Instrumentals Only

Sleep Token recently released an instrumental-only version of their bestselling album Even In Arcadia.

My first listen to the instrumental-only album was a bit of a shock. First, my brain was obviously waiting for the lyrics to start. Eventually, I got used to just the music and started hearing deeper parts of songs that I never noticed because of the singing and screaming over top. Sleep Token’s music is beautifully complex. Hearing the songs in a new way was a revelation.

This got me thinking: why were there never any instrumental versions released of our favorite Glam records? The perfect band for this is obviously Extreme. Just listening to Nuno Bettencourt rip without lyrics would be such a treat.

A record that would work as instrumental-only is Cinderella’s Night Songs. I also think my beloved Badlands self-titled would be good. Finally, Def Leppard’s Hysteria is an automatic slam-dunk here. The album Drastic Symphonies is the Leps with an orchestra, and most of Hysteria’s songs are included - but so are the vocals.

I can see myself listening to all-instrumental Glam albums quite a lot while working. What do you think?