10 Best Tony Iommi Riffs

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Check out our picks for the Black Sabbath / Heaven & Hell legend's 10 greatest riffs.
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[@1504Shawn]

Why is Electric Funeral so underrated?? One of the most awesome riffs ever!!!

[@Ubarberet]

Couldn't agree more

[@ednelson2501]

+MrHallitralli They must have just missed it. Obviously one of the greatest riffs of all time.

[@BCRichShredder666]

The best Sabbath song.

[@tannerraskin3646]

Agreed. That song changed my whole perspective on sabbath

[@isaacestrada4291]

It's probably cause the reflex in the sky

[@PanthersForce]

Tony Iomi is the real founder of Metal!!

[@Tritnew]

How about all four of 'em. Every one of 'em are legends.

[@lordythegreat88]

and to think it all happened because he lost the tops off a few of his fingers

[@hybridgarden]

The Dad

[@leomessi7058]

Tritnew Tony created that Heavy and Wonderful sound you know as Heavy Metal by down tuning and playing with a bass amp... Very uncommon in those days... He revolutionized guitar playing FOREVER.

[@MA1D3N6]

@@leomessi7058 cr7 is much better The best of world

[@roshangupta1403]

but what about into the void? ahh, who am I kidding, there's too many good ones.

[@nastylittlecritter]

Ian Hoswell this really should have been Top 25 Iommi riffs because made so many classics

[@thehellion754]

Ian Hoswell yeah, guess you're right Respect for your profile image, anyway. Trouble fucking rules

[@codythedoggo7671]

Ikr it's so underrated

[@ferrari48817]

How about every riff is the best

[@whenmonetwentblindofficial8272]

It’s just too hard man. Into the void used to be my favorite song and now it’s probably cornucopia... which itself has like 5 different riffs in it. Then considering songs like “megalomania” and “the writ,” there’s just too many to count to make a top 10 list!

[@HeartCalcos]

Toni "Riff God" Iommi

[@MLCrow]

*Tony

[@kassuyt]

Tony "Hand of doom" Iommi

[@oldschool1107]

I think that title goes to Page

[@thainhaines2853]

^ we need a Iommi vs Page vs Blackmore riff battle

[@josephstaub6967]

You can't list only 10

[@thewitchfindergeneral4015]

He’s the RIFF MASTER for crying out loud

[@asadhollow6477]

Put every fucking solo to do justice

[@Sean-cr7xk]

I was about to comment this But you beat me to it by 4 years😂

[@dvir12345]

100% agreed

[@mikekeeler6362]

Yes we can

[@ICACJ]

Sweet Leaf.

[@wreckoningday]

+1 for sweet leaf and no war pigs?

[@JohnnyCNote]

Definitely Sweet Leaf, and I was disappointed they omitted Wicked World and Fairies Wear Boots. I just recently became aware of Into The Void - I don't know how I'd overlooked it. I know you can never win with these lists, but Iommi is one of the most innovative guitar players ever, and the songs in this list miss some of the best examples thereof. At least in my humble opinion…

[@isaackatularu5125]

No Children of the grave or into the void!

[@J8D2]

Sweet leaf and NIB are joint first for me. They're so menacing.

[@pedrobenitezherrero9191]

Electric funeral

[@grxssly_incandescent2316]

I like how Sabbath Bloody Sabbath's higher than Paranoid on this list but not on the "Greatest Metal Riffs" list

[@natanaltman2293]

בדיוק

[@iedacastilho7303]

❤

[@rooctherooc2418]

Well it could be that the riff is better but not the overall song

[@caudalchile]

Tony handles heavyness and melody perfectly , that I think is the reason anybody can listen and enjoy Black Sabbath songs even people that's not into rock . These guys for me are like The Dark Beatles

[@Aryanof99]

Caudal Chile Ah, The Dark Beatles, amazing name 😊

[@hmpz36911]

Caudal Chile The Beatles were The Fab 4. Sabbath is The Sabb 4

[@davesaenz3732]

He plays both slow and fast, thus never really the same beat in every song.

