Favorite Guitar Instrumental Albums

[zebra]

I can't believe I forgot about him, but Buckethead is a great instrumentalist. He has 264 studio albums.
I like his 9th album Electric Tears the most (and no I haven't listened to a vast majority of his output).

I love Buckethead - just saw him a few weeks ago in San Francisco.  One of the most entertaining shows I've ever seen.  He played for almost three hours, did his whole schtik (hand puppets, nuchukus, the whole 9 yards), and played all the hits that bigger fans than myself wanted to hear.  My favorite album of his is "A Real Diamond in the Rough." Rare example of a shred album that my girlfriend actually likes!

 

[DangerousR6]

Without a doubt, my favorite is Surfing with an Alien....Joe just has some phenomenal phrasing..really anything from Joe.. arty07:

 

[amigarobbo]

I'm with you re: lyrics. I say: keep yer whining and crying to yourself, fer crissakes! Frank says...

I do have a soft spot for the Zappa 'Guitar' album, I've only heard the shorter LP, and errr.. cassette mix. for 'Shut up and Play your guitar', less so.

 

[MikeW]

How about any surf rock? Dick Dale, the Ventures, etc. 2 more recent groups I listen to are Jetpack and the Blue Hawaiians.

This is what I was thinking too. There's lots of great lists already up but there's a ton of really great Surf instrumentals too. Think about the Surf Kings or Vanduras or Mermen or Ventures...

 

[stratamania]

Another one worth checking out is Guitar Nerd by Pete Thorn.

 

[DangerousR6]

Gary Hoey is another favorite for instrumental stuff...And his X-mas cd was a cool one...

 

[Cagey]

Oh, yeah. Good ol' Gary. I have several of his disks. Always enjoyed his work.

 

[DangerousR6]

Oh, yeah. Good ol' Gary. I have several of his disks. Always enjoyed his work.

His rendition of Low Rider is a favorite...

 

[Cagey]

Same here.

Usually when I listen to his stuff, I'm picturing him saying to the original artists: "There. Fixed it for ya."  :laughing7:

 

[DangerousR6]

Same here.

Usually when I listen to his stuff, I'm picturing him saying to the original artists: "There. Fixed it for ya."  :laughing7:

:toothy12: :headbanging:

 

[MikeW]

Same here.

Usually when I listen to his stuff, I'm picturing him saying to the original artists: "There. Fixed it for ya."  :laughing7:

I love his version of Carol of the Bells. Beautiful stuff that. But I think my favorite on his Xmas album is Frosty. Too fun to play along with that one.

 

[T89Rex]

I'm a bit fan of Nels Cline, particularly his stuff with the Nels Cline Singers. The Giant Pin is one of my favourite records.

 

[mullyman]

Steve Morse Band - Coast to Coast

 

[AllHailDIO]

IDK about albums but I've heard some cool stuff from NIN.

I also like Andy Timmons; however, some reason, anything recorded in a studio just doesn't live up to him... or at least from what I've seen/heard of live performances via video.  I unfortunately have not seen him live...

 

[spaceranger]

Anything by Steve Tibbetts is a treat, but I particularly enjoy 'Yr', 'Big Map Idea', and 'Safe Journey'.

 

[mayfly]

The "Chet Atkins Picks On ..." series, in particular "Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles"

 

[arealken]

I'm with you re: lyrics. I say: keep yer whining and crying to yourself, fer crissakes! Frank says...

Which is why I've never understood people raving about artists like Bob Dylan.

I was with somewhat  ya till ya said that... just  terrible you can't appreciate Dylan, who is universally regarded as one of the top two or  three popular artists of all time.

 

[AutoBat]

I'm with you re: lyrics. I say: keep yer whining and crying to yourself, fer crissakes! Frank says...

Which is why I've never understood people raving about artists like Bob Dylan.

I was with somewhat  ya till ya said that... just  terrible you can't appreciate Dylan, who is universally regarded as one of the top two or  three popular artists of all time.

Really? Not by anyone I've met. I've heard him live and still thought "meh"

 

[Cagey]

Well, he's highly prolific, has won numerous awards and is pretty highly regarded amongst the peace/love/dope subset of the baby boomer generation, but to say he's "universally regarded as one of the top two or three popular artists of all time" is probably gilding the lily a bit. I'd leave it at "well-known", like Jerry Garcia, which is to say there are a lot more people who are aware of him than would knowingly keep examples of his work in their collections. I say "knowingly" because he's a little like Barry Manilow in that there's a lot of his work that's been made popular by other artists. A good example would be "All Along the Watchtower". I'd guess most people would incorrectly credit Hendrix with that one.

 

[Wizard of Wailing]

    I've only known one friend who has been into Dylan.  Most people I know (including myself) find his work boring.  He can write good songs, but his recordings of them sound duller than dishwater to me.  "All Along the Watchtower" is a great example.  Hendrix's recording is awesome.  Dylan's version is a big fat "MEH".