The casual observer might be surprised that 2004's The Best of Gary Hoey does not consist of a bunch of Christmas music culled from his Ho! Ho! Hoey albums, but as this 18-track collection proves, there's more to the high-riding guitar virtuoso than chop-laden versions of seasonal classics. There are also covers of classic oldies like "Low Rider," "Wipeout," "Linus and Lucy," Pink Floyd's "Money," "Misirlou," and "Frankenstein," along with a bunch of original material that functions as a vessel for Hoey's relentless playing.

Picking out the best instrumentals from Carlos Santana's thirty-year recording career is a daunting task at best, and a fan can certainly find reasons to disagree with some of the choices made in this collection. However, this German release is valuable in bringing together undisputed Santana classic guitar pieces like "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)," "Samba Pa Ti," "Flor D'Luna (Moonflower)" and "Soul Sacrifice" with lesser known masterworks like "Aqua Marine" and the superb "Song of the Wind." True, there's no "Toussaint L'Ouverture" or "Incident at Neshabur," but how would you like to have to narrow this long-lived band's catalog down to fifteen tracks? Besides, the true fan already has the original albums and earlier compilations. This disc takes its listeners on a high intensity trip through time on the spiritual wings of Carlos Santana's soaring electric guitar. It's a trip worth taking.

Joe Satriani may have retained the services of keyboardist Mike Keneally for Shockwave Supernova, the guitarist's 15th studio album – Keneally has been in Satch's orbit for a while now – but he chose to invite bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Marco Minnemann (from the inventive instrumental rock band the Aristocrats) to be his rhythm section for the bulk of the record. This slight shakeup reinvigorates Satriani, who already sounded spry on Unstoppable Momentum.

The seemingly bottomless record collection of Nick Saloman from the Bevis Frond has spawned the third in an ongoing series of albums collecting obscure instrumental tracks from the '60s and '70s, and while many of these songs support the popular notion that the hipper and more interesting rock artists of the day were fond of vocal numbers, there are some fun and exciting tunes to be found on this set. Roaring Blue draws its title from the lead-off track, a swinging dance tune by the Sound of Jimmy Nicol, featuring the drummer who briefly replaced an ailing Ringo Starr during a tour in 1964 (this may explain why Nicol's drums are so far up in the mix), while members of the long-running U.K. pop band Blue Mink appear on the track "Beat Party" under the pseudonym the Underground, and John McLaughlin adds guitar licks to "Trans-Love Airways" by Big Jim Sullivan.

Nick Saloman of the Bevis Frond once again invites us to join him in the obscure pleasures of little-known pop, R&B, and jazz instrumental sides of the '60s and '70s with this collection. A number of the selections featured on Return of the Instro-Hipsters are so obscure that even Saloman isn't sure just who is responsible for them (though he offers some educated guesses on the artists behind such names as Sharks, Oliver Bone, and the Masked Phantom), but there are a good share of solid grooves and kicky melodies to be found here from a number of gifted little-knowns. If you went to the movies in the '70s, "Soul Thing" by Tony Newman will sound familiar, while flautist Harold McNair solos over a Dave Brubeck-influenced piano groove on "The Hipster," Jerry Allen demonstrates new uses for game calls on "Fuzzy Duck," Thunder Road's synthesized version of "Peter Gunn" beats Art of Noise's variation on the theme by more than 15 years, "The Brooke Bond Beat" by Cliff Adams may be the most swingin' tea commercial ever, and the Outer Limits serve up some tough, moody rock, appropriately titled "Black Boots".

One of the most distinctive instrumental groups of the '50s and '60s, Johnny & the Hurricanes produced the Top Ten hit "Red River Rock" and scored several other instrumental hits that mixed rock & roll with traditional melodies. Originally known as the Orbits, the group formed in Toledo, OH, in 1958 and was led by saxophonist Johnny Paris; other members included organist Paul Tesluk, guitarist Dave Yorko, bassist Lionel "Butch" Mattice, and drummer Tony Kaye. After a stint recording with rockabilly singer Mack Vickery, the group traveled to Detroit, hoping to become a backing band for up-and-coming singers. However, a pair of music promoters, Harry Balk and Irving Michanik, signed them as a group on their own, and they recorded their first single, "Crossfire," for the Twirl label in 1959…