There are times in life when you will need to get psyched. Maybe you have to give a big presentation, maybe you are about to go on a big date, maybe you need an extra boost before a night out, or maybe it is a slow day at work and you are trying not to fall asleep. Whatever the case, these are some songs you may not be familiar with, and they are sure to get you fired up and ready to conquer the world!

They are in no particular order other than the order in which I thought of them.

1. Rock You Like a Hurricane - The Scorpions

Okay, so I know this isn't exactly "obscure", but I just had to kick things off with it because it's an excellent, if not quintessential, "get psyched" song.

From the beginning power chords to the driving verses to the fist-pumping chorus to the awesome solo, this song has it all. The little drum crescendo that occurs after each line in the verse adds even more to the awesomeness. And the lyrics are pure badass: "...The night is calling, I have to go, the wolf is hungry, he runs the show..." Nothing says alpha male quite like blaring this song while passing people in the left lane.

2. Through Fire and Flames - Dragonforce

Getting a bit more obscure with this one, but anyone who has played Guitar Hero is probably familiar with it. Musically, it has some pretty amazing guitar and drum work, frankly I don't know how the drummer keeps up the fast double-bass pedaling the entire song.  Lyrically, it is incredibly positive and has pretty epic fantastical imagery. I mean, once you listen to this song and hear "through the fire and the flames we carry on" then any of your problems just seem insignificant. Also especially applicable if you are a firefighter and are about to enter a burning building.

3. All the Way - Vandenberg

Vandenberg was, in my opinion, a really underrated early '80s hair metal band. Their guitarist Adrian Vandenberg would leave the band in the mid '80s to join Whitesnake, but before he did they released a few really good albums.

This song depicts someone who thought being a criminal would be all fun and games, but finds out that it is really not. The chorus has a really nice melodic hard-rock groove, and features the lyrics "...all the way, gotta go all the way, it's the point where there ain't no way back..." which is really good to listen to if you just got the feeling that you have bitten off more than you can chew...but need to find a way to chew it.

4. No Turning Back - Heaven

Unfortunately they took this down on YouTube 🙁

Speaking of songs about not turning back, here is one that was released by a band you probably haven't heard of called Heaven. In this case, the name refers to an Australian hair-metal band (not a Norwegian AOR band, although they released some pretty good songs as well). The song

5. Dreamland - Dreamtale

If power metal isn't your thing, then you might not like this song. But, if you are just a bit open minded, then give it a listen. The music if very fast paced and melodic, and the lyrics feature very fantastical themes common to power metal. It'll add an extra bit of awesomeness to whatever you happen to be doing at the time.

6. Snickers Plan - Feast

So there is about a 100% chance that you have never heard of this song. But if you listen to it, then it might sound strangely familiar...but why? Well, it was on a Snickers commercial in something like the early 2000s that featured a pilgrim and a Hawaiian and a medieval king and maybe like a viking or something all piling into a crappy compact car and driving around. The commercial made very little sense but I thought was hilarious, and so is this song.

The music is intentionally stereotypical hair metal, and the lyrics are part awesome and part funny. The whole thing just makes me happy whenever I listen to it. "Climb every mountaintop, left foot right foot never stop, show the world that he's a man, who stuck to the plan..." I just listen to it and am part smiling and part pumping my fist.

Unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of ways to listen to this song. The video I embedded is the lone place I can find it on YouTube (skip to 0:13 for the start of the song) and I believe it is on iTunes as well.

7. The Hellion - Judas Priest

This is another song that might sound strangely familiar because of a Honda Odyssey commercial circa 2009. It is 41 seconds long and leads into the song "Electric Eye", which I think is a very disappointing song after this awesome intro, but oh well. It is pretty much an arpeggiated Em chord with a ton of sustain, and the end result just sounds awesome.

This is a great song to play if you are about to walk out the door to go do something...because you will walk out feeling like you can conquer anything. Hell, it made the Honda Odyssey look badass (which, I might remind you, is a minivan).

8. No Easy Way Out - Robert Tepper

This is from the Rocky IV soundtrack in case you aren't familiar, and while pretty much any song from any of the Rocky soundtracks is worthy of being on this list (Eye of the Tiger, Gonna Fly Now, etc.) I chose this one because it seemed to have more emotion than the others. It plays at a time in the movie when Rocky's friend just got killed in the ring by a massive Russian dude and he goes on a soul-searching drive to try to figure things out.

Sure, it's kinda cheesy, but I think it is an important reminder that sometimes you have to take the hard way and it's best to not wish there was an easy way. I, for one, enjoy listening to it while speeding down dark roads in my Lambo thinking about life, (minus the Lambo) and you should too!

9. Breaking the Chains - Dokken

This song might be better suited for a "best songs to get you through a break up" list, but it is still pretty applicable here. It's part angry, part hard melodic rock, and part rugged independence. Whatever it is in life, you just broke the chains! You are your own person now, you don't need anyone or anything! The music video is also just classic cheesy '80s and I love it for that.

So even if you didn't just break up, this song will still get you super psyched to kick some ass (literally or metaphorically speaking).

10. Fight the Good Fight - Triumph

Last, but certainly not least, this song is one of the reasons I made it through college without going completely insane. I listened to it before pretty much every test my freshman year, and it even brought me to tears on an occasion (you know, manly tears). I also really love Triumph as a band and think they have a multitude of great songs and an incredible amount of talent. If you are nervous or scared about something and need something to make you feel better, then this should do it.

So go forth and fight the good fight! Every minute, every day.

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Hope you enjoyed this list, and maybe learned of a few new songs for the ole playlist.

What are your get-psyched songs? Let me know in the comments.

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Photo (c) 2014 Marina del Castell and and made available under Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0