HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 6/21/15

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 6/21/15.  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”	2092
2	2	THEORY OF A DEADMAN	“Angel”	1854
3	4	ROYAL BLOOD	“Little Monster”	1607
4	3	THREE DAYS GRACE	“Human Race”	1589
5	6	HALESTORM	“Amen”	1420
6	8	SEETHER	“Nobody Praying For Me”	1256
7	7	NOTHING MORE	“Jenny”	1225
8	5	ZAC BROWN BAND (f. Chris Cornell)	“Heavy Is The Head”	1179
9	13	POP EVIL	“Footsteps”	960
10	10	HIGHLY SUSPECT	“Lydia”	960
11	9	MUSE	“Dead Inside”	932
12	12	GODSMACK	“What’s Next”	898
13	11	HELLYEAH	“Hush”	878
14	0	FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH	“Jekyll And Hyde”	691
15	14	DEVOUR THE DAY	“Faith”	654
16	19	SAINT ASONIA	“Better Place”	646
17	16	PAPA ROACH	“Gravity”	626
18	15	10 YEARS	“Miscellanea”	491
19	23	SLIPKNOT	“Killpop”	461
20	17	AWOLNATION	“Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)”	450
21	24	ARANDA	“Don’t Wake Me”	449
22	26	KILL IT KID	“Blood Stop And Run”	442
23	22	OF MICE & MEN	“Never Giving Up”	428
24	27	ALL THAT REMAINS	“For You”	399
25	21	OFFSPRING	“Coming For You”	399
26	38	THE STRUTS	“Could Have Been Me”	373
27	25	IN THIS MOMENT	“Sex Metal Barbie”	365
28	31	STARSET	“Halo”	334
29	28	FALLING IN REVERSE	“God If You Are Above”	323
30	34	MUMFORD & SONS	“The Wolf”	322
31	43	RED SUN RISING	“The Otherside”	281
32	32	MUSE	“Psycho”	262
33	20	TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT	“Take It Back”	249
34	29	THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH	“Unraveled Road”	235
35	33	BEARTOOTH	“In Between”	234
36	30	APOCALYPTICA	“Cold Blood”	233
37	36	DANKO JONES	“Do You Wanna Rock”	228
38	35	CROBOT	“Legend Of The Spaceborne”	227
39	39	SHAMAN’S HARVEST	“Dirty Diana”	222
40	42	I PREVAIL	“Blank Space”	207
41	59	P.O.D.	“This Goes Out To You”	192
42	41	RED	“Darkest Part”	183
43	37	TREMONTI	“Another Heart”	177
44	40	YOUNG GUNS	“Rising Up”	148
45	49	NICKELBACK	“Get ‘Em Up”	140
46	46	SHATTERED SUN	“Hope Within Hatred”	121
47	44	AC/DC	“Rock The Blues Away”	120
48	52	HINDER	“Intoxicated”	98
49	51	MOTIONLESS IN WHITE	“Unstoppable”	91
50	54	FIT FOR RIVALS	“Freak Machine”	84

 

 

PUBLISHER’S PICK OF THE WEEK by Adam Waldman

I PREVAIL – “Blank Space”

“Blank Space” was the introduction of I Prevail to many Octane listeners awhile back, although the song only recently started gaining traction on Active Rock Radio, so it’s kind of new as well.  Only after hearing it a few times did I discover that it was a cover of a Taylor Swift song.  I’m sure that it comes as no surprise to reveal that I like I Prevail’s version infinitely more than the original, but this week, mentioning Taylor Swift in this forum goes beyond her music.  Although I’ve read one dissenting opinion from an Active Rock band, for the most part, the community is hailing her for making a stance against Apple’s new streaming service that would have financially impacted artists who have new releases coming out.  Because of Swift, Apple backed down from their initial stance of refusing to pay artists during subscriber 3-month trial periods.  Since her name will never be more popular in these circles than it is this week, it seemed appropriate to feature one of her songs as the pick of the week.  That being said, long before the Apple conflict, I was drawn to I Prevail’s version of “Blank Space” from the first listen.  This is the type of cover song that really makes people stand up and take notice, because the band truly made this pop song their own.  Knowing now that it is a Taylor Swift song, it’s easy to see where the melody came from, but it is I Prevail’s intensity that really makes the song unique.

 

 

HRD SPIN CONTROL (by Adam Waldman and Jon Loveless)

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…

WE ARE HARLOT – “Someday”

ART OF ANARCHY – “Til The Dust Is Gone”

WOVENWAR – “Tempest”

EVE TO ADAM – “Calling My Name”

ROMANTIC REBEL – “Disappear”

 

DROP IT…

Awolnation – “Hollow Moon”

Mumford & Sons – “The Wolf”

Beartooth – “In Between”

Zac Brown Band – “Heavy Is The Head”

Offspring – “Coming For You”

 

 

THE BREAKDOWN by Jon Loveless

KING OF THE HILL

Can we get a seventh week at #1 for Breaking Benjamin on the Mediabase Active Rock Airplay chart?  Of COURSE we can!  However, the end might actually be in sight, since it looks as though radio is now being pointed toward the follow-up single as airplay begins to show signs of erosion.  Theory Of A Deadman appears to be in the best position to take over the top spot, with “Angel” holding on to #2 this week with an essentially flat spin count.  Only a tiny bit of change in airplay for both Royal Blood and Three Days Grace allows the former to slip back ahead of the latter this week (the fourth time one of the pair has passed the other over the last ten weeks).  Halestorm still lurks just behind with “Amen,” looking to deny Royal Blood and Three Days Grace from reaching #1.

 

 

NOTABLE CHART MOVEMENT

Pop Evil moves into the Top 10 this week with their latest single, “Footsteps” (the highest ranked song to achieve double-digit increase in spins)…

Five Finger Death Punch debuts exceptionally strong, debuting at #14 with “Jekyll And Hyde” (the first single off of their upcoming album).  That’s better than any single from their previous double-album release (“Lift Me Up” debuted at #19)…  Slipknot breaks into the Top 20 this week with “Killpop”…

The Struts lead three new songs into Top 30 this week, breaking out with more than 50% increase in spins…

Similarly, newcomers Red Sun Rising stand out with a major move in the 31-40 section of the chart with their debut single, “The Otherside”…

Several new arrivals in bottom part of the Top 50 this week.  P.O.D. joins Hinder as a notable names debuting in the published chart.

 

 

 THREE UP & THREE DOWN

MOVING UP

Pop Evil – “Footsteps”

Five Finger Death Punch – “Jekyll And Hyde”

The Struts – “Could Have Been Me”

 

DROPPING DOWN

Zac Brown Band – “Heavy Is The Head”

Awolnation – “Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)”

Temperance Movement – “Take It Back”

 

 

FUTURES REPORT

A fun week for chart-watchers is on the horizon as it seems likely that someone is going to back their way into a #1 song sooner or later.  That is, of course, unless radio suddenly decides on a definitive favorite and a consensus forms around one particular track.  A major factor in the consistency among the top songs for the past month has been radio’s refusal to let go of the previous #1 song from Zac Brown Band, which peaked nearly two months ago, but at press time remains in the Top 10.  If it had followed a normal pattern of descent, with spins divided among the other contenders still on the rise, things could have easily played out differently.

 

WRAP-UP

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