5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #25

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.  I'm a Man, by The Yardbirds

If you love a good blues romp with some sweet harmonica, you have come to the right place. The mid to late 60's British blues movement provided us with some of the best artists and tunes to ever come out of the genre and would also lay the foundation for hard rock bands to come. The Yardbirds had a number of big name artists go through its ranks like Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, Cream's Eric Clapton, solo artist Jeff Beck, etc. That being said, if you're looking for the roots of rock as we know it, have a listen.

2. Satellite, by Glenn Hughes

If you feel like toning things down a few notches for a moment and just relaxing (especially at night) then Glenn Hughes can hook you up with his tune Satellite. It has tranquil elements of soft funk to it. While Hughes is known for being a power house of a vocalist, he really shows with many layers of vocals that he can also be melodic and soothing to the soul. Despite his age he shows no sign of slowing down. The bass solo he lays down in the track is also rather slick and quite fitting in the context of the rest of the song. In a way Satellite kind of makes you feel like you're floating slowly through the sky on a cloud on a warm but not too warm summer night.

3. Perpetual Burn, by Jason Becker

Now if riproaring and shredding is more your cup of tea, then give Jason Becker a try. In the late 80's Becker brought the art of neo-classical shred to a whole other level with the release of his debut solo album Perpetual Burn. The title track shows just how much the electric guitar can do when used to its full potential while still also having some passion and soul behind the notes. His performing career was unfortunately cut short when he was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 20. He still composes music to this day however through the use of special computers that follow his eye movements.

4. Carolina, by Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators

This song almost feels like Superstition, by Stevie Wonder on steroids. Slash and his solo band absolutely tear this funky jive up. The use of talk box really does make the song. Don't get me wrong, everything else in the song is great, but it's the groove laid down by the talk box that gets me wanting to stand up and actually shake what my momma gave me despite the fact that I'm a white boy and have no sense of rhythm in my feet.

5. Rolling in the Deep, by Adele

I know this isn't usually the kind of music I write about. Normally I hate top 40 stuff as much as the next person with any taste in music, but I feel Adele is one of the rare exceptions of a popular mainstream artist actually possessing some legitimate talent. Rolling in the Deep really does remind me of the kind of Motown and soul music that I used to listen to a lot when I was much younger. Adele has some serious vocal pipes and you can tell she puts heart and meaning into every last word she belts out.