HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 10/26/14

HRD RADIO REPORT 

The HRD Radio Report showcases the weekly Active Rock Mediabase Charts (compiled by AllAccess.com), and appears every Tuesday on HardRockDaddy.com.  The HRD Radio Report digs deeper into the weekly Active Rock charts, providing commentary, reviews, recommendations and predictions.  It also features opinion pieces on chart action and the music business in general.  Whenever possible, the HRD Radio Report will feature insight from radio and record industry people, in addition to interviews with hard rock artists about their music, tours and more!

Many of the artists featured on the Active Rock charts have already been reviewed on HardRockDaddy.com.

Click on the hyperlinked song titles to read song reviews, and the hyperlinked artist names to read album reviews.

The following is the Active Rock Mediabase Chart for the week ending 10/26/14.  All exclusive HRD content is featured below the chart:

CHART POSITION THIS WEEK	CHART POSITION LAST WEEK	ARTIST	SONG TITLE	RADIO SPINS THIS WEEK
1	22	FOO FIGHTERS	“Something From Nothing”	1581
2	1	NICKELBACK	“Edge Of A Revolution”	1473
3	3	SLIPKNOT	“The Devil In I”	1401
4	5	FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH	“Wrong Side Of Heaven”	1394
5	6	ROYAL BLOOD	“Figure It Out”	1341
6	4	KORN	“Hater”	1220
7	9	AC/DC	“Play Ball”	1201
8	2	SLASH	“World On Fire”	1078
9	12	SEETHER	“Same Damn Life”	1058
10	11	VOLBEAT	“Doc Holliday”	1009
11	14	THREE DAYS GRACE	“I Am Machine”	875
12	7	PRETTY RECKLESS	“Messed Up World”	867
13	15	GODSMACK	“Something Different”	830
14	13	BLACK KEYS	“Gotta Get Away”	813
15	10	WEEZER	“Back To The Shack	778
16	17	BUSH	“The Only Way Out”	730
17	19	POP EVIL	“Beautiful”	715
18	16	HELLYEAH	“Moth”	713
19	18	OTHERWISE	“Darker Side Of The Moon”	677
20	23	IN THIS MOMENT	“Sick Like Me”	594
21	20	ASKING ALEXANDRIA	“Moving On”	573
22	25	NONPOINT	“Breaking Skin”	543
23	21	DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979	“Trainwreck 1979”	525
24	24	ISLANDER	“Coconut Dracula”	493
25	29	NOTHING MORE	“Mr. MTV”	434
26	27	KONGOS	“I’m Only Joking”	410
27	26	GODSMACK	“1000hp”	398
28	28	THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH	“Born This Way”	386
29	32	YOUNG GUNS	“I Want Out”	382
30	33	LIVE	“Way Around Is Through”	338
31	31	RISE AGAINST	“I Don’t Wanna Be Here”	312
32	42	LINKIN PARK	“Rebellion”	302
33	35	FALL OUT BOY	“Centuries”	292
34	34	MASTODON	“The Motherload”	291
35	48	SIXX A.M.	“Stars”	284
36	38	SHAMAN’S HARVEST	“Dangerous”	276
37	36	FLYLEAF	“Set Me On Fire”	274
38	37	MOTIONLESS IN WHITE	“Reincarnate”	270
39	39	THEORY OF A DEADMAN	“Savages”	247
40	41	ADELITA’S WAY	“Save The World”	213
41	57	LENNY KRAVITZ	“Dirty White Boots”	207
42	43	NEW MEDICINE	“One Too Many”	190
43	45	3 YEARS HOLLOW	“For Life”	168
44	53	CHEVELLE	“An Island”	154
45	59	STARSET	“Carnivore”	135
46	46	BLACK VEIL BRIDES	“Heart Of Fire”	132
47	49	REV THEORY	“Born 2 Destroy”	127
48	44	TRIVIUM	“Villainy Thrives”	126
49	50	LETTERS FROM THE FIRE	“Zombies In The Sun”	120
50	47	BLACK STONE CHERRY	“Remember Me”	119

 

PUBLISHER’S PICK OF THE WEEK by Adam Waldman

LONGREEF – “Battle Plan”

October is National Bullying Prevention Month.  Inspired by the song “Battle Plan,” and discussions with members of Longreef, Hard Rock Daddy has been commemorating the month with stories from hard rock artists about their bullying experiences.  The campaign kicked off with a deep, personal interview with Longreef singer, Josh Barker, about the bullying that he experienced in his youth, and the creation of “Battle Plan.”  The song and video are both truly inspirational.

Choosing “Battle Plan” as the pick of the week goes beyond its radio potential.  It is about the impact that it can make on the lives of kids around the world who are being bullied, and feel that they have no place to turn.  Check out the interview with Josh Barker to get a better understanding of the importance of this song.

 

PUBLISHER’S OP-ED

A BIT CON-“FOOS”-ING, TO SAY THE LEAST

Having tracked the Active Rock radio charts since the launching of HRD Radio Report, one thing has become abundantly clear – the rise to the top is usually a gradual process.  However, over the past two weeks, it seems that Active Rock radio programmers have taken the new Foo Fighters song “Something From Nothing” as literal marching orders, rather than just the release of another new single.

