5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #134

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. As Tears Go By, by Avenged Sevenfold

I never thought I'd hear Avenged Sevenfold and The Rolling Stones mentioned in the same sentence, but here we are. A7X recently recorded a cover of the song made famous by the Stones and in my opinion they nailed it. It is the furthest thing from heavy metal I've ever heard them do, and yet at the same time I hear it fitting in with some of their older material. It's odd, but it works. Have a listen for yourself and you'll see what I mean.

2. Rock and Roll Victim, by Death

The Hackney brothers back in their original go with Death were really something else. Here were three black brothers from Detroit playing punk rock before punk was even a thing in a time and place when funky Motown music was very much still the big main thing for the majority of folks. They were bold, innovative, and unafraid to stand out and do their own thing. Even if they didn't get the fame they deserved back then, they clearly deserved it.

3. Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo, by Rick Derringer

This is another one of your straightforward commercial radio rock n' roll tunes, but at the same time it has this groove and vibe to it that I can still get behind anyway. Personally I always loved how the falsetto backing vocals in the chorus manage to smoothly transition into a sweet natural harmony between vocalists. It's definitely not easy to make that kind of transition. That aside, it's a fun song and is great to keep a party going.

4. Mississippi Queen, by Mountain

This song is the epitome of loud, passionate, pulse pounding rock n' roll with balls. Everything from the beefy guitar to the bluesy licks, to the thundering drums, to the beastly vocals definitely makes this song a staple in the world of rock. This song inspired countless bands who wanted to sound just as gargantuan and awe inspiring as Mountain did. Can you blame them? Who wouldn't want to make such a big sound when rocking?

5. I Would Love To, by Steve Vai

No matter at what point in his career he has been at, Steve Vai has never been anything but fun and at the same time musically adventurous. This has always been one of my favorite tunes from his classic album Passion and Warfare that I feel is heavily overlooked by most people who listen to Vai. It has some great guitar work, some terrific melodies, seamless flow, and outstanding guitar harmonies. It makes you feel like you're flying.