5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #152

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. Ain't No Rest for the Wicked, by Postmodern Jukebox

This song surprisingly, yet not so surprisingly translates into jazz rather well. This time however it has a bit more sexy swagger to it than the pick you up by the scruff and throw you against a wall bluesy vibe the original had. Postmodern Jukebox always seems to find the most interesting ways of keeping all of our favorite songs fresh in that way. At least now we have two different ways to enjoy an awesome song.

2. Fire and Water, by Free

Free is sadly one of those bands that mostly gets overlooked due to having only one song that REALLY made it big on the radio. The title track from the Fire and Water record is pretty darn solid and showcases the dynamic talent that Paul Rodgers and everyone else in the band had at such an early age. You would never guess that they were only in their early 20's when they made and put out this record. I guess when you have it, you have it regardless of age.

3. Dixie Lee Junction, by Elf

Ronnie James Dio wasn't always the God of Heavy Metal. Before he sang songs like "Man on the Silver Mountain", "Heaven and Hell", and "Holy Diver" he was in a blues band called Elf. They actually put out three records and multiple demos and bootlegs during their short tenure in the early 70's. This song off their first album is one of my all time favorites. It flows so well and doesn't stick to one particular vibe.

4. 18 and Life, by Skid Row

Anyone who knows Skid Row even in the slightest instantly thinks of this song whenever the band is brought up in conversation. It's dark, tough, and has some of the absolute best vocals that Sebastian Bach has ever performed and probably ever will perform. The subject matter might be just a little cheesy, but they manage to rock it so damn hard that it really doesn't seem to matter. It's just that awesome.

5. Good Times Bad Times, by Led Zeppelin

This is the track that changed the course of rock n' roll and heavy metal history forever. The opener on Led Zeppelin's debut record, it showed just how heavy, loud, and powerful rock n' roll could truly be. It singlehandedly brushed away all of the psychedelic and poppy sounding rock that had been made up to that point and paved the way for stuff that was on a whole other level. It is definitely considered a classic for a reason.