5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #58

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. Long Way From Home, by Whitesnake

This is one of the more poppy sounding songs from the early blues infused line-up of Whitesnake. It's melodic, upbeat, and fun. With its lyrics being about love and all, the whole atmosphere the song creates almost makes you feel as though you are watching the opening title sequence to a cheesy 80's sitcom. Be that as it may, it makes it no less of an enjoyable tune to get on with if you need to do some rocking while thinking about your love.

2.  Stargazer, by Rainbow

With the recent passing of Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain I felt it was only appropriate to pay tribute to his memory by including the single greatest song he ever played on. Stargazer is Ritchie Blackmore's masterpiece. It is an 8 and a half minute epic of a tune that even features the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra to back up the band while every last member of the band is giving it their all all while taking the listener into a fantasy themed land with wizards and all that cool stuff.

3. 21 Guns, by Green Day

Need to get your feels on? I think at some point or another many of us have been in a situation that can relate to the lyrics of this song. Some times it doesn't feel like something is really worth fighting for any more despite the fact that you have put copious amounts of time and effort into making things work out. It's hard not to get swept away by the pure raw emotion that spills out of the tune. Anyone who doesn't tear up at least a little has no soul.

4. Wake Up Dead, by Megadeth

Some times you need a thrash metal infused adrenaline rush to get you going first thing in the day. Megadeth's Wake Up Dead has you covered there. Of course if you are also the type to not be faithful to your long term partner you can probably also relate to the lyrics pretty well. However, for everyone else it's a great way to completely rock out and is also a great way to introduce someone to the thrash metal genre. It has everything: dark lyrical themes, killer riffs, and ripping solos. What more can you ask for?

5. Big Ten Inch, by Aerosmith

It is absolutely RIDICULOUS how many sexual innuendos are in this seemingly innocent song about listening to one's favorite blues band on a big ten inch record. You keep thinking that while this rockabilly tune is going they are going to drop a sex related word but every time they manage to catch themselves and keep on going with the clean theme of the song. It's good silly fun that you can even show the kids.