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 12/27/15. All exclusive HRD content is featured below the chart:
2015 Mid-Year Recap: HRD Radio Report Active Rock and Octane Big ‘Uns Countdown
| CHART | CHART | ARTIST | SONG TITLE | RADIO |
| POSITION | POSITION | SPINS | ||
| THIS WEEK | LAST WEEK | THIS WEEK | ||
| 1 | 1 | DISTURBED | “The Light” | 2143 |
| 2 | 2 | FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH | “Wash It Away” | 2070 |
| 3 | 3 | SHINEDOWN | “State Of My Head” | 1551 |
| 4 | 5 | HALESTORM | “I Am The Fire” | 1403 |
| 5 | 4 | GHOST | “Cirice” | 1300 |
| 6 | 6 | SEETHER | “Save Today” | 1299 |
| 7 | 7 | THREE DAYS GRACE | “Fallen Angel” | 1201 |
| 8 | 9 | POP EVIL | “Ways To Get High” | 1008 |
| 9 | 8 | BRING ME THE HORIZON | “Throne” | 952 |
| 10 | 10 | BREAKING BENJAMIN | “Angels Fall” | 884 |
| 11 | 14 | NOTHING MORE | “Here’s To The Heartache” | 822 |
| 12 | 12 | THEORY OF A DEADMAN | “Blow” | 795 |
| 13 | 13 | HIGHLY SUSPECT | “Bloodfeather” | 792 |
| 14 | 11 | LIKE A STORM | “Become The Enemy” | 756 |
| 15 | 19 | FOO FIGHTERS | “Saint Cecilia” | 744 |
| 16 | 15 | TRIVIUM | “Until The World Goes Cold” | 694 |
| 17 | 17 | CHRIS CORNELL | “Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart” | 638 |
| 18 | 18 | CAGE THE ELEPHANT | “Mess Around” | 636 |
| 19 | 22 | MUSE | “Reapers” | 542 |
| 20 | 16 | NATHANIEL RATELIFF / NIGHTSWEATS | “S.O.B.” | 492 |
| 21 | 24 | PARKWAY DRIVE | “Vice Grip” | 477 |
| 22 | 23 | ARANDA | “We Are The Enemy” | 474 |
| 23 | 28 | SAINT ASONIA | “Let Me Live My Life” | 463 |
| 24 | 25 | FROM ASHES TO NEW | “Through It All” | 447 |
| 25 | 27 | ALL THAT REMAINS | “Victory Lap” | 437 |
| 26 | 20 | ASKING ALEXANDRIA | “I Won’t Give In” | 420 |
| 27 | 21 | SEVENDUST | “Thank You” | 414 |
| 28 | 26 | IN THIS MOMENT | “Big Bad Wolf” | 378 |
| 29 | 29 | WILSON | “Right To Rise” | 318 |
| 30 | 31 | SHAMAN’S HARVEST | “In Chains” | 312 |
| 31 | 32 | ATREYU | “Do You Know Who You Are” | 298 |
| 32 | 34 | ESCAPE THE FATE | “Alive” | 288 |
| 33 | 30 | TURBOWOLF | “Rabbits Foot” | 288 |
| 34 | 33 | THE STRUTS | “Kiss This” | 284 |
| 35 | 36 | TRANS SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA | “Forget About The Blame” | 263 |
| 36 | 35 | STITCHED UP HEART | “Finally Free” | 237 |
| 37 | 37 | TWENTY ONE PILOTS | “Stressed Out” | 211 |
| 38 | 38 | FAILURE ANTHEM | “Paralyzed” | 208 |
| 39 | 39 | DROWNING POOL | “By The Blood” | 176 |
| 40 | 41 | NOTHING BUT THIEVES | “Trip Switch” | 173 |
| 41 | 42 | TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN | “Loaded Dice & Buried Money” | 166 |
| 42 | 45 | BRING ME THE HORIZON | “Happy Song” | 158 |
| 43 | 44 | LACEY STURM | “Impossible” | 145 |
| 44 | 43 | GODSMACK | “Inside Yourself” | 144 |
| 45 | 40 | PUSCIFIER | “The Remedy” | 135 |
| 46 | 48 | ANDREW WATT | “Ghost In My Head” | 127 |
| 47 | 46 | WAYLAND | “Bloody Sunrise” | 113 |
| 48 | 47 | BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE | “Venom” | 101 |
| 49 | 50 | STONE SOUR | “Gimme Shelter” | 98 |
| 50 | 53 | I PREVAIL | “Crossroads” | 85 |
3 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION SUGGESTIONS FOR ACTIVE ROCK PROGRAMMERS
(by Adam Waldman)
- STOP diluting Active Rock radio with artists and songs that clearly have no place in the format. There are numerous examples of this, but it became painfully clear to me this past week just how bad things have gotten, when I heard a song that spent a month on the Top 50 at a dance recital.
