Another one that just popped into my mind is “Albatross” by Fleetwood Mac.
I’ll go for:
Santana: Every Step of the Way (from either *Caravanserai *or live on Lotus)
Pink Floyd: A Saucerful of Secrets (the track)
Allman Brothers: Whipping Post (why has no-one mentioned this yet?) (from The Fillmore Concerts)
Brian Eno: Sparrowfall (all three) (from Music For Films)
George Harrison: Wonderwall To Be Here (from Wonderwall)
Hawkwind: Wind of Change (from The Hall of the Mountain Grill)
John Cale: The Academy In Peril
Klaus Schulze: Floating (from Moondawn)
Quicksilver Messenger Service: Calvary (apart from the cry “Who did he think he was?”) (from Happy Trails)
and dozens of obscure 60s/70s progressive instrumentals!
Because for all it’s jammy goodness, it’s not an instrumental.
Oh yes - you’re right. But it’s only the music in that track that makes it what it is. That’s my excuse - and I’m sticking to it!
Actually, thinking about the OP’s question, I realised that a lot of what I thought of as instrumentals do actually have vocals.
I did forget Mountain Jam, which might be the Allmans’ opus. And Incident at Neshabur and Soul Sacrifice by Carlos Santana.
Frankly, I’ve always thought that if Jimi Hendrix had lived to hear Stevie Ray’s version, Jimi would’ve been embarrassed. It really is that much better than the original.
Personal favs (limiting myself to one song per band):
**YYZ – Rush
Stream of Consciousness – Dream Theater
Transylvania – Iron Maiden
The Call of Ktulu – Metallica
Bodhran – The Young Dubliners
Super Taranta! – Gogol Bordello
**
Also, a couple great entirely instrumental albums:
Merry Axemas (instrumental Christmas songs by Guitar Gods like Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Alex Lifeson, Hotei, Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Joe Satriani and more)
Liquid Tension Experiment (2 albums) - I liked the first album more, but the 2nd starts off with my pick for the best instrumental song ever, Acid Rain.
I’ll give a nod to Ivan Astikov for Gabriel Yared – although I only know him for his music from Betty Blue. I had to get that soundtrack after seeing the film.
I really like surf music. It’s hard to pick a fave. I like Dick Dale, and I like The Mermen. The Ventures, and even The Surfaris have good songs.
Beethoven’s 5th Symphony is great.
There are just too many instrumental pieces from too many genres to pick one favourite.