For those too young to remember, the late 80s and early 90s were awash in instrumental electric guitar albums. And that doesn't include shredmaster albums with vocals like those from Yngwie Malmsteen or any number of guitarists who failed to replace Randy Rhoads in Ozzy's band. Most of these were forgettable efforts, high on technical precision and decidedly lacking in narrative scope and emotion.

Tom Frelek Rewrite Tomorrow (self-released)

Steve Vai's Little Green Men and Joe Satriani's Surfing With the Alien are clear exceptions, and Frelek certainly shares their sense of dramatic power and whimsy. Reuniting the other instrumentalists from Waken Eyes, Frelek has put together an album of songs, not a compilation of shreds. Oh, he can tear out a run (and does), and he and his compatriots are not opposed to the occasional prog geek out. But mostly this sounds like classic 80s riffage poured into digestible and evocative songs. You can sing along to the guitar without embarrassment.

And yes, that classic sound is one of the things that really hooks me. At its best, 80s metal could shred and soar. Frelek is able to do that with without vocals (save the last track), and unlike almost all of those instrumental albums of yore, these songs do not sound alike. They bound around with joy, finding new corners of sound to inhabit.

Is this a sound that will resonate today? Probably not like it did in the wayback, but that's fine. These songs are so evocative and so clearly tell stories that they might find themselves used in other media someday. But for now, they blister and fade beautifully as they are. Stunning and superb.