HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 7/7/18

 HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 7/7/18

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 6/30/18. All exclusive HRD content is featured below the chart:

CHART	CHART	ARTIST	SONG TITLE	RADIO
POSITION	POSITION			SPINS
THIS WEEK	LAST WEEK
1	1	GHOST	“Rats”	1961
2	2	GODSMACK	“Bulletproof”	1800
3	3	SHINEDOWN	“DEVIL”	1712
4	5	FROM ASHES TO NEW	“Crazy”	1352
5	4	FOO FIGHTERS	“The Line”	1344
6	7	GUNS N’ ROSES	“Shadow Of Your Love (2018)”	1158
7	8	FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH	“Sham Pain”	1150
8	6	BAD WOLVES	“Zombie”	1035
9	9	HALESTORM	“Uncomfortable”	1024
10	10	DOROTHY	“Flawless”	945
11	12	ALICE IN CHAINS	“The One You Know”	850
12	13	POP EVIL	“A Crime To Remember”	839
13	14	BREAKING BENJAMIN	“Torn In Two”	778
14	17	THREE DAYS GRACE	“Infra-Red”	719
15	11	FEVER 333	“Walking In My Shoes”	700
16	16	ESCAPE THE FATE	“Broken Heart”	668
17	21	BADFLOWER	“Ghost”	640
18	19	IN THIS MOMENT (f. Rob Halford)	“Black Wedding”	599
19	15	STONE TEMPLE PILOTS	“Roll Me Under”	554
20	18	PARKWAY DRIVE	“The Void”	531
21	24	NOTHING MORE	“Just Say When”	530
22	22	BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE	“Over It”	510
23	26	ASKING ALEXANDRIA	“Alone In A Room”	452
24	20	SEVENDUST	“Dirty”	421
25	28	LIKE A STORM	“The Devil Inside”	386
26	27	SKINDRED	“That’s My Jam”	360
27	23	MUSE	“Thought Contagion”	317
28	36	BAD WOLVES (f. DIAMANTE)	“Hear Me Now”	305
29	34	SEETHER	“Against The Wall”	279
30	25	UNDEROATH	“Rapture”	268
31	31	THE RECORD COMPANY	“Life To Fix”	259
32	29	GRANDSON	“Blood/Water”	249
33	30	SMASHING PUMPKINS	“Solara”	222
34	32	THRICE	“The Grey”	213
35	38	10 YEARS	“Burnout”	212
36	37	IVORY BLUE	“Ready Get Set”	182
37	41	LEDGER	“Not Dead Yet”	161
38	42	THE STRUTS	“Body Talks”	147
39	44	MOTIONLESS IN WHITE	“Voices”	146
40	33	BLACKTOP MOJO	“Dream On”	144
41	45	DEAD GIRLS ACADEMY	“No Way Out”	143
42	46	SHIM	“Hallelujah”	127
43	52	NONPOINT	“Chaos And Earthquakes”	119
44	47	THEORY OF A DEADMAN	“Wicked Game”	118
45	43	NO RESOLVE	“What You Deserve”	115
46	49	KOBRA AND THE LOTUS	“Velvet Roses”	102
47	50	ADELITAS WAY	“Still Hungry”	83
48	58	KULICK	“Ghost”	77
49	39	THE DEAD DASIES	“Rise Up”	75
50	48	ROYAL BLISS	“Devil With Angel Eyes”	72

 

 

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

BAD WOLVES (f. DIAMANTE) – “Hear Me Now”

There hasn’t been a breakout band in rock this year as hot as Bad Wolves.  The band burst onto Active Rock radio with a stellar cover of “Zombie” by the Cranberries (a song that would have had guest vocals from Dolores O’Riordan if not for her tragic passing).  Following up their monster hit, Bad Wolves is back with “Hear Me Now” a song that does have guest female vocals (courtesy of blue-haired rocker, Diamante).  Both Diamante and Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext can deliver powerfully intense vocals, but this time around, they are showcasing a sweet beauty that contrasts nicely with the heavy riff and rhythm.  The subtle, moody vibe that carries throughout the song offers an added layer of emotion.  You don’t really hear power ballads anymore, but this would qualify as one by today’s standards.  Like Corey Taylor, Vext has the ability to scare you with angst-ridden growls in one moment, and lure you in with melodic vocals the next.  It will be interesting to see if radio embraces both sides of these rising stars.  For now, you have to think that “Hear Me Now” will do well because it’s in the same vein as “Zombie.”

 

 

PUBLISHER’S PREDICTIONS (By Adam Waldman)

It isn’t necessarily the most popular song that gets an extended run at the top of the chart.  A lot of it comes down to timing and competition.  This week is a perfect example of that.  Ghost started to decline a bit after hitting #1.  However, because the songs around them are also declining, they are poised to have a multi-week reign until the gap is closed by either From Ashes To New or Foo Fighters.  With a 600+ spin lead over both next likely challengers, Ghost can go deep into the summer atop the chart even if they continue to have modest declines.  All bets are off if “Rats” suffers a major drop, but if not, it will take several weeks for challengers to pose a serious threat.

 

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…

AVATAR – “King Welcomes You To Avatar Land”

LIVE – “Love Lounge”

MONSTER TRUCK – “Evolution”

ONCE AROUND – “Ghost”

FRAMING HANLEY – “Puzzle Pieces”

WILSON – “Like A Baller”

DEE SNIDER – “Tomorrow’s No Concern”

THE PROTEST – “What Else You Got”

 

DROP IT…

The Fever 333 – “Walking In My Shoes”

Muse – “Thought Contagion”

Grandson – “Blood/Water”

Smashing Pumpkins – “Solara”

Ivory Blue – “Ready Get Set”

The Struts – “Body Talks”

Theory Of A Deadman – “Wicked Game”

Kulick – “Ghost”

 

 

THE BREAKDOWN (by Jon Loveless)

NOTABLE CHART MOVEMENT

No changes in the composition of the Top 10 this week, and hardly any change in the order from a week ago…

Badflower moves into the Top 20 with nice spin growth (around 20% over last week).

Bad Wolves and Seether are new to the Top 30 this week…

Leading a trio of new arrivals in the Top 40 is the solo debut of (Jen) Ledger…

Nonpoint is the highlight of the pair of songs making their chart debut.
 

 

THREE UP & THREE DOWN

RISING
Three Days Grace – “Infra-Red”
From Ashes To New – “Crazy”
Bad Wovles (f. Diamante) – “Hear Me Now”

 

FALLING
Fever 333 – “Walking In My Shoes”
Underoath – “Rapture”
Muse – “Thought Contagion”

 TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS

The fairly scarce changes this week are no surprise, given the impact of a mid-week holiday in the U.S.