HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 6/23/18

 HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 6/23/18

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. The following is the Active Rock Mediabase Chart for the week ending 6/23/18. All exclusive HRD content is featured below the chart:

CHART	CHART	ARTIST	SONG TITLE	RADIO
POSITION	POSITION			SPINS
THIS WEEK	LAST WEEK
1	1	GODSMACK	“Bulletproof”	1995
2	3	GHOST	“Rats”	1865
3	2	SHINEDOWN	“DEVIL”	1834
4	4	BAD WOLVES	“Zombie”	1389
5	5	GUNS N’ ROSES	“Shadow Of Your Love (2018)”	1230
6	8	FOO FIGHTERS	“The Line”	1177
7	7	FROM ASHES TO NEW	“Crazy”	1155
8	11	FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH	“Sham Pain”	950
9	9	FEVER 333	“Walking In My Shoes”	948
10	6	JONATHAN DAVIS	“What It Is”	894
11	13	HALESTORM	“Uncomfortable”	820
12	10	MUSE	“Thought Contagion”	791
13	12	DOROTHY	“Flawless”	789
14	14	ALICE IN CHAINS	“The One You Know”	720
15	15	STONE TEMPLE PILOTS	“Roll Me Under”	676
16	16	POP EVIL	“A Crime To Remember”	671
17	18	SEVENDUST	“Dirty”	607
18	17	ESCAPE THE FATE	“Broken Heart”	576
19	19	PARKWAY DRIVE	“The Void”	575
20	21	BREAKING BENJAMIN	“Torn In Two”	567
21	22	IN THIS MOMENT (f. Rob Halford)	“Black Wedding”	542
22	23	BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE	“Over It”	515
23	20	UNDEROATH	“Rapture”	474
24	27	THREE DAYS GRACE	“Infra-Red”	409
25	29	BADFLOWER	“Ghost”	383
26	25	NOTHING MORE	“Just Say When”	376
27	24	ASKING ALEXANDRIA	“Alone In A Room”	367
28	26	SKINDRED	“That’s My Jam”	316
29	31	LIKE A STORM	“The Devil Inside”	275
30	28	SHAMAN’S HARVEST	“The Devil In Our Wake”	233
31	33	BLACKTOP MOJO	“Dream On”	196
32	30	TREMONTI	“Take You With Me”	184
33	38	THRICE	“The Grey”	180
34	32	MESSER	“Make This Life”	175
35	37	THE RECORD COMPANY	“Life To Fix”	169
36	48	SMASHING PUMPKINS	“Solara”	163
37	43	GRANDSON	“Blood/Water”	161
38	42	10 YEARS	“Burnout”	159
39	36	LEDGER	“Not Dead Yet”	145
40	35	THE DEAD DASIES	“Rise Up”	141
41	0	IVORY BLUE	“Ready Get Set”	140
42	44	DEAD GIRLS ACADEMY	“No Way Out”	107
43	54	SEETHER	“Against The Wall”	106
44	41	MOTIONLESS IN WHITE	“Voices”	106
45	40	SHIM	“Hallelujah”	103
46	46	NO RESOLVE	“What You Deserve”	93
47	49	NATHANIEL RATELIFF/NIGHTSWEATS	“You Worry Me”	82
48	83	THE STRUTS	“Body Talks”	78
49	47	ROYAL BLISS	“Devil With Angel Eyes”	76
50	45	GRETA VAN FLEET	“Black Smoke Rising”	76

 

 

PUBLISHER’S PICK OF THE WEEK (By Adam Waldman)

ONCE AROUND – “Ghost”

Once Around is a three-piece unit from Los Angeles that blends industrial and hard rock influences to create an original sound (according to their bio).  That’s about all of the information that is available about the band, but it doesn’t really matter.  As you listen to the band’s single, “Ghost,” it’s clear that they back up their claim with a sound that feels different than most other Active Rock bands, yet somehow, it’s still a good fit for the format.  What’s interesting about the industrial sound is that it uses keyboards to add intensity to the music.  Of course, the intensity  goes well beyond keyboards, with aggressive riffs and pulsating beats.  Sometimes, pure industrial bands overwhelm you in a way that puts the vibe ahead of the melody.  Once Around makes impressive use of dynamics, ranging from high octane adrenaline to more subdued moodiness (with tempo changes to match).  Though “Ghost” would be an excellent addition to any Active Rock playlist, it feels like the song was written with an artistic integrity taking precedence over catering to a radio sound.  The band should be commended for taking this approach.  It makes their sound infinitely more interesting than those who take a more formulaic approach.  Also adding to the intrigue of “Ghost” is the nuance of influences that don’t hit you over the head, but blend in subtly in the background.  Though they have their own sound, it’s safe to say that fans of Gemini Syndrome will gravitate towards Once Around.

 

 

PUBLISHER’S PREDICTIONS (By Adam Waldman)

It looks like smooth sailing for Ghost in the coming weeks.  “Rats” continued to show strength as all other songs in the top 5 declined.  Though it wasn’t enough to overtake Godsmack for the top spot this week, it should happen next week, or the first week in July at the latest.  This could be a fairly decent run at the top when they get there, given that the closest challenger (Foo Fighters) is still around 700 spins in the rear view mirror.

 

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…

ONCE AROUND – “Ghost”

FRAMING HANLEY – “Puzzle Pieces”

MONSTER TRUCK – “Evolution”

DEE SNIDER – “Tomorrow’s No Concern”

THE PROTEST – “What Else You Got”

THE STANDSTILLS – “Wild”

STONE BROKEN – “Worth Fighting For”

AVATAR – “King Welcomes You To Avatar Land”

 

DROP IT…

The Fever 333 – “Walking In My Shoes”

Muse – “Thought Contagion”

Nathaniel Rateliff – “You Worry Me”

Messer – “Make This Life”

Grandson – “Blood/Water”

Smashing Pumpkins – “Solara”

Ivory Blue – “Ready Get Set”

The Struts – “Body Talks”

 

 

THE BREAKDOWN (by Jon Loveless)

NOTABLE CHART MOVEMENT

Five Finger Death Punch creeps into the Top 10…

Breaking Benjamin reaches the Top 20, having missed by a single spin last week…

The Top 30 has one new arrival this week, the latest from Like A Storm…

A trio of songs climb into the Top 40, 10 Years being the highlight of the group…

A different trio of songs make their debut in the Top 50, most notable being something from Seether, though largely (IMO) based entirely on name value.
 

 

THREE UP & THREE DOWN

RISING
Three Days Grace – “Infra-Red”
Halestorm – “Uncomfortable”
Badflower – “Ghost”

 

FALLING
Jonathan Davis – “What It Is”
Bad Wolves – “Zombie”
Muse – “Thought Contagion”
 

 

 TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS

Hard to avoid being discouraged by the current state of the chart, at least if you’re a fan of what the Active Rock branding has generally meant over its lifespan.   Alt-rock continues to attract spins from stations that clearly aren’t in the format and have no reason to be part of the charting process.   The industry just seems quite content – if not outright intent – on killing the format altogether.  I really don’t know what else to say at this point.