# Best Rock Instrumentals **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956 "2009-12-12T03:38:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/41 "2009-12-12T19:15:34Z")
The Smiths’ _Oscillate Wildly_ & _The Draize Train_. Fourthing Tull’s _Bouree_. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/42 "2009-12-12T19:28:26Z")
_Rough Mix_- Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/43 "2009-12-12T19:37:02Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Damn people. Did they stop making good rock instrumentals after like 1982? [No.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwyA1UXjOhg) Other instrumentals worthy of note: [Watermelon in Easter Hay - Frank Zappa](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfY3BhYNIjg) [Little Boy Blues - Triumph](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGptHr7-t9c) Preludin Fugue - Eric Clapton (couldn’t find a suitable link, sorry) [La Villa Strangiato - Rush](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbSWzK4nKQA) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/44 "2009-12-12T20:38:45Z")
I get to post [Battle Without Honor or Humanity again.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rxK4FtIgyw) Tomoyasu Hotei does get to it about 2 minutes in. I posted this in another thread not to long ago, with a better youtube video but I can’t get this video to run. Maybe you can get do better: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxeiylcLgh0) ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/45 "2009-12-12T21:18:38Z")
**Post 1982** Maybe not rock per se, but any time you get to post a link to [Medeski Martin & Wood](http://www.mmw.net/), take it: [Bubblehouse](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gm94MxHhbM) ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/46 "2009-12-12T21:39:35Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I get to post [Battle Without Honor or Humanity again.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rxK4FtIgyw) Tomoyasu Hotei does get to it about 2 minutes in. If you’re gonna go Hotei, allow me to link to his incredible cover version of John Lennon’s Happy Xmas (War is Over). That comes from my all-time favorite Christmas album, Merry Axemas. For non-covers, you have to include Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson Surfing with the Alien by Joe Satriani The Call of Ktulu by Metallica (this being the awesome version from the album “S&M”) almost anything by Rush, but I’ll second an earlier poster and go with YYZ And last but not least, my personal pick as the Greatest Rock Instrumental of All Time… This is from a side-project band called The Liquid Tension Experiment, which is pretty much just the guys from Dream Theater plus Tony Levin on bass. This is the best link I could find for… Acid Rain (apparently, you can only play this once in full, then it cuts down to just a 30 second clip) ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/47 "2009-12-12T22:59:25Z")
Genesis - [The Brazilian](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gjI67KBbRg) off of Invisible Touch ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/48 "2009-12-13T22:32:12Z")
I burned an instrumental-only CD a few months ago (titled “There Are No Words”); here are some of my absolute favorites from that disc (many have been mentioned upthread; all links, where available, are to YouTube videos): [ul] [li]_[Apache](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY-rPDwzM9M)_, by The Shadows[/li][li]_[Music to Watch Girls By](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ_WgrAAsBI)_, by The Bob Crewe Generation[/li][li]_[Close Behind](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBM9GDUi8ts)_, by Calexico[/li][li]_[Time Is Tight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHq4laFwAEM)_, by Booker T and the MGs[/li][li]_[Love at First Sight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RQ-dZ7c8w0)_, by Sounds Nice[/li][li]_[Out of Limits](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRe1Qeyb35U&feature=related)_, by The Marketts[/li][li]_[Walk Don’t Run](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ11y7pYl-8)_, by The Ventures[/li][li]_[Perfidia](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvbDlb3qK_c)_, by Los Straightjackets[/li][li]_Mile Over Mecca_, by The Sadies (no video available, but I can’t recommend this song enough – it’s amazing)[/li][li]_[Telstar](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ybCjf6ras)_, by The Tornadoes[/li][li]_Melbourne Mambo_, by The Mavericks[/li][li]_Only You and Your Eyes_, by The Sadies[/li][li]_By the Sea I Will Stay Forever_, by The Mermen[/li][li]_Varykino Snow_, by The Mermen[/li][li]_[Apache](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjiU2YAlYKY)_, by The Incredible Bongo Band[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/49 "2009-12-13T23:16:27Z")
And after sort of dissing The Ventures earlier, I have to point out that their instrumental recording of “Perfidia” was released long before Los Straitjackets (whose version is excellent) and apparently The Ventures had the first rock n’ roll hit with the song. It’s an old Mexican song first recorded by Xavier Cugat in 1940 and was played in the movie _Casablanca_. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/50 "2009-12-13T23:19:02Z")
[Billy Prestons’s Outta Space.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncrROmVJT2) [Hugh Masekela’s Grazing in the Grass](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0KekjM35w) and one of my personal favorites, [Young Hold Unlimited’s Soulful Strut.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4_r-x9MOYU) ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/51 "2009-12-14T05:09:45Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > The Smiths’ _Oscillate Wildly_ & _The Draize Train_ I was going to nominate these two, as well as _Listen_ by **The Clash**. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/52 "2009-12-14T05:20:13Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Genesis has several good ones - “After The Ordeal”, “Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers…In That Quiet Earth”, and “Duke’s Travels/Duke’s End” come to mind. The last one has one verse sung near the end, but I don’t really count that as “vocals” since the verse is just a repeat of a track earlier on the album. But the very nicest one (short, but sweet) might be \*“Horizons” \* off of _Foxtrot_. Basically it’s Steve Hackett more than it is Genesis, since it’s just solo acoustic guitar. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/53 "2009-12-14T05:34:11Z")
Jazz band, but a rock tune: [Half Life of Absolution](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x27b36_half-life-of-absolution-by-pat-meth_music) by the Pat Metheny Group. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/54 "2009-12-14T14:24:11Z")
While it technically has a vocal part, I think “Tequila” is essentially an instrumental. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/55 "2009-12-14T16:56:02Z")
Another that might not be considered strictly rock, but I’ve always loved “Water Song” by Hot Tuna. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/56 "2009-12-14T17:11:57Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Other instrumentals worthy of note: > [Watermelon in Easter Hay - Frank Zappa](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfY3BhYNIjg) That’s what I came in to post. I like the version from “Guitar” / “Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar” better (I forget which album it’s on, but one of those two). Joe ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/57 "2009-12-14T17:15:25Z")
Flipside by the Breeders Durango 95 by the Ramones. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/58 "2009-12-14T23:52:10Z")
In the category of all-guitar instrumentals, _Alisan_ by Mountain. It begins at the 5:18 mark [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1GIVJrgH-w). ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/59 "2009-12-15T00:00:53Z")
One of my favorites: [Nine Inch Nails - Just Like You Imagined](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHBRwAu8S2E) The sound on that video is pretty compressed and doesn’t capture the details as well as I’d like, but still a great track. ---
**Author:** ![Nurobath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@Nurobath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nurobath)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956/60 "2009-12-15T02:27:46Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > That’s what I came in to post. I like the version from “Guitar” / “Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar” better (I forget which album it’s on, but one of those two). > > Joe It’s on Guitar and the original version’s from Joe’s Garage Act III. It’s also one I was going to post. Since it’s taken I’ll go with: Zappa - [Black Napkins](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c-NMnYhM3Q) Steve Vai - [For the Love of God](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IrWyZ0KZuk) Eric Johnson - [Song for George](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGrtGQ_0-m0). I guess this one’s not really a rock song so I’ll also put [Cliffs of Dover](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgTdeh-U5LI) Another vote for La Villa Strangiato as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-rock-instrumentals/520956.md?page=4)