Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi is only the first guitarist to play with the Godfather of Heavy Metal...Ozzy Osbourne. No big thing, right? Tony Iommi was one of the first true metal guitarists, using the standard riff instead of licks that were more popular with music of the seventies. When others were singing about love, peace and happiness, Sabbath did destruction, fear, and evil in the world. They did not encourage Satanism or law-breaking, but instead, chose to sing about the darker side of our world.
Tony Iommi is great, because when I listen to him, he can play the most intricate, delicate sounding pieces and then kick into a hardcore, crunchy riff. His mastery of the riff gave musicians such as Hetfield something new to look forward to. For me, I cannot imagine music without steady riffs. His riffs are darker, slower and heavier than anything else one might find. The cool thing about Iommi's work is that whether he uses distortion or clean channels, his mood is always the same, and that mood is Black Sabbath!
Some Music from The Riff-Meister Iommi

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