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 2/20/16. All exclusive HRD content is featured below the chart:
TOP 50 ACTIVE ROCK SONGS (by spins) OF 2015
TOP 30 OCTANE BIG ‘UNS COUNTDOWN SONGS OF 2015
| CHART | CHART | ARTIST | SONG TITLE | RADIO |
| POSITION | POSITION | SPINS | ||
| THIS WEEK | LAST WEEK | THIS WEEK | ||
| 1 | 1 | SHINEDOWN | “State Of My Head” | 1996 |
| 2 | 2 | POP EVIL | “Ways To Get High” | 1847 |
| 3 | 3 | FOO FIGHTERS | “Saint Cecilia” | 1631 |
| 4 | 4 | NOTHING MORE | “Here’s To The Heartache” | 1401 |
| 5 | 8 | DISTURBED | “The Sound Of Silence” | 1382 |
| 6 | 7 | 3 DOORS DOWN | “In The Dark” | 1324 |
| 7 | 5 | HIGHLY SUSPECT | “Bloodfeather” | 1270 |
| 8 | 6 | MUSE | “Reapers” | 1257 |
| 9 | 13 | BRING ME THE HORIZON | “Happy Song” | 981 |
| 10 | 12 | TRIVIUM | “Until The World Goes Cold” | 972 |
| 11 | 11 | CAGE THE ELEPHANT | “Mess Around” | 888 |
| 12 | 15 | SAINT ASONIA | “Let Me Live My Life” | 880 |
| 13 | 16 | RED SUN RISING | “Emotionless” | 874 |
| 14 | 17 | FROM ASHES TO NEW | “Through It All” | 743 |
| 15 | 18 | PAPA ROACH | “Falling Apart” | 729 |
| 16 | 19 | SHAMAN’S HARVEST | “In Chains” | 640 |
| 17 | 28 | DEFTONES | “Prayers/Triangles” | 540 |
| 18 | 21 | ADELITA’S WAY | “Bad Reputation” | 500 |
| 19 | 33 | FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH | “My Nemesis” | 479 |
| 20 | 22 | THE STRUTS | “Kiss This” | 421 |
| 21 | 25 | ROB ZOMBIE | “Well, Everybody’s…in a UFO” | 398 |
| 22 | 24 | SLIPKNOT | “Goodbye” | 396 |
| 23 | 23 | ESCAPE THE FATE | “Alive” | 365 |
| 24 | 26 | STITCHED UP HEART | “Finally Free” | 359 |
| 25 | 20 | PARKWAY DRIVE | “Vice Grip” | 328 |
| 26 | 29 | FAILURE ANTHEM | “Paralyzed” | 309 |
| 27 | 34 | LACEY STURM | “Impossible” | 292 |
| 28 | 31 | WOLFMOTHER | “Victorious” | 292 |
| 29 | 32 | MEGADETH | “Dystopia” | 289 |
| 30 | 37 | DEVOUR THE DAY | “Lightning In The Sky” | 281 |
| 31 | 35 | DROWNING POOL | “By The Blood” | 228 |
| 32 | 38 | ANDREW WATT | “Ghost In My Head” | 215 |
| 33 | 39 | PUSCIFIER | “The Remedy” | 198 |
| 34 | 27 | ARANDA | “We Are The Enemy” | 194 |
| 35 | 41 | FOALS | “Mountain At My Gates” | 169 |
| 36 | 40 | KILLSWITCH ENGAGE | “Hate By Design” | 163 |
| 37 | 36 | ALL THAT REMAINS | “Victory Lap” | 145 |
| 38 | 50 | GHOST | “From The Pinnacle To The Pit” | 140 |
| 39 | 43 | BLACK STONE CHERRY | “In Our Dreams” | 136 |
| 40 | 42 | ANTHRAX | “Breathing Lightning” | 131 |
| 41 | 48 | MONSTER TRUCK | “Don’t Tell Me How To Live” | 130 |
| 42 | 44 | THROUGH FIRE | “Stronger” | 128 |
| 43 | 46 | CILVER | “I’m America” | 121 |
| 44 | 62 | HALESTORM | “Mayhem” | 117 |
| 45 | 58 | FILTER | “Take Me To Heaven” | 111 |
| 46 | 47 | WAYLAND | “Bloody Sunrise” | 96 |
| 47 | 45 | BARONESS | “Shock Me” | 93 |
| 48 | 49 | SMASHING SATELLITES | “Gamblin’ Man” | 85 |
| 49 | 56 | AWOLNATION | “Woman Woman” | 61 |
| 50 | 54 | STONE SOUR (f. LZZY HALE) | “Gimme Shelter” | 59 |
PUBLISHER’S PICK OF THE WEEK (by Adam Waldman)
HANDS LIKE HOUSES – “Colourblind”
In the immortal words of Tom Petty…“the waiting is the hardest part.” Of course, Tom Petty fans never had to wait nearly a year for an album to be released after the lead single dropped. But that it exactly the case for fans of Aussie rockers Hands Like Houses, whose third studio album (Dissonants) will be released this week. “Colourblind” is actually the third single from the 12-song album. Sandwiched between this single and the first single (“I Am”) was “New Romantics,” a track that never gained significant traction, but has been featured regularly in the “Spin-It” section of the HRD Radio Report. There’s no telling why the second single didn’t garner the same response as the lead single, but hopefully, Active Rock radio will embrace “Colourblind” and give it the attention that it deserves.
