Sunday, January 18, 2015

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #9

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:

1. The Last in Line, by Dio

If you have ever felt as though life is crap and the man has you down with no way of escape, look no further than this song by the late metal god Ronnie James Dio for encouragement. It's bold, thundering anthem-like nature will have you raising your metal horns, banging your head, and feeling better in no time.  In his life time Dio wrote many songs that provided hope and encouragement to those who needed it the most. The Last in Line is in my opinion the best example of this. The soft intro fools you at first into thinking this will be a sappy song, but once the full band kicks into overdrive with the pounding rhythm, the thundering bass, and powerful guitar you get blown back into your seat. Dio's aggressive yet melodic vocals come ripping in and convey the important message this song has to offer. It's a nice pick-me-up to say the least.


2. Save Me, by Motion Device

This is another heavy metal tune, but I'm sure you'll like it. Motion Device is a young band from Canada where the members are all related to one another and are in their late teens/early 20's. The exception is their singer who is an 11/12 year old girl. You might not think that a band with such a vocalist would be able to be taken seriously at all, but in this case you would be dead wrong. This little girl has one powerhouse of a voice. I was blown away the first time I heard her sing. The song Save Me talks about the current state of the music industry in terms of business men only caring about money and the latest thing that will help them get it; even if it is bland, without substance, and formulaic. You can tell that a younger person wrote the lyrics, but they're still really something.


3. Savannah Woman, by Tommy Bolin

If something with a relaxing vibe is more your dig, Savannah Woman, by the late Tommy Bolin should do the trick. Despite Bolin being more known for some of his rock based music he could play a variety of styles. This song in particular has a real flamenco/island kind of feel to it. If you close your eyes while listening you can almost hear the waves of the ocean and feel the breeze upon your cheek. Most of the song is just soft strumming with Bolin singing, but at the end he tears into it by shredding it up on an acoustic/clean set electric guitar while still keeping with the relaxing tropical feel to the song. It's a great way to unwind after work.


4. Can't Explain, by The Who

This year legendary British Invasion rockers The Who are turning 50 years old as a band. The first single they ever put out, Can't Explain is a fairly simple pop rock tune that definitely reflects the era it was made in. The lyrics are very relatable to those who some times get weird feelings that they just can't explain to those around them. Definitely different from the kinds of bubble gum lovey-dovey lyrics that most pop songs of the early to mid 1960's had, which was a major contributing factor the success The Who had. Fun fact, Jimmy Page who would later go on to form Led Zeppelin played as a session guitarist in the recording of this tune.


5. Under My Wheels, by Alice Cooper

Nothing says rock n' roll like a man in scary make-up singing about how his woman drives him crazy, right? Under My Wheels was one of shock rocker Alice Cooper's first big hits in his early career. The song itself is pretty standard 12 bar kind of stuff, but with the way the guitars drive the song with their catchy rhythms and applaudable soloing you just can't go wrong. Plus, Cooper's voice is unmistakeable and really brings everything together. It just wouldn't be the same without him. The horns in the background are also a nice touch. This song will get you moving and put a smile back on your face for sure.

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