5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #171

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. Radioactive, by Gene Simmons

When people talk about the solo albums each of the members of Kiss did in 1978 as a way to try to keep the band together a little longer, most people think of Ace Frehley's record. To be fair, while it is the best one of the four the others had some great stuff on them too. Gene's actually had some catchy pop rock tunes like this one. It's upbeat, cheery, and has some of the best backing vocals I have heard since Van Halen. The intro is a bit weird and out of place, though.

2. On and On and On, by Jack White

This is one of those songs that for a while was just one of those tracks where if I was playing the whole record through I would enjoy it well enough, but would never go out of my way to listen to it. Over time though, it has grown on me to the point where the bass and vocal melodies get stuck in my head on a near daily basis. They subtly hook themselves into the deepest recesses of your brain until you have the track on repeat for the fifth time.

3. Nine in the Afternoon, by Panic! at the Disco

So this is the kind of stuff that was big with all the emo/alternative kids when I was in high school. It was never really my shindig, but my friends all loved it so I often had to listen too. The band's singer Brenon Urie is actually to this day still a major teen heart throb for many girls. That said, this song in particular I liked though because it has this cheery, old school Electric Light Orchestra/Beatles kind of vibe to it. Some of you older folks might actually enjoy it too.

4. Come on to Me, by Paul McCartney

If that is enough newer stuff for you, then let's dive right back into some old school artists. Sir Paul is about ready to serve up his first new full length album in five years this coming September. Last week he put out the two debut singles from it, including this song here. I like this one better because it has that cheerful rock meets old school pop that The Beatles did oh so well back in their heyday. It will definitely have you clapping along.

5. No One Like You, by The Scorpions

Ok, ok. Old songs from old artists. This one is a Scorpions classic for sure. I heard a clip of the demo of this song on the radio of all places years back, and I actually liked it far better. However, I have dug around the internet for YEARS to try to find it again but to no avail. It is my dying wish to some day hear that demo in its entirety. Regardless, the finished studio version is still a great tune to crank up and rock out to.