“Colourblind” opens with a subdued, atmospheric intro before bursting into a melodic anthem, highlighted by the powerfully bright upper register of frontman Trenton Todd Woodley, who also has the ability to tap into darker, more angst-ridden moments for emphasis. Much like Nothing More’s smash hit “Jenny,” “Colourblind” takes you on a dynamic musical roller coaster ride throughout. If Active Rock radio embraces these Aussie rockers in the same manner that they have Nothing More, there is realistic potential for “Colourblind” to be one of the most popular songs of the year.
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…
HANDS LIKE HOUSES – “Colourblind”
SOTO – “FreakShow”
BOBAFLEX – “A Spider In The Dark”
EVANS BLUE – “iGod”
UGLY KID JOE – “Bad Seed”
VEER UNION – “Defying Gravity”
ART OF DYING – “Tear Down The Wall”
DROP IT…
AWOLNATION – “Woman Woman”
Foals – “Mountain At My Gates”
Cage The Elephant – “Mess Around”
The Struts – “Kiss This”
Pucifier – “The Remedy”
Theory Of A Deadman – “Blow”
Parkway Drive – “Vice Grip”
THE BREAKDOWN by Jon Loveless
KING OF THE HILL
Shinedown reaches a month at #1 on the Mediabase Active Rock airplay chart, holding off runner-up Pop Evil by a relatively comfortable margin. A change is forthcoming, but probably remains at least a few weeks away. Foo Fighters remain at #3 with “Saint Cecilia.”
NOTABLE CHART MOVEMENT
Disturbed’s “The Sound Of Silence” continues to ascend rapidly, joined in the Top 10 this week by both Bring Me The Horizon and Trivium…
Five Finger Death Punch nearly doubles their airplay from the previous week with their latest single, “My Nemesis,” breaking into the Top 20 along with Deftones and The Struts…
Four songs reach the Top 30, led by “Impossible,” a resurgent single by Lacey Sturm…
Four songs achieve Top 40 status, truly highlighting the schizophrenic nature of “Active Rock” at the moment, ranging from The Foals to Anthrax…
Three newly charted songs, led by “Mayhem,” (the next single from Halestorm), debuting in the Top 50 this week, joined by the return of the Stone Sour/Lzzy Hale cover of the Rolling Stones classic, “Gimme Shelter.”
THREE UP & THREE DOWN
MOVING UP
Disturbed – “The Sound Of Silence”
Deftones – “Prayers/Triangles”
Five Finger Death Punch – “My Nemesis”
DROPPING DOWN
Shinedown – “State Of My Head”
Parkway Drive – “Vice Grip”
Aranda – “We Are The Enemy”
TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS
If you look at this week’s chart from top to bottom, you’ll see one of the better examples of the incredibly … well let’s call it “diverse” nature of the active rock format. The gap from metal icons Megadeth and Anthrax to around a half dozen alternative artists seems to be incredibly large, but illustrates one of at least two possibilities. Either the format is in the midst of a full-blown transitional phase, effectively en route to becoming what was once called “mainstream rock,” or there’s essentially a war underway to define the format. A third possibility also comes to mind…the need for a thorough evaluation of every station that is included in the chart. If you dig into the station-by-station playlists (with the weekly spin counts included), there are some stations included that are playing nothing remotely identifiable as “active rock,” while others appear to play less than one current song per hour. Any format chart is eventually defined by which stations are included, and to me, it seems glaringly obvious that the current composition (one way or another) is in urgent need of an overhaul.
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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