Whatever happened to instrumentals?

[Chislenko]

A teenage Eddie Hazel on lead guitar.

Yes, I realise his name isn't Clapton or Moore so most people won't give this tune the time of day, shame.

Funkadelic...Maggot Brain.

View: https://youtu.be/JOKn33-q4Ao

 

[C R]

Animals as Leaders are instrumental all the way

View: https://youtu.be/Vrbt14uej08

Just an example.

Maiden have a couple, Losfer Words, for instance, though not recent

View: https://youtu.be/7mMqOmeyzPU


And Metallica, before they became a pop band, had some decent instrumentals too, like Orion

View: https://youtu.be/c8qrwON1-zE

 

[Accy cyclist]

 

[presta]

This isn't just Santana, it's M&S Santana:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=timZoOs9ozo


I saw this lass in York city centre in 2014, a cut above your average busker:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaVPQe8Zf9o

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAlYGL5KnGI

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqNCc4wIYOQ

Dave Edmunds (originally credited to Love Sculpture, in 1970, the band he was in when he originally recorded it)
Sabre Dance

The only record that makes you feel breathless sitting still.

 

[Accy cyclist]

 

[AndyRM]

I'm sure there is still plenty out there but it doesn't have the universal appeal it once had. It's been pushed to a erosteric corner of the music scene. Whereas the kids and also older generations could appreciate it it's really much more specialised.
The music you mentioned although being very listenable is mostly not memorable and not humable or sticks in your head.

Hm, not sure I agree with you about it being on some kind of musical fringe. Classical, film scores and all manner of lyric free music remain popular.

Even the niche stuff that I've mentioned has a large following.

 

[delb0y]

I'd say 80% of my listening is instrumental. There's loads out there. Not pop, though. I listen to a lot of acoustic guitar, jazz, finger-picking etc. More instrumentals than you can shake a microphone stand at.

View: https://youtu.be/S_cCEHbhhQc

 

[winjim]

Hm, not sure I agree with you about it being on some kind of musical fringe. Classical, film scores and all manner of lyric free music remain popular.

Even the niche stuff that I've mentioned has a large following.

Get on YouTube and follow the reaction channels down some rabbitholes. That's where I get all my new music recommendations from. Read the comments and engage with the artists, musicians are more accessible than ever with social media. Again it's subculture stuff and not chart pop but these days does anyone care about that?

I'm not the only one listening to Serbian progressive djent powerpop.

 

[MichaelW2]

Easy Listening is chock full of them.

View: https://youtu.be/LGmQXuySF28

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

 

[winjim]

Anna Meredith

This video with the little train is amazing

View: https://youtu.be/yjmZLaymJU8

And this piece is really unsettling

View: https://youtu.be/Vajhs2wBeCU

 

[wafter]

I assume we're talking more traditional instrument-based stuff as opposed to electronica; since much of the latter is devoid of lyrics..

A few off't top of head:

Think that'll do for now

EDIT: Forgot all about the lyrics in the chain; evidently because the insturmental is so epic

 

[Chislenko]

View: https://youtu.be/RLVwqWZVl50

 

[presta]

This isn't just Fleetwood Mac, it's M&S Fleetwood Mac:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXeKi6ZkbOw

 

[gbb]

View: https://youtu.be/RgK_Zv3sbsA


The intricacy of finger movement is astounding in this...