Tony ‘The Eternal Riffmaster’ Iommi singled out to Metal Hammer the favorite riff he wrote ever. Take a look at the answer:
“Oh my god, that’s difficult. I like [1971’s] ‘Into the Void.’
But there is more:
“And I like some of the stuff we did with Dio – ‘Heaven and Hell’ was a good riff, ‘Neon Nights’ [both released in 1980]. There’s so many I like. I like pretty much all the stuff we’ve done.”
https://youtu.be/YF3jeAPGhrY
From other players:
“That’s even harder. There’s so many great riffs out there from the past, and up to date stuff.
“But you’ve got to have Deep Purple‘s ‘Smoke on the Water‘ [1972]. And of course, there are a lot of Zeppelin songs. Jimmy Page has some great riffs.”