[@romajikaiser8450]

Holy shit I had the same fucking idea, I thought I would sound stupid if I said that but holy Jesus someone has the same opinion as me

[@santinoweidmann6488]

They are much better than the Beatles

[@Retro80sMan1]

Ozzy:Blues Greezer:blues Ward:jazz Tony:metal

[@eruiluvataarv.6485]

Geezer brooo

[@koba5152]

@Eru Iluvataår V. Imagine if OP said Greaser

[@user-xw6uh3yp7g]

Geezer was still pretty metal, I mean his lyrics..

[@anationalacrobat2206]

TONY MARTIN U MEAN? LOL

[@sandipbiswas766]

Ozzy: Blues Geezer: Jazz Ward: Jazz Tony: Blues Balck Sabbath: Heavy metal There, fixed it for you kind sir!

[@charliefoxtrotthe3rd335]

To me, Black Sabbath is the father of metal and Tony is the reason. His riffage, his tone and style are as metal as one can get. Then you put a rhythm section like Ward and Geezer behind him, then Ozzy on point...you got a metal behemoth. Even today, if you are playing this kind of music, you owe a debt of gratitude for what they established and what metal is.

[@why-why-whywhywhy]

Charlie Foxtrot The 3rd - Well, duh. No shit, Einstein. 🙄😉

[@dathandsometroll1852]

Tony: Oh, You like heavy metal? Also Tony, but with Ozzy, Geezer and Bill: You're welcome.

[@richardwalsh3680]

I believe he got the name "Metal" from the metal factory at which he worked

[@shaebryant1916]

@@richardwalsh3680 metal came from the steppenwolf song born to be wild. “Heavy metal thunder”

[@c2jones]

@@richardwalsh3680 Exactly. Birmingham is a steel mill city and this was said to be part of their heritage.

[@WardAlienVideo]

Every riff Iommi does is gold.

[@davesaenz3732]

90% are gold. Specially first 10 albums, exclude Most of never say die album. Only liked title track, which is on my top 10 best riffs.

[@Harry-zc8rg]

The way Iommi is able to write crushingly heavy riffs that still sound bluesy, melodic and memorable is a testament to this man's unique genius. One of the most important guitar players in rock and roll.

[@slightlygothic3945]

what about war pigs??

[@pomaranc747]

+David Brown Or falling off the edge of the world

[@mikezeitgeist2]

War pigs is my favorite Sabbath song, but the drums make it great more so then any of the guitar riffs. Granted the riff towards the end at about 6 minuets and 30 seconds in is pretty cool. By the Way Iommi's cancer is in remission.

[@KKcesarin666]

has the best outro or luke's wall

[@nickbakaj322]

ya why no war pigs

[@suzycreamchez123]

My favorite too!

[@wardka]

I can't disagree with these selections. ALL of Iommi's riffs are in the ten best.

[@hhg_9977]

I agree

[@plate.armour_0996]

yes

[@ImranSahir1]

A National Acrobat is missing. It has to be one of the best riffs ever.

[@clifftheplanteddvd6330]

Geezer butler wrote that one

[@nicotesla6094]

_hass much more_ *Headles cross *Born to lose *The hands the rocks the cradle *Into the void *Trash (dont remember the complete the name, but the song is to the "born Again" álbum). * The law maker * Jerusalem * Dying for love * Cross of thorns and others

[@elderkime]

Trashed. Good song of born again. Zero the hero also has a killer riff

[@davesaenz3732]

The shining Ancient warrior Night wing Computer God I Time machine You can't change me Over the edge of the world The writ Hole in the Sky Megalomania Children of the Sea And many more......🎸

[@hughkingsley8631]

How can you forget Devil and Daughter, The Mob Rules, Country Girl, Sweet Leaf and there's just too , too many to list.

[@TheManwithafan]

Symptom of the universe is fucking heavy

[@painkllrrr]

+TheManwithafan While I completely agreed, the last 2:10 of SotU (when it turns light & acoustic after the solo) is some of my favorite Iommi guitar work (and I am a big time Sabbath fan).

