5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #132

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. Weight of Love, by The Black Keys

This song is probably as close to new Pink Floyd as you're going to get these days. It has this chilled, laid back, space age psychedelic kind of vibe to it with a certain level of darkness in the vocal melody and the lyrics that makes you feel like just drifting on out aimlessly into space for eternity. This was one of the songs that got me interested in listening to the more recent Black Keys stuff that came after they were a DIY basement blues rock band.

2. Elected, by Alice Cooper

Given the tense politically charged atmosphere in the world today I figured this is a fairly apt song by one of the most prolific song writers of our time. Many people think Alice Cooper is more about the theatrics than the music, but if you actually pay close attention to his stuff he actually has a lot of relevant things to say about the world we live in and the inner darkness of the human race that engulfs it all.

3. Free Ride, by Edgar Winter Group

If all of that has been a bit of a downer for you though, I've got you covered. This one will definitely perk you right back up. It's a straightforward easy going crank it up kind of rock n' roll song that is fun and easy to get down to. Definitely an essential part of any classic rock play list, whether it's for a party or just your own personal listening. It has that sunshine good times kind of vibe that you don't really hear in a whole lot of rock n' roll any more.

4. Mistreated, by Deep Purple

This song has to be one of the greatest masterpieces Deep Purple ever created. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore put all of his heart and soul into the coming up with the base concept for the song and it shows through his passionate fiery guitar playing. Where things really come alive though is the soulfully gut wrenching pain that you feel through David Coverdale's vocal performance. You can feel and relate to every last drop of heartache that drips through his words. Needless to say, this is a blues song for everyone.

5. All Right Now, by Free

To end things on a high note though, I'll throw ya this classic. If you haven't heard it to death on the radio over the years I'll honestly be surprised. That is, unless you're one of those people with no taste in music and only listen to the pop or modern alternative stations. That said, this song is a lot of fun and really does make you feel all right now. It's some of the best work that Free ever did and to be fair is over played for a reason.