Monday, May 16, 2016

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #73

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. Billion Dollar Babies, by Alice Cooper

I've always thought that this was one of Alice Cooper's most hard rocking and pseudo-metal tunes from his original band's days. It's pretty intense right from that drum solo and the dual harmonized guitar solo that introduces the song. One of the other cool things is that folk singer Donovan joins the band on backing vocals and does some rather astounding things, especially in terms of just how high he can get. I think this is probably one of the coolest collaboration songs in classic rock by a long shot.


2. Dream On, by Aerosmith

This seems to be the one Aerosmith song that ALL the chicks dig. Seriously. A large percentage of the girls I've dated or at least talked to with interest as well as my mom seem to get their jollies on with this tune. I guess I can understand. It is pretty rad. It's heartfelt, dramatic, and at times rather emotionally intense. Maybe I don't vibe with it quite the same way that they do, but regardless it's a good tune for if you want to feel like a big shot rock star.


3. D'Yer Mak'er, by Led Zeppelin

Need a bit of reggae in your life? What better way to get it than by listening to four white British guys do it? In all seriousness though, this is a good tune to kick a groove to. It's great for if you want something that is Led Zeppelin, but not quite the in your face balls to the wall blues riffs most people are accustomed to hearing from them. While that stuff is all well and good in its own right, it is always nice to see that artists have the ability to branch out a bit and throw audiences a curve ball.


4. Make It Last, by Montrose

Like many of the other tunes on Montrose's first album, this is a song made of rolling thunder rhythms and then big Led Zeppelin-ish guitar riffs played by the under rated guitar legend Ronnie Montrose. Then of course there is the loud, proud, and soulful Sammy Hagar singing his balls off to top it all off. This is one to blare through your speakers at top volume because anything less is just a slap in the face to the awesomeness that is this song. 


5. Lookin' For a Kiss, by The New York Dolls

When I say I'm in love, you'd best believe I'm in love - L-U-V. It's always interesting to really take a closer look at bands like The New York Dolls because while on the surface they seem like another loud, over made-up glam band their lyrics cut pretty deep into the heart of teenage angst, drug problems, and other dark parts of modern culture. Lookin' For a Kiss is a prime example of this because it delves right into the heart of peer pressure and doing drugs all while set to some bouncy bluesy rock n' roll.

 

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