Debuting at #22 last week and then rocketing all the way to #1 this week, you would think that Kurt Cobain rose from the dead to be a guest musician on “Something From Nothing.”  Short of the reincarnation of Cobain, the only other explanation is that Dave Grohl has threatened to go viral with compromising photos that he has of programmers across the country.

This is not to say that “Something From Nothing” is a bad song.  I like it well enough after a few listens, but this overreaction by Active Rock radio would seem to indicate that the song is going to replace “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as the most impactful song of Grohl’s career.  A bit con-“foos”-ing, to say the least.

 

THE BREAKDOWN by Jon Loveless

A meteoric rise trumps heavy-hitters and fast-movers create some stagnation in the middle of the chart. Just some of the things we’ll cover in this week’s HRD Radio Report.

 

CHART TOPPERS

Maybe Nickelback should write a song called “What Goes Up”.  Just as “Edge Of A Revolution” abruptly shot to the top of the Mediabase Active Rock airplay chart, and displaced what appeared to be a strong chart-topper from Slash, they find themselves bumped back to #2 by the remarkable explosion of Foo Fighters “Something From Nothing.”  Grohl & Co. tripled their spins from a strong week one debut, and ascended to the top of the format as fast as any song anyone seems to recall.  The jump keeps Slipknot stuck at #3 with “The Devil In I,” Five Finger Death Punch claims the #4 spot with “Wrong Side Of Heaven,”  while Royal Blood reaches the top five with “Figure It Out.”

 
 

 CHART HIGHLIGHTS

While Foo Fighters make most of the noise this week, AC/DC keeps steadily marching ahead, up 20% in airplay to climb from #9 to #7.  Seether reaches #9 with “Same Damn Life,” and  Volbeat (“Doc Holliday”) climbs back up to #10.

There’s only so many spins to go around, so the latest from Three Days Grace (“I Am Machine”) moves up from #14 to #11, but does it with very little actual growth in airplay.  Notable this week is the logjam I alluded to in the tease.  No song between #10 and #31 had triple-digit growth this week (i.e. gained less than 100 spins), meaning a lot of songs simply moved up or down 1-2 spots.

When so many of the additional spins are devoted to a single song as they were this week, everyone else sort of suffers.  Sixx A.M. did see solid growth for “Stars”  climbing from #48 to #35.  Linkin Park f. Daron Malakian also moved well, jumping from #42 to #32.   

Three new titles made their Top 50 debut this week: “Dirty White Boots” by Lenny Kravitz enters at #41, “An Island” by Chevelle pops in at #44 and Starset’s second single (“Carnivore”) premieres at #45 after getting airplay on a few stations as far back as June of this year.

 
 

RAPID RISERS AND FREEFALLERS

RAPID RISERS

Foo Fighters –  “Something From Nothing”, +21 spots, + 1,047 spins, +196% airplay
AC/DC  – “Play Ball” +200 spins, +20% airplay
Lenny Kravitz  – “Dirty White Boots” +16 spots, +109 spins, +111% airplay
Sixx A.M. –  “Stars” +13 spots, +145 spins, +104% airplay
Seether –  “Same Damn Life” +3 spots, +146 spins, +16% airplay
 
FREEFALLERS

Slash –  “World On Fire” -6 spots, -312 spins, -22% airplay
Pretty Reckless –  “Messed Up World” -5 spots, -313 spins, -27% airplay
Weezer –  “Back To The Shack” -5 spots, -196 spins, -20% airplay
Black Stone Cherry –  “Remember Me” -3 spots, -31 spins, -21% airplay
Godsmack  – “1000 HP” -1 spot, -49 spins, -11% airplay

 
 

INSTANT REPLAY

Here’s what I have on Instant Replay this week…

“Born This Way” – Thousand Foot Krutch

While the first single from Oxygen:Inhale seems to be topping out somewhere in the high twenties of the chart, this energetic track will be one that I remember as a highlight of late summer/early fall 2014.   With a message consistent with their beliefs deftly woven into an infectious song that’s just plain fun, the track is a winner that still has me turning it up every time that I hear it.  Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to think about being so cool in first grade that they “drank their juice with rocks in it”?

 
 

I CALL B#LL$HIT!

Turning crusty, white and ugly, the same old b.s. still lingers in the Active Rock barnyard.   Around 2,800 spins were utterly wasted this week on songs from Weezer, Black Keys, Death From Above 1979, Kongos and Fall Out Boy, none of which are remotely Active Rock in any rational sense of the word.  At least a couple of them are fine enough Alternative tracks, but please radio, with so much good Active Rock out there, stop shoving things that don’t belong down the throats of listeners who deserve better!

 
 

FUTURES REPORT

Which station will go to an “all-Foo, all-the-time” format first?  Will strong sales finally wake radio up to the potential strength of the first single from Black Veil Brides new album (“Heart Of Fire”)?  Will Charm City Devils latest single (“Shots”) finally get some traction at radio?  Will Gilligan finally make a move on Ginger?  And will Mary Ann be jealous?  These questions (and more) will be answered next week…

 
 

WRAP-UP

That’s all for this week!  Tune in to HardRockDaddy.com every Tuesday for the HRD Radio Report. \m/