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.
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 5/23/15. 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 | 1 | BREAKING BENJAMIN | “Failure” | 2105 |
| 2 | 2 | ZAC BROWN BAND (f. Chris Cornell) | “Heavy Is The Head” | 1835 |
| 3 | 3 | THEORY OF A DEADMAN | “Angel” | 1372 |
| 4 | 6 | ROYAL BLOOD | “Little Monster” | 1368 |
| 5 | 4 | SLASH | “Bent To Fly” | 1337 |
| 6 | 5 | THREE DAYS GRACE | “Human Race” | 1328 |
| 7 | 7 | BRING ME THE HORIZON | “Drown” | 968 |
| 8 | 8 | PRETTY RECKLESS | “Follow Me Down” | 963 |
| 9 | 9 | TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT | “Take It Back” | 929 |
| 10 | 13 | NOTHING MORE | “Jenny” | 869 |
| 11 | 16 | HALESTORM | “Amen” | 848 |
| 12 | 12 | WE ARE HARLOT | “Dancing On Nails” | 781 |
| 13 | 10 | AWOLNATION | “Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)” | 775 |
| 14 | 15 | HELLYEAH | “Hush” | 748 |
| 15 | 18 | SEETHER | “Nobody Praying For Me” | 746 |
| 16 | 11 | OFFSPRING | “Coming For You” | 739 |
| 17 | 14 | FOO FIGHTERS | “Congregation” | 671 |
| 18 | 20 | HIGHLY SUSPECT | “Lydia” | 617 |
| 19 | 17 | DEVOUR THE DAY | “Faith” | 592 |
| 20 | 22 | MUSE | “Dead Inside” | 586 |
| 21 | 19 | THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH | “Unraveled Road” | 576 |
| 22 | 21 | 10 YEARS | “Miscellanea” | 533 |
| 23 | 23 | HALESTORM | “Apocalyptic” | 479 |
| 24 | 24 | APOCALYPTICA | “Cold Blood” | 432 |
| 25 | 26 | IN THIS MOMENT | “Sex Metal Barbie” | 406 |
| 26 | 32 | GODSMACK | “What’s Next” | 353 |
| 27 | 27 | OF MICE & MEN | “Never Giving Up” | 343 |
| 28 | 28 | FALLING IN REVERSE | “God If You Are Above” | 335 |
| 29 | 29 | ARANDA | “Don’t Wake Me” | 330 |
| 30 | 25 | OTHERWISE | “Coming For The Throne” | 299 |
| 31 | 31 | KILL IT KID | “Blood Stop And Run” | 287 |
| 32 | 30 | AMARANTHE | “Drop Dead Cynical” | 282 |
| 33 | 43 | SLIPKNOT | “Killpop” | 247 |
| 34 | 33 | MUSE | “Psycho” | 242 |
| 35 | 34 | SONS OF TEXAS | “Baptized In The Rio Grande” | 218 |
| 36 | 35 | CROBOT | “Legend Of The Spaceborne” | 213 |
| 37 | 39 | YOUNG GUNS | “Rising Up” | 182 |
| 38 | 41 | STARSET | “Halo” | 177 |
| 39 | 40 | PERIPHERY | “Alpha” | 176 |
| 40 | 37 | FLYLEAF | “Thread” | 173 |
| 41 | 42 | AC/DC | “Rock The Blues Away” | 169 |
| 42 | 47 | BEARTOOTH | “In Between” | 168 |
| 43 | 45 | TREMONTI | “Another Heart” | 156 |
| 44 | 48 | DANKO JONES | “Do You Wanna Rock” | 155 |
| 45 | 46 | RED | “Darkest Part” | 154 |
| 46 | 87 | ALL THAT REMAINS | “For You” | 149 |
| 47 | 44 | MUMFORD & SONS | “The Wolf” | 145 |
| 48 | 50 | ACIDIC | “Chicago” | 130 |
| 49 | 51 | SHATTERED SUN | “Hope Within Hatred” | 127 |
| 50 | 53 | SHAMAN’S HARVEST | “Dirty Diana” | 109 |
PUBLISHER’S PICK OF THE WEEK by Adam Waldman
AC/DC – “Rock The Blues Away”
Unlike most classic, heavy metal artists, AC/DC has managed to carve out a place for themselves as a staple Active Rock artist, which is somewhat surprising given that their sound is largely the same as it has always been. There is a beauty to their consistent approach. They know who they are, who their fans are and what they want. Perhaps the current infatuation with the band stems from how close we came to not having them around anymore after Malcolm Young’s diagnosis. Whatever the reason for making AC/DC the exception to the rule on Active Rock radio, it’s good to see that they have a place amongst current hard rock artists. Like many of their songs, “Rock The Blues Away” features the word “rock” in the title. In fact, this is the second single in a row that has it. Both “Play Ball” (the debut single) and “Rock Or Bust” (the follow-up single and title track) both made a huge impact on the Active Rock radio chart. Each featured the classic AC/DC sound. “Rock The Blues Away,” on the other hand, offers something unexpected and different, which may be why it’s climb on the charts has been more methodical. Although AC/DC isn’t known for “feelgood” melodies, “Rock The Blues Away” shows that there are layers to their brand of “rock.” With a fun, summer vibe in the vein of Kid Rock, this is a track that should have staying power for the next few months.