- STOP creating burnout by riding songs for so long that listeners start to hate the song and resent the artist who recorded it.
- Give developing artists a chance. The only thing worse than wasting spins on artists and songs that don’t fit the format is the auto-pilot mentality of giving a handful of established artists a virtual guaranteed run up the charts (regardless of the song). Nearly half of the Top 50 songs of the year come from only 9 artists.
PUBLISHER’S PICK OF THE WEEK (by Adam Waldman)
ATREYU – “Do You Know Who You Are?”
The huge, anthemic drum beat that opens Atreyu’s “Do You Know Who You Are?” takes you on a journey back in time to 1982, bringing back nostalgic memories of “I Love It Loud” by KISS. This influence may seem unlikely for a metalcore band, but guitarist Dan Jacobs once talked about being a big ‘80s rock fan in an interview with Metal Underground, stating…“I love all that stuff, and think that is one generation where music was done right.” While Atreyu definitely does “love it loud,” their latest single takes a much more angst-ridden, metalcore turn in between the more ‘80s-influenced, melodic choruses. When Alex Varkatas shifts into unclean vocal mode, shades of Rage Against The Machine come to mind, albeit in a much more pissed off manner. “Do You Know Who You Are?” offers a truly unique change-of-pace to most Active Rock playlists, so it’s no wonder that the song continues to gain traction.
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…
UGLY KID JOE – “She’s Already Gone”
SEPTEMBER MOURNING – “Eye Of The Storm”
ANOTHER LOST YEAR – “Wolves”
VEER UNION – “Defying Gravity”
SPOKEN – “Falling Apart”
SHALLOW SIDE – “Stand Up”
BLAMESHIFT – “Tell Me It’s Alright”
DROP IT…
Bring Me The Horizon – “Throne”
Twenty One Pilots – “Stressed Out”
Nate Rateliff & The Nightsweats – “S.O.B.”
Nothing But Thieves – “Trip Switch”
Cage The Elephant – “Mess Around”
The Struts – “Kiss This”
In This Moment – “Big Bad Wolf”
THE BREAKDOWN by Jon Loveless
KING OF THE HILL
Disturbed makes it a month at the top, closing out the year at #1 on the Mediabase Active Rock airplay chart. Five Finger Death Punch managed to narrow the gap to where it was a few weeks ago (prior to a surge from Disturbed last week). Shinedown remains entrenched at #3, with Halestorm keeping pace at #4.
NOTABLE CHART MOVEMENT
Scant movement (as expected) in the final week of the year, as no new songs enter the Top 10 again this week…
Muse cracks the Top 20 with their latest single, “Reapers”…
Shaman’s Harvest reaches the top 30 with “In Chains,” the third single from Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns to do so…
Nothing But Thieves cracks the Top 40 this week…
I Prevail returns to the Top 50 in the final position, reappearing after a five-week absence. This follows their previous five-week stay on the published chart.
THREE UP & THREE DOWN
MOVING UP
Five Finger Death Punch – “Wash It All Away”
Shinedown – “State Of My Head”
Foo Fighters – “Saint Cecilia”
DROPPING DOWN
Nate Rateliff/Nightsweats – “S.O.B.”
