Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #2 & #1

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy my top 2!

2.  Hell’s Kitchen – Dream Theater

As you can probably tell, I have fondness for Dream Theater’s instrumental songs.  This one is the third and final song of my list and if I didn’t make a 3-song rule I might have a few more Dream Theater songs to talk about…obviously my favorite from them.  I like the diversity in this song; I can listen to it to relax and I have used it as my opening song and/or closing song on a run.  It helps keep my mind at ease when I begin a run and wonder to myself why am I running.  By the time the song is over, my heart rate is regulated and I can begin a long run with mostly thrash and death metal to keep me motivated.   The attraction here is the lengthy guitar solos and of course combined with the progressive elements makes the song pretty damn perfect.

1.  The Ultra-Violence – Death Angel

The main attraction to this song for me is it’s just so raw and full of aggression.  These guys were just teenagers when they recorded it back in 1987 for their first album, The Ultra-Violence.  This song was also featured in a burger commercial.  I have to believe that someone had to know about this band to select that song.  This song isn’t something one would just stumble upon while looking for background music to a guy eating a burger.  Metalheads are everywhere!  Anyway, I am going to let the music do the talking.  Thanks for reading my list of 25 favorite instrumental songs.  My next list will be 30 intros that instantly grabbed me.  Thanks to Mik for inspiring me to do a list of my own on that subject.

Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #4 & #3

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy!

4.  Circles Without Division – Sleepers Awake

First off, this is an amazing album; forever cemented as my #1 album of 2013. Circles Without Division is an excellent song that is among of the shorter songs on Transcension.  It’s a bit spacey at times and encompasses varying tempos like any good progressive metal band should.  Below is a clip of the full album.  The song of focus here is track #7 though I highly recommend listening to the whole experience if you haven’t had a chance to check out Sleepers Awake.

3.  Decoherence – Insomnium

This is a really dark somber kind of a song; I think it’s beautiful especially from a melodic death metal band like Insomnium.  Decoherence always calms me no matter what kind of mood I am in and I also use this for my morning alarm clock.  The image selected for this video clip suits the song perfectly.  The song appears on the album One For Sorrow released in 2011.

Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #6 & #5

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy!

6.  The Ultimatum – Jeff Loomis

It wasn’t until fairly recently I became familiar with Loomis’s solo career.  I imagine watching a video like the one below would inspire many budding shredders to shred even harder.  This song rides on his ability to play solos for an extended amount of time.  Seeing is believing; this is a really cool play-through video.  Enjoy!

5.  Cosmic Sea – Death

Death opened the door for death metal in my world.  It was when I saw the video for Lack of Comprehension off the Human album (same album where Cosmic Sea appears) that I realized just how technical and heavy death metal could be.  Up to that point, I thought that genre had no discernible rhythm.  From there it spread to other bands and before I knew it I developed quite a fondness for death metal in general from the brutal to the technical to the groovy as long as it has some kind of identifiable structure to it.  It has to be more than just growls and blast beats.

Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #8 & #7

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy!

8.  Angel – Marty Friedman

This album got a lot of spins and for quite a while it was my night night music.  Yes, I was an adult then and always listened to music at night.  Though I could fall asleep listening to Death I often preferred the lighter side of metal and this entire album did the trick.  Angel is a rhythmic song, but also contains some of the cooler guitar solos on this album.

7.  The Crusade – Trivium

This is the self-titled track off their 2006 album.  This song seems like it was meant to be an instrumental track because I can’t imagine it being set to any lyrics.  It also doesn’t really fit the rest of the album in my opinion.  It’s pretty long for a Trivium song and shows another side of the band…one where the focus is just creating a cook hook and running with it.

Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #10 & #9

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy!

10.  Mr. Scary – Dokken

I have probably said it a million times so one more won’t kill ya.  Dokken was of my favorite bands from the 80s.  I always had a fondness for their music.  Though they did get glam or remained on the fringes of glam (mostly), I thought Dokken’s music was a cut above the rest and it’s pretty much due to George Lynch’s guitar work.  I feel lucky I got to see them one time live…the opening act for my first ever concert actually.  This song appears on Back for the Attack from 1987.

9.  Bombay Vindaloo – Dream Theater

The first time I heard this song was on a live album I picked up called Live at the Marquee.  After doing minimal research on it because I have never seen this song on an actual album, it turns out this track was improvisation based and was played live less than 10 times.  The live recording was released in 1993.  I happen to have the European released which has Surrounded whereas the Japanese release instead has Another Day.  These songs are the only difference on the live 6-track album.  It’s a cool thing to have if you are a Dream Theater enthusiast.

Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #12 & #11

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy!

