genres of rock as Grunge or Punk. I think, that, more about Bo Diddley, Frank Zappa, The yardbirds, Jeff Beck ,Yes; really helpful bands when it was about to build the Rock Genre. Or even the Allman Brothers, I think thats more history or more rock [and by rock,I mean pure rock] than anything as Green Day.
PD: I don't mean Green Day isn't okay in any sense, just that...History, Rock, there are better bands and influences to drop...
Would have liked to see some Pantera, Iron Maiden, Guthrie Govan, John Mayer, or Dream Theater in there, but otherwise, a really awesome list played extremely well!
he must be tap dancing on the pedal board to be changing tones so much
Multi effects pedal boards allow you to slot multiple effects at ease in a row, so that all you have to do is tap the next button.
iscreamicecream wrote:
Wheres the A7x unholy confessions riff??? stairway??the trooper?? cowboys from hell? plug in baby?? anyway..not bad.
Where's the metulz!?!?!?! In the HISTORY OF ROCK list.
As much as I really like metal music too, this is a rock list, not a metal list...
Rule Britannia wrote:
Green Day is there but not Iron Maiden...the ****?
Maiden is metal, and doesn't really fit into the ROCK category. Green Day is POP PUNK ROCK(not hardcore punk), and fits into the category of rock. While I agree that Iron Maiden is leagues more influential (and better), they just don't fit the category, especially when the list is only limited to 100 slots.
Besides, this isn't "The best 100 best rock riffs of the last 60 years", it's more "100 Riffs that exemplify Rock over the last 100 years".
Impressive, I think the problem with a lot of the modern stuff, last twenty years or so, is that we don't have perspective on it. It's difficult to sort out what's going to be around twenty years from now, and so the end is going to be much more contentious. Also, and this is just his choice, except for the mastodon, sabbath, dio, and the ramones, he's not interested in metal or punk, or really anything that's really "out there" which is understandable and just part of the video.
i know its in my name and people will think im a fanboy but... no Iron Maiden...?
No it's true. The fact that there are two by Green Day (not even the good ones, Jese Christ) and none by Iron Maiden is notable. How is The Trooper not one of the greatest riffs in history?? Also, on the subject of Green Day, I would think it appropriate in order to really represent the contributions of pop punk the history of rock n' roll to have taken out at least one Green Day song for Dammit by Blink-182. That song is a modern classic.
ok, whether some like it or not, no one gives a shit. he's played well except at some places. and everybody has his/her complain on "why not this band? why not this song?" so, i want to be the same stereotype one last time () and say How not UGLY KID JOE?? they have the sickest riffs in their 90's albums man! anyway that's just a fan request. go ahead and humor me.
the only way he could've met UG crybabies happy is to restrict each band/guitarist/singer with only 1 song. i.e. Beatles is represented by Helter Skelter ONLY.that way he'd have played 100 songs by 100 different acts. then again,maybe that wouldn't have fit the purpose of the whole idea.waaazzzaaappppp.
Sex Pistols. Number of the beast or The Trooper. May be even Quiet Riot (I don't like them either, but the had the first number 1 metal album). I don't know why Communication Breakdown was on there instead of rock N roll or Black Dog, but I suspect Stairway to Heaven isn't exactly a riff.
Sure he's "missed" some but imagine if you had to pick a collection of 100 riffs throughout rocks history. I'm sure you'd have to leave some out for the sake of transitioning and stuff. I think he did a great job.
That was great, really an amazing job getting every right feeling right away with the different song riffs. I do have to say I missed Les Paul and Jeff Beck. But then again, there are so many amazing riffs, this was obviously just a brief history. Really nicely done.
Sweet vid. I second all who missed 21st Century Schizoid Man. No complaints but maybe 'I'd Love to Change the World' - 10 Years After, Frankenstein - Edgar Winter, Aqualung - Jethro Tull would be cool to see. Oh yeah, and Tweezer by Phish, of course
Imagine how many takes this must've taken. All the transitions in riffs, timing, tones, it's ridiculous that he could even achieve all of it in one take at all without too many noticeable mistakes. Oh can't forget the on-the-fly tuning changes as well. Also, a pretty good list of rock riffs to show us some history. Maybe a little iffy in the end but the last decade has offered a lot of mediocre material at best so it's hard to bash the list.
great video. While I was disappointed to see no Arctic Monkeys or Radiohead, I'm completely appreciative of the fact that choosing only 100 riffs would have been TOUGH. Hysteria was expected (great song) but it was a pleasant surprise to see the strokes on there.
Very awesome. Did Van Halen & Jack White has the most riffs in this list? I counted 3 Each.
I only counted 2 for van halen (running with the devil and hot for teacher). If the most is 2 songs, there's like 10 or so artists who were in that list twice
I think Van Halen also did the Michael Jackson song as well so I counted that.
This guy basically got everything, but if you have Layla ad Crossroads, you have to follow with Clapton's solo efforts and have Cocaine somewhere. Would have liked to see Mason Williams' Classical Gas, too, but either way it's a great vid.
OH FFS the dude probably knows all the riffs the whiners are complaining about, he just didn't feel like sitting there for 4 hours trying to appease everyone on UG. This dude is epic. end of story
5 pm / quote |
Really nicely done.