I know I'm a bit off my rocker... but I just found out that there are instrumental versions of the Dream Theater albums! I always liked the music, but I could only handle the vocals for about 1 song. Really diggin' the instrumental versions w/solos. Got to hand it to Petrucci, first time I spent much time listening to his playing (aside from a G3 concert).



Disclaimer: I listen almost exclusively to instrumental music these days, with the exception of old classic country/rock when I get a few beers in me.

I didn’t know they had instrumental versions available either. Thank you for sharing. “The Shattered Fortress” solo is used on Dimarzio’s website as a demo for the CrunchLab pickup. It sounds very different without the band accompanying, but in a cool way.

There are some instrumental versions without solos too... Fun for noodling around! I seem to get more out of their music without the distraction of vocals.

You are not alone.

From the YouTube description:
"Black Clouds and Silver Linings was released on 2009 by the Progressive Metal band Dream Theater. The special edition included these six tracks with no vocals but with no keyboard or guitar solos whatsoever, so I decided to use a free software named Audacity to mix both versions and create the full experience of Black Clouds & Silver Linings without vocals."

That is "determination."

No doubt! Considering the amount of solos spread throughout the album, both keyboard and guitar. Did a nice job too.

I think it was only for this album. I'm not aware of any others. There used to be an app called Jammit which had a whole bunch of DT songs from their earlier collections where you could buy a track without one of the instruments. It also included notation and tabs. I bought a few of the ones without guitar but there was also an option to buy a track without vocals. Sadly they went bust and you can no longer get it, but the app was amazing. Would be great if someone could replicate it but I suspect it is too hard.