Asking Alexandria – “I Won’t Give In”
Sevendust – “Thank You”
FUTURES REPORT
Somewhat quietly, last week’s Active Rock chart was the first to include the newly transferred stations added to the panel from the (now-defunct) Mainstream Rock chart. The short and long-term impact of the change remains to be seen in the year ahead, since most stations’ playlists are essentially frozen during this time of year, making it almost impossible to draw any concrete conclusions about the future.
The most notable revelation (thus far) is the sudden presence of Bruce Springsteen’s latest single ranking among the biggest “spincreases” for the week. If the Mediabase powers-that-be believe that a station spinning Springsteen is playing “Active Rock,” and deserves to have influence on the chart, then perhaps the question for the coming year isn’t “what impact will it have?” but rather, “what is the chart even supposed to represent?”
WRAP-UP
That’s all for this week. Tune in to HardRockDaddy.com every Tuesday for the HRD Radio Report. \m/
Great analysis and points Adam. I especially like your 3 resolutions. Although I think Rock, in many ways, just keeps getting better it continues to struggle in the battle against other genre’s of music. When I see these other Rock/Pop genre’s spread onto the Active Rock stations I don’t know who to blame anymore. I think the DJ’s have little to no say anymore as to what is played. Until a breakout, mainstream, spotlight and attention is given to a handful of real rock songs on mainstream radio and at music awards, I have little faith that Rock will escape its relegation as a subgenre/culture of mainstream music. There are few newer rock bands able to make it and break out because so many of ‘older bands’ (Godsmack, Slipnot, Foo Fighters etc) just continue to dominate rock radio because they have a proven following and no one is ready to take a chance on a new, no name rock band anymore. Nothing More, Highly Suspect and a handful of others may be the few exceptions right now. I see the Active Rock station managers playing it safe with ‘Stick to the proven formula with the same bands or else the bottom may fall out of Active Rock altogether’. When I saw ‘Lourdes’ win Rock video of the year a few years ago at an awards show I knew we were in trouble and respect for true rock had been diminished. How long can they keep throwing out the Foo Fighters as the token nominee for ‘Rock’ awards ? Just my two cents along with a pound of frustration.
Thanks for your feedback, Bo. I totally agree with you that DJs have no say anymore. This is one of the reasons that “Active Rock” is so similar across the board. The decision-makers and tastemakers are a relatively small bunch. When you factor in the PDs even have to use consultant recommendations, the tightening gets even worse. Sadly, the one station that is immune to this restriction (SiriusXM’s Octane), still has a relatively narrow playlist (although they are broader than others). And though it is not really talked about like it once was, pay-for-play still exists (in my opinion). There is no other explanation as to why certain bands climb the charts, and get featured on the Big ‘Uns Countdown regularly (regardless of the song). While there are bands with larger followings, it’s hard to believe that one band in particular has had two songs at the top of the Countdown at the same time. Even the biggest bands don’t have two singles at the top simultaneously. Having studied the charts and Countdown over the past few years, it becomes obvious that something besides personal taste and testing is guiding these playlists.
As far as the token rock acts like Foo Fighters being thrown into the mainstream, you hit the nail on the head. Nothing against Foo Fighters, but one of the reasons that I put zero credence in awards shows is that they trot out the same artists and songs for every category. The only true award (of the majors) is the Billboard Awards because it is based solely on sales, not the opinions of a few.
Personally speaking, I’m ok with rock being a sub-culture. My biggest issue is seeing bands that are clearly pop or alternative invading the Active Rock chart. It makes no sense for the listener, so clearly, money is probably a factor. Why else would a station that plays bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed and newer bands like Parkway Drive and While She Sleeps throw Fall Out Boy into the mix. I literally just saw a dance recital with one of their songs featured. That same song spent a month in the Top 50. Just ridiculous!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Top 50 Active Rock Songs of 2015 when it publishes later on today.