5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #13

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. Thunderstruck, by AC/DC

With tickets for the North American AC/DC tour going on sale this week, what better a way to celebrate and prepare for the coming rockage than by jamming out to one of the band's most well known hits? This song with its lightning quick licks and thunderous rhythm gets played at almost every single sporting event in the U.S. for the past two decades, but for good reason. How can you not feel pumped up and completely psyched after this song pummels your ears with its greatness? Like the band that created it, it absolutely never gets old.

 
2. No More No More, by Aerosmith

This little ditty comes from Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic album; the same that features hits like Walk This Way and Sweet Emotion. Although most of its melodies and chord progressions are taken from 50's style rockabilly it is an incredibly memorable upbeat song that will ingrain itself into your head and take a long time to leave if at all. Although not a major radio hit, it is still played at many of the band's concerts to this day. This song is the definition of taking a pre-existing thing and putting your own spin on it.

3. You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl), by The White Stripes

If you look past the initial shock the title of the song may bring and listen to the actual lyrics, you will find there is more to the subject matter of this song than you might have thought. Amazingly a lot gets packed in to a tune that is just 1:49 long. It is pretty much a basic three chord pop rock song, but the vocal melody is such an earworm and almost enchanting in a way. This is a case where keeping it simple works to the song's advantage. It's one of those songs you can play on repeat until one day you finally get tired of it; but only because of the constant repetition of plays.

4. Secondhand News, by Fleetwood Mac

This track kicks off Fleetwood Mac's famed Rumours album with an upbeat peppy romp. While the subject matter isn't very pleasant (as is the case for the majority of the album), the tight vocal harmonies and bright jangly acoustic guitar would make you think otherwise if you weren't paying attention to the lyrics. The guitar solo that sounds almost like a violin in the breakdown section of the song really adds to the feel as though you're over in Europe, out in a field, and dancing barefoot with happy local villagers gathered for the sake of having a good time on a balmy sunny day.

5. Sunshine of Your Love, by Cream

This song was hard rock in a time when the genre didn't even exist yet. Its thick, creamy, yet also fuzzy guitar tone makes its bluesy signature riff so much more powerful and memorable than it would have been otherwise. The song is still overall very psychedelic and screams late 60's, yet like many other songs from Cream and some of their peers it doesn't feel dated when you play it in 2015. Many bands are going back to this style, or at least putting their own spin on it. This is definitely the song you want to play if you decide to go on an acid trip. (I in no way, shape, or form encourage or condone the use of illegal drugs, but if you choose to I recommend this tune.)