5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #53

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. Devil in Me, by The Last in Line

The original Dio band is back together! Unfortunately it is sans-Ronnie (for obvious reasons), but Vivian Campbell, Jimmy Bain, and Vinny Appice are now making new music again. On vocals they have Andrew Freeman from Lynch Mob. The single Devil in Me from their upcoming debut album Heavy Crown is pretty darn fantastic. It's a stomping, smashing taste of what is to come from the album when it's released next February.

2.  Black Country, by Black Country Communion

The opening track from the super group comprised of Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, Derek Sherinian, and Jason Bonham immediately grabs you by the balls with its deep intense bass riff that is followed by the rest of the band crashing in, following suit. It packs a punch and does not let up from start to finish. It is thundering and unforgiving, but in the best ways possible. Powerful vocals, wicked guitar solos.... What more could you ask for?

3.  Mama Said, by Lenny Kravitz featuring Slash

This funky horn backed tune has one of the sickest main guitar riffs I have ever heard. Slash and Lenny Kravitz absolutely tear it the hell up in this. You can tell they were having an absolute blast just having a big jam. The solos will melt your face harder than it has been melted before. It's like Stevie Wonder on steroids blasted into outer space. It will get you moving and stuck in your head for DAYS.

4. The Loner, by Cozy Powell

In 1979 drummer Cozy Powell put out a solo album Over the Top with some of the best musicians of the time: Jack Bruce, Bernie Marsden, Don Airey, Gary Moore, and more. The Loner in my opinion is the crown jewel of that album. It is such a powerfully emotional instrumental track. It makes you feel the kind of deep loneliness that such a person might feel when they are The Loner. It's great for when you're having one of those moments where you just need to feel your feelings and let them be ridden out.

5. Sucker Train Blues, by Velvet Revolver

My god.... This track is one of the best ways to start off a hard rock album I've ever heard... You can feel the tension and build up from the guitar riff and the siren, but once the band punches their way through your speakers you are grabbed along for one hell of a ride through the entire Contraband album. This song says everything that Velvet Revolver was about. This was one hell of a way for the former members of Guns N' Roses to make a comeback into the mainstream music scene.