10 Best Instrumental Rock Music Albums Of All Time
No lyrics needed for these ten exceptional instrumental rock albums.
The heyday of the instrumental rock album might be over, in terms of numbers of releases at least, but there are still some wonderful and inventive bands out there creating lyrical-less music which continues to inspire and entertain.
With no words to distract, and no frontman to shoulder the burden of attention, instrumental albums offer both a challenge and an opportunity for musicians to show what they are truly capable of.
To hook the ear of the listener without a singer, a rock album has to be of extraordinary quality and depth, and the players themselves of the finest calibre.
It should come as no surprise, then, that virtuoso musicians abound in the round-up below. You won't find just guitar heroes here, however, or aimless extended jams. These are tight, coherent sets full of fantastic arrangements, resulting in some of the most mesmerizing, enveloping music ever recorded.
From early 1960s guitar innovators through to the pinnacle of the jazz-rock era and onto the post-rock landscape, we present ten of the best and most influential instrumental rock albums in popular music history.
10. What We All Come To Need - Pelican
Back in the 1970s, instrumental albums by rock bands were a common feature in the musical landscape, particularly in the progressive rock genre. Nowadays, it's a harder sell. Not that there aren't a plethora of great bands out there making notable records sans vocals, it's simply that you have to dig further to find them.
Chicago quartet, Pelican, are one such outfit who are steadily releasing album after album of intriguing music. That they are hard to categorize is likely a contributing factor to their relative obscurity but, like all such bands, those who discover and love them will stick with them through thick and thin.
What We All Come To Need, a particular highlight in Pelican's discography, is the band's fourth album, released in 2009. The album came at a difficult time for the group, who by their own account were suffering from burnout and added stress from external factors. Nevertheless, they put together a fine set here. Recorded in just three weeks, What We All Come To Need rolls out in clouds of dark, broiling intensity. Featuring guest contributions from Greg Anderson (of Sunn O)))) and Allen Apley (of The Life And Times and Shiner).