5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #128

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. Space Oddity, by David Bowie

This is the tune that started it all for British cultural icon David Bowie back in 1969. This song has always made me feel a little sad, but if you listen to the lyrics and the musical emotion behind them it's kind of hard not to feel that way. Regardless, it is most definitely a masterpiece and a staple in the world of pop and rock music. If it weren't for this tune there would be no modern pop icons that many people know and love.

2. Many Shades of Black, by The Raconteurs

I can't get enough of this song the past week. I know I'm late to the party (as per usual), but I still can't help but feel blown away. It definitely has a Beatles meets modern production kind of vibe to it. I could easily see Paul McCartney having written something like this back in 1968. That said, I am glad that modern artists still listening to and being influenced by the Fab Four. You don't see enough of that any more unfortunately.

3. Maybe I'm a Leo, by Deep Purple

I've always thought that this was one of Deep Purple's best songs. It has a catchy riff and has this steady groove to it that makes you just want to sway and move. Personally I feel this song doesn't get enough attention. It could have easily been a main single from the album, but it got passed up and didn't really get played much until Steve Morse joined the band a couple of decades ago. I bet if it were put on the radio people would demand it more.

4. Chinese Democracy, by Guns N' Roses

If you factor out the circumstances behind this song's recording and try not to think about it being called a Guns N' Roses track, this is actually one hell of a killer tune. It is balls to the wall powerful in terms of the dark heavy musical atmosphere it provides as well as the potent political message it relays about the current state of affairs over in China. This song is actually what got them banned from ever playing in China again.

5. Shot in the Dark, by Ozzy Osbourne

While not my favorite Ozzy tune by any stretch of the imagination, this is still a solid fun track. It's always had this big, arena-like feel to it and is probably one of the most melodic tunes I know of from the Jake E. Lee era catalog. It's one of the first Ozzy songs I ever actually remember hearing on the radio when I was a kid and first allowed to listen to music that wasn't just the same bubblegum 50's and 60's oldies stuff I'd been pigeonholed into up until that point.