12.  Implements of Destruction – Chimaira

For the first minute and 20 seconds, the song starts off sounding like it is going to remain a bit flowery, then it takes on a much more sinister tone incorporating speed and thrash with lengthy, frequent guitar solos.  In essence, you get a little taste of the many different tempos and styles Chimaira puts into their songs rolled up into one prolonged instrumental song.  This clip comes from their very well produced DVD Coming Alive.

11.  Genesis – Ghost

For many reasons, I really enjoy Ghost’s music to include their stage presence.  Genesis off of the Opus Eponymous album I thought was interesting because it sounds like it could be the song during the closing credits of a movie like Salem’s Lot or Phantasm.  It has a consistent rhythm and also sounds like it could have been recorded during the era of both of the movies I mentioned…a bit of retro appeal.

Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #14 & #13

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy!

14.  March of the Lor – The Sword

This a particularly heavy The Sword song.  I love how the song can swing from a cool 70s vibe and they turn into a song that could induce a nice circle pit.  The sword has a calm and collective demeanor on stage and still cause a pit; as I witnessed at a show last year.  These dudes can be quite heavy when they want to be and that’s one of the many reasons I like them so much.

13.  Into The Lungs of Hell – Megadeth

Considering all the talent that has ever graced this band, I think they should have recorded more instrumental songs.  Between the rhythm section and their guitar playing prowess, they could have made instrumental songs a regular thing.  But, they have a few and this is the one that made my list.  Again, loads of guitars!  Yay!  This a very well spliced fan video featuring humans…being human.

Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #16 & #15

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is comprised of 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy!

16.  Frankenstein – Overkill

Initially, I never knew this was an Edgar Winter’s Group cover from the early 70s.  I can’t remember how it was pointed out; maybe it was in the liner notes, but after giving it a second thought it did seem to sound a bit different from the rest of this outstanding Horrorscope album from 1991.  Overkill certainly held true to the original vibe, but trash-ified the songs nicely.  This album needs a remaster!

15.  Stream of Consciousness – Dream Theater

These guys make great instrumental songs and it’s one of the reasons why they are the only band to have three songs on my list.  This one appeared on the Train of Thought album released in 2003.  I saw that tour, but never got to see this song played live; at least not that I can remember.  Even today, I look to see if Dream Theater adds an instrumental on their new albums and I am glad this is still a practice of theirs.  They are quite good at it.

Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #18 & #17

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is comprised of 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy!

18.  Spastic – Revocation

This is probably one of the newest songs on my countdown of favorite instrumental songs.  This is another one that is loaded with cool guitar rhythm and lead and speed.  It is also very much a Revocation song complete with all their technical progressiveness just a lack of vocals.  This one appears on their self-titled 2013 release.  This play through video of the band is pretty bad ass too.

17.  Orion – Metallica

Other than Leper Messiah which launched me into thrash metal way back in the day, Orion was the other stand out song for me on this pivotal Master of Puppets album.  Again, guitars are quite prominent in this one, including bass, but I also like the rhythm and smooth tempo.  I felt I was able to lose my 13 or 14 year old self in this song. This is the last of the Metallica instrumental songs on my list.  I have seen Metallica five times and I do not recall ever seeing this song played live.  Bummer!

Reggie’s Essential 25 Favorite Instrumentals #20 & #19

I love the power of a good instrumental song.  Sometimes they can be energizing or even relaxing depending on the band’s intent with the song.  Some bands use an instrumental song to display a different, sometimes softer side.  And, sometimes an instrumental is a collection of left over riffs and drum parts that didn’t make the final cut.  Or, perhaps they just couldn’t find the words to go with the music.  However they are composed, the instrumental song is a track I look for and hope to find on any album; though there are some bands where it’s almost an expectation.  This list is comprised of 25 word-less songs that I find essential to my music library.  I wouldn’t sweat over the exact order, but yeah the ones at or near the top of this list are definitely my favorites.  I know there are many more instrumental songs out there, but these are mine…so to speak.  This list is also limited to only three per band and only one band made this list three times.  Enjoy!

20.  Last of the Wilds – Nightwish

This song has a steady cadence that I like and also has some folk elements that give it a nice touch.  Symphonic metal bands do a good job with instrumental songs in my opinion.  My kids actually like this one too, they think it has a cool beat. When I first heard Dark Passion Play, this song was an instant stand out for me.  Other than that, this is one of the more simple entries without any in depth explanation…I just like it.

19.  Canto 34 – Five Finger Death Punch

I can’t say I wholeheartedly appreciate the direction this band has taken, but I am fond of the War Is the Answer album where this instrumental appears.  It’s a pretty mellow tune compared to most the album’s songs, but I like the guitar work; the riffing and the solos are the driving forces and for me that works out nicely.   The song has nice flow and up to now in this list you can probably tell that most instrumental songs I like are not necessarily the heaviest o
f songs.  There are some heavy songs on the way.