[@not_relevant1353]

Hands down, the greatest lefty guitarist ever, in my opinion.

[@benjamindady4366]

Noooo Jimi is!

[@not_relevant1353]

Benjamin Lewis-Skeath Eh, I've never really liked Hendrix. Which is weird, because I'm a lefty, African-American guitarist. And Iommi's probably better. Mainly because he isn't dead yet and has been able to improve.

[@jacksworld1206]

+Scraplord32 you got a problem with him being African-American?

[@not_relevant1353]

+JacksWorld 1 are you, like, daft? How the hell could you have gotten to that conclusion. I just don't like Hendrix

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

And he's missing two of his fingers

[@mclovin3372]

How in the hell is A National Acrobat not on here? That’s THE best riff of all time

[@jerrodhoward9162]

Symptom of the Universe is CRIMINALLY underrated

[@jimg741]

where is a national acrobat

[@johnbazeyan7896]

jmg741 oh my god yes

[@marcinmrozowski6703]

The best one

[@thewitchfindergeneral4015]

jmg741 there’s too many good ones in tht song especially with the ending and guitar solo, ahh who am I kidding, all of Sabbaths first 6 albums are like tht

[@blacksabbath8284]

jmg741 national acrobat should be on here

[@blacksabbath8284]

jmg741 national acrobat should be on here

[@TheHeavyMetalJunkie]

The King of Heavy Metal Riffs

[@skruloos1]

Heaven and hell still gives me chills when I hear it!

[@user-nw5ep2rx7l]

Невозможно обозначить рейтинг из работ TONY IOMMI. Они все номер один! Удивительно, что за такую длительную карьеру ему удаётся не повторяться, не скатываться в самоплогиат, а каждый раз выдавать риффы и соло так радующие нас. Гений гитары, гуру рока!

[@ChernovFan100]

Fairies Wear Boots?

[@DapperFellowGent]

Into the Void??????????

[@JohnnyNada]

💯💯💯😳

[@ChingoMandinguez]

100% AGREE

[@jpruda65]

10 isnt enough!!!! Tony has so many great riffs!!! Two of my favorites are "Into the Void" and "After Forever"

[@Ailgadem]

I'm surprised Into the Void isn't in the top 10, really

[@kamilpietrzyk9905]

Years ago Tonny Iommi recorded wonderful album with Glenn Hughes called Fused. It's so underrated and full of astonishing riffs (Dopamine, Wasted Again, What You're Living For?).

[@tylergraham7266]

Children of the Grave?

[@venenoa8938]

is of the bassist

[@3baxcb]

Or how about Children Of The Sea?

[@Shahinnsadmann]

Greatest in my opinion​@@3baxcb

[@DanielCh9393]

A national acrobat is one of my favorites.

[@betaoooo]

Iommi's guitar solos are fantastic!!!!

[@mikebret701]

Happy 70th birthday, Tony! Your music shall live forever...

[@ClassNav]

Every riff is a work of genius. Into the Void was my favourite.

[@nickwaters1701]

Tony Iommi is like one of the greatest metal guitarists of all time and maybe the greatest metal guitarist that's ever started his career as a guitar musician. He developed a unique tone that defined heavy metal and he with Black Sabbath pioneered not only heavy metal, but also doom metal. I think he's the earliest actual metal guitarist to use the heavy palm mute. He was one of the best riff writers and players. Also, he has written amazing solos and has played them with a lot of amazing control with timing, vibrato, and bends. We miss Black Sabbath and we remember their music.

[@afterburner2869]

Top ten Tony Ioammi riffs not on the loud wire list. 10. Sweet Leaf 9. Behind the wall of sleep. 8. Into the Void 7. Children of the Grave 6. Wicked World 5. Neon Nights 4. Ferries Wear Boots 3. The Wizard 2. War Pigs 1. Electric Funeral

[@wadebowser187]

Oh"The thrill of it all" is sinister indeed.

