The 2000s offered a wide variety of music styles and guitar riffs.

With the rise of nu metal, alternative metal, evolving alternative rock, and pop punk, this era spans genres as far and wide as most personal music libraries.

With the 2000s now well in the past, some of these riffs may tug at your nostalgia and bring you back to simpler times of bulky computer monitors and pre-camera cell phones.

Let’s dive into the riffs that helped define the 2000s.

Each riff is listed chronologically by release date.

Table of Contents

• Down With the Sickness
• Plug In Baby
• Fat Lip
• Can’t Stop
• No One Knows
• Cochise
• Seven Nation Army
• Are You Gonna Be My Girl
• Mr. Brightside
• American Idiot
• Blood and Thunder
• Take Me Out
• B.Y.O.B.
• Beast and the Harlot
• The Dark Eternal Night

1. Down with the Sickness (2000)

Artist: Disturbed
Album: The Sickness
Guitarist: Dan Donegan

Following the success of The Sickness, Disturbed took the early 2000s by storm. Donegan’s aggressive riff, paired with David Draiman’s unmistakable vocal delivery, helped define the sound of the era.

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2. Plug In Baby (2001)

Artist: Muse
Album: Origin of Symmetry
Guitarist: Matt Bellamy

Bellamy’s wailing riff drives Plug In Baby into the conversation for one of the greatest riffs of the decade. The song was later voted the best riff of the 21st century by Total Guitar readers.

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3. Fat Lip (2001)

Artist: Sum 41
Album: All Killer No Filler
Guitarist: Dave Baksh

Blending rap and punk rock, Sum 41 broke into the mainstream with Fat Lip. The opening riff launches the song before the band explodes into one of the most recognizable tracks of early-2000s pop punk.

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4. Can’t Stop (2002)

Artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Album: By the Way
Guitarist: John Frusciante

Can’t Stop builds anticipation before Frusciante’s funky riff drops and sets the rhythmic foundation for the entire song.

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5. No One Knows (2002)

Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
Album: Songs for the Deaf
Guitarist: Josh Homme

Homme’s punchy, staccato riff immediately grabs attention and helped push Queens of the Stone Age into the mainstream.

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6. Cochise (2002)

Artist: Audioslave
Album: Audioslave
Guitarist: Tom Morello

Morello’s massive riff in Cochise arrives about a minute into the song and delivers the heavy punch Audioslave became known for.

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7. Seven Nation Army (2003)

Artist: The White Stripes
Album: Elephant
Guitarist: Jack White

Often mistaken for a bass line, Seven Nation Army’s riff is played on a guitar through a pitch-shifting pedal. It has since become one of the most iconic riffs of all time.

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8. Are You Gonna Be My Girl (2003)

Artist: Jet
Album: Get Born
Guitarist: Cameron Muncey

This high-energy riff helped Jet’s breakout hit earn the top spot on Triple J’s Hottest 100 and remains a staple of 2000s rock playlists.

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9. Mr. Brightside (2004)

Artist: The Killers
Album: Hot Fuss
Guitarist: Dave Keuning

The song-long riff in Mr. Brightside drives the track from start to finish and helped establish The Killers as one of the biggest bands of the decade.

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10. American Idiot (2004)

Artist: Green Day
Album: American Idiot
Guitarist: Billie Joe Armstrong

American Idiot proved that punk rock and politics can coexist, delivering a fast, aggressive riff that defined Green Day’s mid-2000s era.

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11. Blood and Thunder (2004)

Artist: Mastodon
Album: Leviathan
Guitarist: Brent Hinds

This ferocious riff helped cement Mastodon as one of the most important metal bands of the decade.

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12. Take Me Out (2004)

Artist: Franz Ferdinand
Album: Franz Ferdinand
Guitarist: Alex Kapranos

Take Me Out’s instantly recognizable riff helped bring indie rock to mainstream audiences.

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13. B.Y.O.B. (2005)

Artist: System of a Down
Album: Mezmerize
Guitarist: Daron Malakian

B.Y.O.B. blends rapid tempo changes, aggressive riffs, and political commentary into one of the most distinctive songs of the decade.

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14. Beast and the Harlot (2005)

Artist: Avenged Sevenfold
Album: City of Evil
Guitarist: Synyster Gates

The dramatic intro and blistering riffs in Beast and the Harlot helped push Avenged Sevenfold into mainstream metal success.

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15. The Dark Eternal Night (2007)

Artist: Dream Theater
Album: Systematic Chaos
Guitarist: John Petrucci

The Dark Eternal Night showcases Petrucci’s rhythmic precision and technical mastery. Readers of Total Guitar voted it one of the best riffs of the decade.

How does this list compare to your own?

If you are an ambitious, intermediate guitarist looking to elevate your skills, the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media offers programs designed to help you grow as a musician.

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