We start with the only blues man on a list mostly filled with hard-rock technical wizards. It's the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, incorporating upstrokes while sliding up several frets on the opening track from his second album, 1984's 'Couldn't Stand the Weather.' But before he hit it big as a solo star, Stevie played lead guitar on David Bowie's multi-platinum 'Let's Dance' album.
Pink Floyd's guitar virtuoso David Gilmour proves that his playing and composing skills were just as important to the legendary band's space-rock sound as Roger Waters' lyrics and high concepts. This Grammy-Award winning rock instrumental comes from 1994's 'Division Bell,' which is looking more and more like Floyd's final album.
Steve Vai served as guitarist for a wide range of artists, somehow managing to shine in both Frank Zappa's and David Lee Roth's universes. This track from 1990's 'Passion & Warfare' was reportedly recorded in the middle of a 10-day fast. No truth to reports that it was originally called 'For the Love of God, Feed Me!'
Petrucci is a founding member, guitarist and producer for the progressive rock band Dream Theater. Reportedly he made this solo record, 2005's 'Suspended Animation,' just so he would have a repertoire when Joe Satriani invited him out on one of his popular G3 instrumental guitar tours. This originally mail-order only record has had a much larger impact than imagined.
Timmons is considered a secret weapon by musicians such as the Beach Boys, Ted Nugent, Paul Stanley and Paula Abdul, who have hired him for either studio work or as musical director for their tours. This track, from his own 2006 album 'Resolution,' shows the more grounded, less frantic lead guitar style that has made him a favorite amongst guitar aficionados.
'Cliffs of Dover' would top our list of Best Rock Instrumentals from the Weather Channel (if we had one), as the song is often featured during hourly local forecasts. Eric's rich, violin-like tone is as envied as his melodic chops or fast fingers. This song is, perhaps, the best example of these talents, and propelled Eric's 1991 album 'Ah Via Musicom' to platinum status.
Undeniably today's leading ambassador for instrumental rock guitar playing, Satriani got his start as guitar teacher to some of today's biggest stars, from Metallica's Kirk Hammett to Primus' Larry LaLonde. Joe has consistently avoided over-playing, focusing instead on strong melodies from songs such as this one from 1993's album 'The Extremist.'
First, guitar acrobat Paul Gilbert achieved cult status with Racer X, then, ironically, reached commercial success with Mr. Big and their musically simple ballad 'To Be With You.' Since then he's pursued many diverse projects, from all-star Beatles tributes to whacked-out instrumental records, like 2008's 'Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar,' which is home to this stomping, Bach-referencing number.
Good luck finding a list of the best rock instrumentals without this gem -- from Van Halen's 1978 debut -- perched at the top. At their early shows, Eddie's bandmates -- knowing what magic he had in his hands -- would insist he play with his back turned to the audience, so that nobody could copy his style before their first record came out.
1. I love the beat for Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a Gun." The way that song opens up is CRAZY nice!
Posted at 4:05PM on Jun 18th 2010 by Shamontiel