Best instrumentals you've heard

I'm a music producer, composer and instrumentalist, not professional yet but aiming to be.

Anyways, what are the best instrumentals you've heard?

p.s I feel as though this is an aspect of music not recognised enough (at award shows etc), at a time that many people criticise music and for example I commonly hear people stating that all these artists want to do is sing on catchy instrumentals, that in itself is a compliment to these producers, TRUST me it's not easy making something catchy.

To me nothing sounds quite like a Telecaster!! My Esquire 50 just sounds like heaven and is divine to play. My mate has a Fender Mustang 65 and I am so tempted to burgle him for it!! Such a sweet heavy sound!

I used to play keyboards when I was younger. I was a massive fan of the Yamaha's of the 80's. It was hard to warm to it as it doesn't get the juices going quite like a guitar does.

It really does depend on your poison. Many of my friends who use tabletops to record music and use samples I find a cheap way of creating music, though with time I have seen it as a fusion of music if anything else.

I have over the years found a new respect for Bass guitairs. Altough I don't own one, I would like to buy one in the future.

Read the thread again

Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield
Equinox Part 5/Crockets Theme - Jean Michel Jarre
Nightvision - Daft Punk
Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson
Oye Como Va - Santana
Drinking in LA - Bran 3000
Orinoco Flow - Enya
Chariots of Fire - Vangelis
Paradise Stars - Noah and the Whale

Orion - Metallica
Call of Chtulu - Metallica
Surfing with the Alien - Joe Satriani

I'll check these out

Good to see some people appreciate sound

If we we are talking purely an instrumental act then maybe something like

Saxuality by Candy Dulfer and Dave Stewart which was class.

If you are talking instrumental pieces, a lot of Pink Floyd stuff just wont be topped.

As a weird note, the best busker I ever heard was on the London underground who was playing Dr Dre The next chapter on the elctric Oboe - that was awesome!

God is an Astronaut - End of the beginning

Explosions In The Sky - Your Hand In Mine

'Space Instrumental' - Richard James

'Let's Go Away for Awhile' - The Beach Boys

'Mogwai Fear Satan' - Mogwai

'Believe, Beleft, Below' - Esbjorn Svensson Trio

Those'll do for now. They are plenty more, but I'll have a think. The last one there is jazz, but most jazz is instrumental so I don't know if you want any more of those.

legendkillarV2 wrote:To me nothing sounds quite like a Telecaster!! My Esquire 50 just sounds like heaven and is divine to play. My mate has a Fender Mustang 65 and I am so tempted to burgle him for it!! Such a sweet heavy sound!

I used to play keyboards when I was younger. I was a massive fan of the Yamaha's of the 80's. It was hard to warm to it as it doesn't get the juices going quite like a guitar does.

It really does depend on your poison. Many of my friends who use tabletops to record music and use samples I find a cheap way of creating music, though with time I have seen it as a fusion of music if anything else.

I have over the years found a new respect for Bass guitairs. Altough I don't own one, I would like to buy one in the future.

Although it isn't the topic of the thread, I'd have to agree that a Telecaster is my favourite guitar. I own one myself and it's comfortably my favourite to play. I'd never really liked them until I went to a guitar store and played one and I bought it on the spot (this was when I could afford to do that...).

Duane Eddy - Peter Gunn
Dick Dale - Misirlou

dry county - bonjovi

legendkillarV2 wrote:Read the thread again

Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield
Equinox Part 5/Crockets Theme - Jean Michel Jarre
Nightvision - Daft Punk
Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson
Oye Como Va - Santana
Drinking in LA - Bran 3000
Orinoco Flow - Enya
Chariots of Fire - Vangelis
Paradise Stars - Noah and the Whale

Orinoco Flow isn't an instrumental.

@Lance: and neither is Dry County (although it does have a storming guitar solo)

A couple of favourites of mine:

Transylvania - Iron Maiden
Ion - Apocalyptica
Dialectic Chaos - Megadeth
Christendom - Paradise Lost
Toss the Feathers - The Corrs
Kashmir - Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant oohs and aahs a bit but there are no real lyrics as such)
2112: Overture - Rush

dyrewolfe wrote:Kashmir - Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant oohs and aahs a bit but there are no real lyrics as such)

Which version of 'Kashmir' have you been listening to?!

http://ledzeppelinlyrics.com/physical-graffiti-lyrics/kashmir-lyrics/

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:Kashmir - Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant oohs and aahs a bit but there are no real lyrics as such)

Which version of 'Kashmir' have you been listening to?!

http://ledzeppelinlyrics.com/physical-graffiti-lyrics/kashmir-lyrics/

Okay - mental lapse there. I dunno why but the lyrics always fade into the background for me and I only remember the music.

Anyway, scratch that and replace it with Theme for Great Cities by Simple Minds.

The Future Sound of London - Dead Cities album. (Note: I know that's probably bending the rules slightly because the album does contain samples of noises and some, but very few vocals).
Jean Michael Jarre - Oxygene album
Orbital - Belfast
Duran Duran - Tiger Tiger
The Orb - A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld

By the way, "Crockett's Theme" was by Jan Hammer unless JMJ covered it too.

Murderers - John Frusciante
Oscillate Wildly - The Smiths
Aerodynamic - Daft Punk
The Spanish National Anthem
28 Days Later theme

Thought of some other little gems:

Ride - Grasshopper
My Bloody Valentine - Soon (a slight cheat as there's some quiet vocals in the background on it)
Radiohead - Treefingers

Can we include remixes? I'd recommend David Holmes' remix of "If You Tolerate This Your Children will Be Next" by the Manics - it doesn't have any vocals in it either.

I don't mean Oscillate Wildly - I'm thinking of The Draize Train. That's the awesome Smiths one

'Egyptian Reggae' - Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers.

"Smooth Criminal" on cellos is pretty cool.

How could I forget Fleetwood Mac - Albatross.

Tom Morello playing a guitar solo for The Ghost of Tom Joad at Bruce Springsteen's induction into the rock and roll hall of fame.

Suction Prints - Beefheart

Samba Pa Ti, Santana

Red Alert, Basement Jaxx Featuring Metropole Orkest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulf8cc5kNww

Actually, that whole collaborative album

ChequeredJersey wrote:Samba Pa Ti, Santana

Red Alert, Basement Jaxx Featuring Metropole Orkest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulf8cc5kNww

Actually, that whole collaborative album

Awesome!!

Will get that album.

I'm a newbie, can't post the youtube link, so, if you want to hear awesome music, copy and paste into youtube search this query
Игорь Рудой (саксофон) и Валентин Лысенко(бандура)

Most anything by Jeff Beck but - three guesses -Beck's Bolero stands out the most.

GG wrote:Explosions In The Sky - Your Hand In Mine

Great shout.


I'd go anything live by Dave Matthews Band. Their cover of 'All Along the Watchtower' is amazing, and mostly instrumental.

I second Dave Matthews Band. And Hocus Pocus by Focus.

A few from one of my favourite guitarists, Brad Paisley, from his 2008 instumental album Play: The Guitar Album. Country music has a few great guitarists, specifically Brad Paisley and Keith Urban.

Departure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1om912O13A

Cliffs Of Rock City https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8CrcXy_bMg

Turf's Up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61oAJAlz_90

Knights of Cydonia - Muse
Bibio - Lovers Carvings

Nothing Else Matters - Apocalyptica
Dialectic Chaos - Megadeth
Children - Robert Miles
Oxygene I - Jean Michel Jarre