5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #162

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. Kurenai [English Version], by X Japan

I wanted to give you guys the Japanese version that appeared on the Blue Blood album because honestly it's a lot better, but unfortunately X Japan's record label is one of those labels that gets REALLY stingy about anything being put on YouTube. That said, this classical meets speed metal ballad is truly something beautiful to behold. The melody translates from classical to metal so incredibly well, although this version doesn't have the string section. Plus, since this version is in English, those of you who prefer English should enjoy this.

2. Runnin' Down a Dream, by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

This was always one of my favorite Tom Petty tunes. I've always loved that driving rhythm and that pedal to the metal kind of vibe it has. For whatever reason the chorus always reminded me of Scooby Doo. Maybe the "working on a mystery" part? Regardless, it always brings back fond memories of sitting in the back of my mom's van on summer vacation without a single care or problem in the whole world.

3. Hash Pipe, by Weezer

Maybe because much of my musical taste is stuck in yesteryear, but I just found out about and learned to play this song recently. It has this nice beefy layered guitar sound in the verses and the choruses have that early 2000's garage rock revival vibe that I personally still love to this day. I'm not really that big into the Mary Joo Wanna drugs, but regardless of subject matter I can still appreciate a good song when it comes along.

4. Meet on the Ledge, by Greta Van Fleet

This is one of the only songs I have heard from Greta Van Fleet that doesn't sound like they are just completely and unapologetically ripping off Led Zeppelin. If anything, this sounds like a classic 70's Aerosmith kind of ballad. If you have ever heard songs like "Major Barbra", you'll know what I'm talking about. It's incredibly melodic and the chorus feels so incredibly big. Definitely the kind of ballad we have needed for a while. Maybe if the boys keep up with stuff like this they will fare better in the long run.

5. My Generation, by The Who

This is the classic song about giving the older folks the middle finger for judging and criticizing the younger folks of your generation. The ironic part about this song is that the people who blared it all the time in their youth are now the older folks that do the very thing they hated their parents' and grandparents' generation for doing. I guess things kind of come full circle, don't they? No wonder there is the lyric "I hope I die before I get old.". You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.