***NEW FEATURE***
HRD SPIN CONTROL (by Adam Waldman and Jon Loveless)
As you’ve probably noticed, we recently stopped including the “I CALL B#LL$HIT!” section in the weekly HRD Radio Report. This decision was made for a few reasons. First of all, because chart movement is relatively slow, we were pointing out the same songs for many weeks in a row. But more importantly, we weren’t doing anything to help raise awareness for the songs that we believe should be getting enough spins to crack the Top 50 on the Active Rock radio chart.
Effective immediately, we are replacing “I CALL B#LL$HIT!” with HRD SPIN CONTROL. Each week, we will share the songs that we think should be added to rotations, alongside the songs that we feel should be dropped from rotations, either because they are a bad fit for the format, or because they have run their course and it’s time for a new single from the artist.
SPIN IT…
CRASH MIDNIGHT – “151”
SAINT ASONIA – “Better Place”
ART OF ANARCHY – “Til The Dust Is Gone”
WITHIN REASON – “Here Comes The Light”
ART OF DYING – “Rise Up”
DROP IT…
Awolnation – “Hollow Moon”
Mumford & Sons – “The Wolf”
Zac Brown Band – “Heavy Is The Head”
Bring Me The Horizon – “Drown”
In This Moment – “Sex Metal Barbie”
THE BREAKDOWN by Jon Loveless
KING OF THE HILL
Despite minor erosion in support, it’s another week at #1 on the Mediabase Active Rock Airplay chart for “Failure” by Breaking Benjamin. Seven of the Top 10 songs saw declines in airplay (some likely due to holiday programming), so no one really mounted any sort of challenge for the top spot. Zac Brown Band (f. Chris Cornell) remains at #2; Theory Of A Deadman is still #3. Royal Blood slides into the #4 spot with “Little Monster,” a move that could open the door for them to claim at least a brief stay at the top before all is said and done.
NOTABLE CHART MOVEMENT
Nothing More is the only new arrival in the Top 10 this week with “Jenny”…
Halestorm just missed another Top 10 by a matter of hours worth of airplay as “Amen” lands at #11, bookending the Top 20 with the other new arrival into that level, “Dead Inside” by Muse…
Godsmack had a solid week, giving them the only new entry into the Top 30…
A nearly 50% increase in airplay pushes Slipknot up ten places and into the Top 40…
Three songs move into the lower part of the Top 50 this week, but only one that’s actually making a debut. Radio responds quickly to the add date for the latest single from All That Remains (“For You”), while Shattered Sun and Shaman’s Harvest return to the published chart with songs that had debuted previously.
THREE UP & THREE DOWN
MOVING UP
Halestorm – “Amen”
Seether – “Nobody Praying For Me”
Godsmack – “What’s Next”
DROPPING DOWN
Bring Me The Horizon – “Drown”
Pretty Reckless – “Follow Me Down”
Awolnation – “Hollow Moon”
FUTURES REPORT
The holiday weekend makes predicting the next chart movement a little more difficult since special programming sometimes throwing rotations and spin counts out of whack. The huge lead enjoyed by the current #1 song, strongly suggests that Breaking Benjamin will get at least a fourth straight week at the top. The more interesting race might be the one to eventually succeed them. Whether Royal Blood can reach the top before format core artists like Halestorm and Seether reach their typical destinations is still up in the air.
WRAP-UP
That’s all for this week. Tune in to HardRockDaddy.com every Tuesday for the HRD Radio Report. \m/
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