God is Dead! And he was short...
The rock instrumental is a lost art. Once these songs would top the
billboard charts and now they are all but gone. It lives on with a few,
such as Joe Satriani, but as a whole it is a dying art form. Sure there
are plenty of instrumental songs still being produced in the "techno"
area of music, some of which are very good. But they just aren't the
same. It doesn't have the human touch to it. They're missing that
classic instrumentation that we're all familiar with from our experience
with rock. Anyone can carry a song using lyrics (just watch MTV's
countdown sometime), but it takes real talent to get people to listen to
what would just normally be "backing" music.
For those of you who are interested in some classic intrumental rock
tracks I would highly suggest that you run out and buy Rock Instrumental
Classics. It's a 5-disc set that contains classics from the 50's, 60's,
and 70's, as well as classic surf and soul tracks. It makes a great
soundtrack to have playing the background, or to even jsut listen to by
itself. These are the truly great instrumental songs from the past.
Who can resist such songs as Classical Gas, Walk Don't Run, A 5th of
Beethoven, or Popcorn? So I'm telling you all, go out and get it if you
can still find it anywhere.
P.S. - As a side note I have edited my Top 17 List to include this set.
I would also suggest that everyone look into the other CDs on my list
too. They are all fantastic listens.