[@yoopersen]

A national acrobat

[@afterburner2869]

@@yoopersen You really can’t go wrong with anything from Iommi.

[@Osvaldo__]

County Girl

[@anthonyjacob3508]

God Is Dead?

[@MrJerryrigged1]

Toni Iommi is the reason I picked up the guitar!

[@fabriziobianchi6940]

top 10 ritchie blackmore riffs

[@robch.2901]

Fabrizio Bianchi Hahaha! I'm a huge fan of both I prefer Iommi , but Ritchie have great riffs too .

[@venenoa8938]

Is Great idea

[@drewocie5314]

Battle rages on is very good for later purp

[@oasissands8584]

Gates of Babylon

[@mikekeeler6362]

Both great guitar players lots of great riffs

[@meanjoe4299]

Most influential musician and band of all time. Simply the greatest of all time

[@kevinrivera40]

Heaven and Hell is one of those riffs that get stuck in your mind and you start humming it out of nowhere. A beautiful riff

[@TallyHalligan]

He is one of my favorite guitar players love you tony!!!

[@pepeu123]

Tony Iommi the king of the riffs...🎸

[@takisguy7]

0 dislikes. Let's keep it that way

[@colbytrains]

Sadly not anymore

[@travo2112]

Only a non metal listener would dislike Tony and his playing. So the dislikes don't matter because non metal heads DONT know good music....!!!!

[@Siegetower]

+supersand So far 8 lost Hanson, Justin Bieber and Kris Kross fans have visited and disliked.

[@ghghhh6037]

+the snowdawg Thank you for saying that

[@drewplz04]

they just didnt like the list

[@Rock-iw7ov]

There are two many spectacular riffs that about 3/4 of their catalogue could qualify. Thanks Mr Iommi

[@salvatorecaravella365]

I love this list. I wish Children of the Grave was included

[@insensate999]

Damn, i was hoping for Into The Void to make the cut. Still a solid list, all of Tony Iommi's riffs are great.

[@siwak666]

there is nothing like 10 best riffs. All Black Sabbath's riffs are amazing. They are MASTERS! :)

[@davesaenz3732]

Most songs have 2 or 3 cool riffs. You need a top 30 best Iommi riffs. He's the riff maker.

[@percival1805]

My favorite of his is the intro riff to "Dopamine" on his record with Glenn Hughes. But regardless, he has written so many of the greatest riffs in metal, it's incredible...

[@RandomVideoCircus]

This guy is a genius!!!

[@iluvj50]

"Into The Void." "Voodoo." "Children Of The Grave."

[@marianna6412]

Voodoo is underrated The whole album is underrated

[@thathandleistakentrythisone]

One of my top Iommi riffs is the ending riff of Psycho Man 1999. It was so amazing that after 30 years, he was able to come up with one of the heaviest riffs ever fkn written. Savage.

[@Leo-gm2tv]

Bro that supernaut riff is insane. How does someone come up with something that amazing

[@chlejepan1735]

Where is National Acrobat ?

[@Faks.09]

Zero the Hero? That riff is amazing

[@JonHareGames]

That's Gong

[@rajdeepbhattacharrya1752]

You know this man's got something when he uses a forbidden tune in his self-titled album's self-titled song, that he releases on Friday the 13th

[@jonathancampos9803]

TOTAL RESPECT, MASTER TONY IOMMI!!

[@kevah94]

Sabbra Cadabra?! Come on :(

[@josepheich3977]

yeah what he f-n said Hole in the Sky. How about Fairies wear boots the middle part of hand of doom.

[@betelgeuse6617]

Sabbra Cadabra riff is sick

[@emmahull6014]

Tony Iommi is a legend

[@keegansterley3296]

Everyone here complaining about their favourite riff not appearing, honestly, he's made so many good ones it's too hard to choose just 10

[@leomessi7058]

I discovered Black Sabbath with Symptom of the universe... It was one of the best things that ever happened to me...

