Best Instrumental/wankery Albums
List of the best instrumental albums with an emphasis on technical skills rfor people who need their fix of wankery. I have pros and cons for each ralbum.rPlease add any albums in the comments that I am dreadfully missing |
| 1 |  | Steve Hackett
Voyage of the Acolyte
(Mostly) instrumental classic prog rock. Yup, there's flutes.
Pros: Good mix of beauty and wankery.
Cons: Outdated production. Transitions within songs occasionally feel awkward and
random. |
| 2 |  | Animals As Leaders
The Joy of Motion
Instrumental jazz/djent. Should please you if you like fast playing and weird
rhythms.
Pros: Fun, good grooves, feels less mechanical than previous releases,.
Cons: Djent elements dont feel like they fit in with the mood rest of the album-
seem forced. |
| 3 |  | Mahavishnu Orchestra
Birds of Fire
This album captures the spirit of fire. Wild, energetic, frantic, and intense. Any
drummer who does alot double bass in odd times has Billy Cobham to thank-this is
the guy who started it! The frantic energy of the guitar soloing in this album is
impossible not to love.
Pros: Extrememely soulful and virtuosic soloing and musicianship, energy, odd
times, and violin.
Cons: May lack enough melody for some. Production is also pretty dated.
ps- also check out their album "The Inner Mounting Flame" if you get a chance! |
| 4 |  | Jeff Beck
Wired
Old hard rock/fusion album. Definitely feels old, but is nonetheless stunning, and
more importantly, jammin'. At times it feels like instrumental Pink Floyd with more
intense musicianship-AKA good.
Pros: Great soloing, intense drumming, get up-and-dance type grooviness.
Cons: May sound too dated for some listeners. I urge everyone to give it a listen
though! |
| 5 |  | Ozric Tentacles
Waterfall Cities
I love the album cover. So proggy. This album is a mix of proggy odd times and
soloing with dancey-spacey-psychadelic synths. There is also some reggae and
world music vibes thrown in there. Enjoy!
Pros: Psychadelic/trippy, great bassist, and Dat Album Art.
Cons: May have too much dance/techno elements for some. Also kind of
repetetive. |
| 6 |  | Cloudkicker
Beacons
A sputnikmusic classic. Instrumental technical metal with aviation themes.
Pros: Free.
Also the concept of aviation and the song titles help this album have way more
emotional impact than most instrumental albums.
Cons: Some of the metal/djenty riffs on this album are kind of samey and blend in
with eachother over the course of the album. |
| 7 |  | Guthrie Govan
Erotic Cakes
Great album by a world-class guitarist. It best described as instrumental
rock/fusion with lots of soloing.The melodies and soloing on this are very catchy,
and the band is very skilled. It is also not just dominated by the guitar which is
unusual for a guitarist solo-release album.
Pros: Catchiness, not dominated by guitar, amazing musicianship/soloing.
Cons: -Song structure of melody, solos, melody can get a bit tiresome over full
length of album.
-Song in 5/4 is called "fives". I hate it when bands do that. |
| 8 | | Allan Holdsworth Band
Secrets
Super awesome and experimental jazz fusion album that doesn't get enough love
on this site. Probably the most out-there album on this list, it mixes jazz, ambient,
and proggy influences. Also lots of uncountable odd times for people who are into
that. Everyone should give this a listen-it sounds so modern it will boggle your
mind that it was made in '89.
Pros: Amazing musicians, unexpected guest vocals, ambience, jazziness.
Cons: Some listeners may find melodies/chord changes too dissonant. |
| 9 |  | Exivious
Liminal
Instrumental Metal/Jazz Fusion album with lots of odd times and unusual chord
changes. This album stands a head and shoulders most other instrumental metal
albums released nowadays due to more significant jazz influences (dat bass!!!),
and a greater understanding of tensions, buildups, and just plain good songwriting. |
| 10 |  | Plini
Sweet Nothings
More guitar music with programmed drums. But damn beautiful guitar music at
that. Rarely can an artist make instrumental wankery feel so meaningful.
Pros: Uplifting/happy vibes and beauty.
Cons: programmed drums
Pros/potentially cons: Short length, kind of sounds like wii sports at times |
| 11 |  | Stevie Wonder
Songs In The Key of Life
Ok so this one is only just the song "Contusion". But that song is so out-of-place
and proggy/wankey its hilarious. Seriously, check it out.
Pros: This is Stevie Wonder?
Cons: Only one song, although the rest of the album is pretty good. |
| 12 | | Scale the Summit
The Collective.
Pretty proggy. Pretty wankey. Fairly metal. Awesome album.
Pros: Good mix of clean, chill parts with heavy, post-metaly parts.
Cons: Compared to some of these other albums, musicianship is not as good. |
| 13 |  | Mike Oldfield
Tubular Bells
Yes. This album does have tubular bells in it. Along with about 20 other
instruments. Instrumental prog rock with classical and folk influences. It contains
the theme for "The Exorcist"
Pros: Pretty melodies, lots different instruments.
Cons: almost no drums/percussion, is all one long song. |
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