10 Perfect Rock Guitar Riffs

There are only a handful of songs in the rock canon that you can truly say changed the game as we know it. For all of the amazing songs that have come and gone throughout the years, these are the tracks where you remember where you were the second that you heard it. Smells Like Teen Spirit is up there...Hey Jude keeps a residence in there too...but Purple Haze blows every one of them out of the water.

When the '60s just started to lean towards the psychedelic side of things, the opening riff to this song was basically jumping off the diving board into the world of Flower Power. Starting with the tritone riff in the first few seconds, the entire opening guitar figure feels like it kicks open the door of your mind, almost like it's tearing the old guard of rock down entirely to make way for something new.

What's more is that this is just the beginning of Jimi Hendrix's guitar fireworks, spending the rest of the song (and album for that matter) proving why he has some of the most majestic guitar chops than anyone else who has walked the Earth. While most people have to spend years earning their guitar hero credentials, Hendrix ascended to sainthood in just a couple of seconds.