[@ofir123456789o]

Paranoid should've been number 2, and war pigs wasn't even mentioned?

[@thunderhorse6666]

+Darknesscoming and you're insane!

[@travo2112]

+ThunderHorse 555 Naw Paranoid IS overrated...

[@eddietruly8807]

+the snowdawg yes Juniors Eyes and Johnny Blade

[@roguelead72]

When your local radio stations think the entire Black Sabbath catalog consists of War Pigs, Iron Man and Paranoid, when you hear something different you realize there are better Sabbath riffs.

[@TheBest-tr7ov]

Ikr where tf is war pigs?

[@samuelordaz8135]

Tony Iommi ha demostrado ser un grande al nivel de Jimi Hendrix

[@SteamTrainTy]

Couldn’t agree more with with the top pick! IRON MAN ROCKS!

[@ellenrocklin7100]

should be his top 100 riffs there are so many great ones. THE BEST EVER

[@531ff]

Out of my mind - Who Cares . Backed by Newstead’s bass absolutely crushes souls .

[@charlieuetz2539]

Uhh into the void has one of the most badass riffs ever

[@oscarcastrejon1016]

I still get goosebumps to all the riffs of this Master!!! Specially when the crowd helps in Iron man!!!!😎😎🔥🔥🐨

[@VlogsNiKuyang]

The sound of tommy is real dark heavy and catchy…he really is the father of heavy metal guitar.

[@43captrexkramer]

It is literally impossible to limit the list to 50, you know the way SRV's contemporaries like B.B. King said that the blues just flowed out of him. Well Mr. Iommi tapped into a never ending stream of supreme riffage.

[@NigelFortune]

Supernaut is one of the greatest riffs of all time let alone just Sabbath. Should be no.1 imo.

[@dakesshi]

Black Sabbath and Tony Iommi are timeless🤟🏻

[@johnpanning4133]

Tony iommi and James hetfield, the two people in metal where every riff is the best riff

[@Angel-xp5et]

Into the Void? Children Of The Grave? Neon Knights? Zero the Hero?

[@brandondickie3456]

Just to see, I went and listened to Led Zeppelin’s sound during 1969-1970 (about the same time Paranoid was being recorded), to see how heavy the guitar sound was and, the level of heaviness that Tony Iommi’s guitar tone achieved is, it’s crazy. I know there were possibly other bands that were heavier at the time but I’m just going by Zeppelin since they’re often compared.

[@BrettWMcCoy]

You just can't narrow it down to 10, or even 100 :-) I am glad you included some of the Dio era stuff, especially "Fear" from "The Devil You Know". Freaking killer riff.

[@awqag]

There are so many to choose from, but for me, 'Falling Off The Edge Of The World' takes top place. That riff after the intro gives me chills.

[@davesaenz3732]

Perfectly said. If you like that track, you would like "You can't change me" same approach. 🎸

[@mattyp3400]

LORD OF THIS WORLD AND INTO THE VOID!!!!!!

[@scotmiller1678]

Best Tony Iommi riffs? All of them.

[@shahnanhasan4986]

he calmly riffing a headbanging riff, but never once he bang his head. MAJESTIC

[@OmegaMarioMaster]

There are people here saying "Where is this", Or "You forgot this one" That goes to show that Tony Iommi is the riff god

[@actuallythick2574]

Literally 🤣my boy Tony made riffs for days with no struggle

[@actuallythick2574]

Guy was a walking guitar

[@jasv49]

Let me try to come up with my top 10: (honourable mention:) Planet Caravan 10. Immaculate Deception 9. The Wizard 8. N.I.B. 7. I 6. Bible Black 5. Black Moon (look it up if you haven't heard it, I absolutely love that riff) 4. Iron Man 3. Headless Cross 2. Heaven and Hell 1. Into the Void But you can't really go wrong with Iommi. I'm pretty sure the guy is literally not able to write a sub-par riff.

