5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #69

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 Joker, by Steve Miller Band

What stoner hasn't jammed this while sitting in their basement with their friends That 70's Show style? Even if that isn't something you choose to partake in, it's a fun song to crank and sing along to. I personally love to have it full blast in the car with the windows rolled down on a warm sunny day with a friend or two, especially if I can get them to join in with me on the vocals. It's a great way to get a smile on your face really quick.

2. Set You Free, by The Black Keys

This has to be one of my absolute favorite Black Keys songs of all time. This is from their second album Thickfreakness (which of course is also my favorite Black Keys album). This is from the golden age of when they were a lo-fi hard rocking blues band rather than a weird poppy hipster experimental sounding band like they are today. This is a fun upbeat tune with some tasty blues licks. Definitely has some of Dan Auerbach's best guitar playing in it. It's a great tune to sing along to as well.

3. Rock Candy, by Montrose

This is one of the most kick-ass songs Sammy Hagar ever sang on. The song is pretty self-descriptive. It's hard, sweet, and sticky. It's a big sounding rock n' roll song from the era where such a thing was the thing to do if you were making anything that even remotely had balls to it. It definitely has a bit of a Led Zeppelin vibe to it, but at the same time you can still tell it's them doing their own thing. I love the extended guitar parts in it too. This is another good one to crank to 11 and rock out to to your heart's content.

4. Seven Seas of Rhye, by Queen

I'm going to just flat out say it. I think Seven Seas of Rhye is the best Queen song of them all. Even better than Bohemian Rhapsody. It has everything: bravado, melodic lightning fast guitar playing, that incredible piano riff, and Freddie Mercury just being the most bold and awesome that he could ever possibly be. Mercury lets you know just how much of a badass he is in these fantasy themed lyrics. This was definitely Queen at their best; when they were still a heavy rock band rather than all poppy.

5. Wheel in the Sky, by Journey

This in my opinion is one of Journey's absolute coolest songs. It's not a cheesy poppy love ballad like most people know them for, but rather is guitar driven and focuses on other stuff in terms of lyrics. Aside from the solos and guitar riffs, the backing vocals in the chorus really knock it out of the park for me. This is one of those moments where Journey was truly able to shine through as a legitimate rock band and not just be another corporately owned over produced tool to make millions for a record company.