Guitarist makes rock 'n' roll history with 100 riff video

His hands may be sore after 12 straight minutes of intense rocking out, but it was likely worth the pain for Chicago guitarist Alex Chadwick.

The Chicago Music Exchange recently uploaded a video of the talented musician performing 100 rock riffs from the annals of music history.

He performed the song-bites simultaneously, flawlessly, and in perfect chorological order. More impressive still? The entire sequence was shot in one take.

The video has now been viewed almost 800,000 times on YouTube alone and is being touted as a great educational tool for students studying the history of rock.



Starting with Chet Atkins' 1953 hit Mr. Sandman, Chadwick plays everything from The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix to Rage Against the Machine and Modest Mouse on his 1958 Fender Strat before finishing with St. Vincent's Cruel.

For all of the praise this video has received, however, some critics say Chadwick has made glaring omissions.

"Where's Ziggy Stardust? You Really Got Me? Where's Wild Thing, for pity's sake? And why are they implying it was Camper Van Beethoven - not the Quo - who originally recorded Pictures Of Matchstick Men?" writes NME's Matthew Horton.

"Chadwick probably could've used a Kings of Leon song, maybe some Silversun Pickups, and he could've snuck another Foo Fighters or Green Day song in there were he so inclined," writes Andrew Unterberger on Popdust.com. "But otherwise, it's pretty slim pickings out there--unless you want to dig for the St. Vincent-level gems, there aren't a whole lot of Smoke on the Water's or Smells Like Teen Spirit's to be found these days."

A full list of songs can be viewed on the Chicago Music. But before you check them out, how many can you name?

Are there any songs you would have included in your own history of rock riffology?