[@Candy_Bobr]

JazzMan bible black is awesome

[@elderkime]

Black moon is awesome

[@Head318Hunter]

1. Into the Void 2.Hole in the Sky 3.Behind the Wall of Sleep 4.Symptom of the Universe 5.Under the Sun 6.N.I.B. 7.Faries Wear Boots 8.Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 9.All Moving Parts 10.Iron Man

[@Head318Hunter]

Honorable mention: Every other Iommi riff ever!! Seriously though there's so damn many. 11.Paranoid 12.Electric Funeral 13.War Pigs 14.Killing Yourself to Live 15.Sweet Leaf 16.Supernaut 17.Lord of this World 18.The Wizard 19.After Forever 20.A National Acrobat

[@scrumthebum2451]

War pigs is way ahead of iron man imo

[@scrumthebum2451]

Also rat salad top 10👍

[@marius9372]

Into the void is fucking insane

[@dezsodebreceni4829]

Yes, much better than the mainstream stuff

[@bobbyphillips2538]

Also everybody, props for keeping this discussion mature.

[@jc6594]

Happy 75th Birthday Tony Iommi

[@denverdubrule500]

hey loudwire here's an idea: how about stop stealing people's videos for these lists and at least give the sources in the description.

[@denverdubrule500]

***** what about em? lol

[@royalcat10]

+Denver Dubtle I don't think they're stealing anything. I think it's pretty damn obvious that they didn't personally film all of the videos in their list, and can go without saying. If they claimed the footage as their own, that'd be different, but they aren't. But more over, how do you know they don't ask for permission first? I could be missing something obvious here, but to my knowledge as of now, you're just making assumptions.

[@denverdubrule500]

royalcat10 true, but they should give credit to the owner of the video

[@WomackPhotoKCMO]

+Denver Dubtle Why? Its public domain. Is this really Lars?

[@royalcat10]

Denver Dubtle They should, but it's unnecessary for this type of video. The only time giving credit is imperative is when you make a product and say "All of the content is mine." or you are doing research on something and need to give credibility to yourself by saying someone smart said this. And this video is neither. It'd be nice, if they did give credit, but in the end it'd just end up being a few people ever see it and turn into just wasted time and effort, because pretty much every person who is thinking straight already knows that the only thing they did was put the video together, and not film each individual thing.

[@mikkicarr5717]

#1: Literally all of them.

[@god6196]

I don't know why but everytime I see Tommy Iommi I was think of him as a bad ass looking dude.

[@MrWilander88]

children of the grave , warpigs and electric funeral are one of the few riffs that really make me groove. Iommi is a god in his own way, when I list these 3 songs, im not trying to say that the other riffs are any less better. They all rock

[@zissisalimoudis6332]

Talks about Tony Iomy, uses shredy intro... Now that's blasphemy

[@overdrive6687]

Have you listened to Black Sabbath past 1974? Tony could shred that axe. Try the Mob Rules album.

[@rexrogers1859]

Every riff from Iommi is worthy of a much longer list and all bands that followed have been ripping him off for years out of respect. Iommi is Alpha and Omega.

[@6wm]

Legend

[@Marcobegazo]

Guys stop saying this and that should’ve been on the list *all of Tony’s riffs are godlike*

[@mickaelmeth2576]

Into the Void???

[@helderdodge5445]

Eh o verdadeiro pai da porra toda , simples e genial, 90 % das músicas tem um riff foda , tem bandas que tem 1,2 riff bom na carreira toda

[@mikeblaz]

Tony has like a 100 greatest riffs...this only touches the surface.

[@cmurphy0707]

I would've switched 2 and 1 for historical purposes because 'Black Sabbath' literally spawned an entire genre of music with that riff.

[@gettingcomfy]

where the bloody fuck is into the void?! seriously this riff formed new genres

[@ovtr8052]

Did you know that Dave Mustaine actually wrote all of those riffs

[@GIOO-M]

No, I wrote Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Heaven & Hell.

[@geneabrego9759]

listen to the Tony Martin era, that's where the real fun begins!

[@sinistrality7883]

"And upon his three fingers, Tony gave birth to Metal."