5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #97

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. Spit Out the Bone, by Metallica

This is one of the better tracks from Metallica's new album Hardwired...to Self-Destruct which came out last Friday (November 18th). This has a real ...And Justice for All vibe to it without it necessarily trying to copy off the album exactly (though it would have fit in with the rest of that album very nicely). It's fast, gritty, thundering, mean, and will destroy your speakers. Just the way a good old fashioned Metallica song should.

2. When I Fall, by Glenn Hughes

Former Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Country Communion, etc. bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes put out a new album Resonate on the 4th of this month. Of all the tracks on it, this one was probably my favorite, or at least one of my top favorites. It is a bit more mellow and laid back in some respects compared to the other songs, but it has the most 70's vibe on it. Lots of Hammond organ. Lots of great melody with a funky vibe. Reminds me the most of the kind of stuff many of Hughes's fans have come to know and love him for.

3. Oh! You Pretty Things, by David Bowie

One of my top old school Bowie tunes. It has this real soul vibe to it before Bowie was even into that kind of thing while at the same time keeping things rather light and jazzy on the piano. The guy really did know how to bend genres as well as genders, that's for sure. It all comes together quite nicely, but then again I would have expected nothing less from the man who took many pop genres and did amazing things with them that no one else could have ever possibly dreamed of.

4.  A Light in the Black, by Rainbow

Getting back to some heavier stuff though, this has to be one of the most intense and exhausting (in all the best ways) tune that Ritchie Blackmore ever put together. To be fair though, the whole band play vital roles in this tune. This is the kind of song that does not give you even one second to breathe. It goes on 8 and a half minutes and is balls to the wall the entire time with guitar and synth solos, thunderous bass playing and drumming, and Valhalla reaching vocals produced by the late great Ronnie James Dio.

5. Sabotage, by The Beastie Boys

And now for something completely different. Rap usually isn't my shindig by any stretch of the imagination, but for this tune I'll make an exception. I absolutely LOVE the way it kicks a groove. The vocals are also somehow annoying in the most awesome/pleasant way possible. I'm really not sure how to explain it except it's like that one girl/guy who REALLY gets on your nerves yet at the same time you can't help but find yourself extremely attracted to them. That's this song for me.