The 5 Best Instrumental Psychedelic Rock Bands

If you’re a fan of mind-bending, genre-defying music, then you need to check out these 5 instrumental psychedelic rock bands. You won’t be disappointed.

The Doors

The Doors was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts of the 1960s because of Morrison’s lyrics and his erratic, charismatic stage persona, and the group was widely regarded as an important part of the counterculture of the time.

Although they opened for several well-known bands such as The Who and Jefferson Airplane, The Doors originally wanted to be a headlining act. However, they were constantly overshadowed by Morrison’s antics, which included on-stage intoxication, impromptu poetry and wild behavior. Nevertheless, The Doors had a significant impact on popular music, with their debut album becoming one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.

The band’s second album, Strange Days (1967), contained more overtly psychedelic songs such as “People Are Strange” and “Strange Days”. It wasn’t until their third album, Waiting for the Sun (1968), that The Doors achieved commercial success with songs like “Hello, I Love You” and “Touch Me”.

After Morrison’s death in 1971, the remaining members continued to tour and record as a trio until 1973. Although they never achieved the same level of success without Morrison, The Doors remained a popular concert act for many years after his death. In 2002, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Jimi Hendrix

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. The Doors
3. Pink Floyd
4. The Grateful Dead
5. Cream

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd was an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining a following as a psychedelic band, they were distinguished for their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows, and became a leading band of the progressive rock genre. They are one of the most commercially successful and influential groups in popular music history.

The band initially consisted of university students Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Syd Barrett. By late 1967, Gilmour had replaced Barrett as Pink Floyd’s lead guitarist; Wright had replaced founding member Birth as their keyboardist and singer; and Waters had increasingly become the primary songwriter, focal point and leader of the band. With Barrett’s creative contribution limited by his deteriorating mental health, Pink Floyd achieved worldwide critical and commercial success with The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) and Ummagumma (1969). They increased their artistic ambitions with Meddle (1971), including “Echoes”, one of rock music’s longest compositions, Atom Heart Mother (1971), which featuredstate-of-the-art electronic instrumentation, Obscured by Clouds (1972) – Pink Floyd’s first album relying less on studio effects – Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and Wish You Were Here(1975). With The Wall (1979), Wright left Pink Floyd amid creative tensions; he was replaced by session musician Bob Ezrin.

The three produced two more studio albums—A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994)—and toured through 1994. After almost two decades of enmity between Waters and Gilmour, they regained mutual respect after Gilmour helped Waters launch his 2006 solo tour which led to Gilmour joining forces with him on stage for several dates during that tour to perform Pink Floyd hits such as “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” “Money” “Wish You Were Here” “Comfortably Numb.” Any acrimony was laid to rest when all four members—Waters, Wright (who died in 2008), Gilmour credited under special guest performances—were inducted into the US Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1996. By 2013 Pink Floyd was widely regarded as one of history’s most important rock bands having sold an estimated 250 million records worldwide . Barrett died in 2006 from pancreatic cancer , aged 60 .

The Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, bluegrass, blues, gospel, and jazz. They also became renowned for their live performances, which were often improvisational and included long jams.

Cream

Cream was a British rock supergroup formed in London in 1966. The group consisted of bassist Jack Bruce, drummer Ginger Baker, and guitarist/singer Eric Clapton. This power trio was noted for their blues-rock style of music and is widely considered to be one of the first heavy metal bands. They also had a successful pop singles career with such hits as “Crossroads”, “Sunshine of Your Love”, and “White Room”.

The band only existed from 1966-1968, but they made a significant impact on the music world and are still highly regarded today. If you’re looking for some great psychedelic rock without any vocals, Cream is definitely worth checking out.