10 Greatest Metallica Riffs EVER

10. Enter Sandman

Come on...how could you not have a Metallica riff contest and not include Enter Sandman? Granted, over the years the song's overplay have led many die-hard fans to classify it as one of the worst songs Metallica has to offer. Even so, there is something that draws you in that makes you want to experience this song again for the 2000th time.

Using the devil's interval of music, the riff starts off almost bluesy before Lars' drums kick in to bring the riff to its fullest potential. For as classic as a riff this is, it's weird that it actually wasn't written by James Hetfield. When originally coming up with demos for the Black Album, this track turned up on Kirk Hammett's playlist, albeit in a more abbreviated form than the classic we know today.

Though it would be easy to say that it didn't become classic until Hetfield came in, the real mastermind was Lars Ulrich, who suggested that they use the more classic pattern that we know today of 3X1. You can tell that these guys knew they had something special on their hands, seeing how it's one of the only songs in their discography to be based around one lick moved around the fretboard.

While many will contest how much it's overplayed, there's a reason why this song has won over as many fans as it has back in the day.