HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 7/14/18

 HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 7/14/18

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 7/14/18. 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”	1942
2	2	GODSMACK	“Bulletproof”	1720
3	3	SHINEDOWN	“DEVIL”	1654
4	4	FROM ASHES TO NEW	“Crazy”	1441
5	5	FOO FIGHTERS	“The Line”	1432
6	9	HALESTORM	“Uncomfortable”	1199
7	7	FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH	“Sham Pain”	1183
8	12	POP EVIL	“A Crime To Remember”	950
9	10	DOROTHY	“Flawless”	949
10	11	ALICE IN CHAINS	“The One You Know”	939
11	14	THREE DAYS GRACE	“Infra-Red”	862
12	13	BREAKING BENJAMIN	“Torn In Two”	858
13	6	GUNS N’ ROSES	“Shadow Of Your Love (2018)”	853
14	16	BADFLOWER	“Ghost”	752
15	17	ESCAPE THE FATE	“Broken Heart”	730
16	18	IN THIS MOMENT (f. Rob Halford)	“Black Wedding”	638
17	21	NOTHING MORE	“Just Say When”	583
18	23	ASKING ALEXANDRIA	“Alone In A Room”	509
19	22	BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE	“Over It”	485
20	15	FEVER 333	“Walking In My Shoes”	463
21	20	PARKWAY DRIVE	“The Void”	446
22	28	BAD WOLVES (f. Diamante)	“Hear Me Now”	432
23	25	LIKE A STORM	“The Devil Inside”	432
24	26	SKINDRED	“That’s My Jam”	403
25	29	SEETHER	“Against The Wall”	370
26	19	STONE TEMPLE PILOTS	“Roll Me Under”	351
27	24	SEVENDUST	“Dirty”	313
28	32	GRANDSON	“Blood/Water”	298
29	31	THE RECORD COMPANY	“Life To Fix”	279
30	34	THRICE	“The Grey”	261
31	33	SMASHING PUMPKINS	“Solara”	256
32	35	10 YEARS	“Burnout”	243
33	43	NONPOINT	“Chaos And Earthquakes”	193
34	36	IVORY BLUE	“Ready Get Set”	191
35	38	THE STRUTS	“Body Talks”	188
36	30	UNDEROATH	“Rapture”	184
37	42	SHIM	“Hallelujah”	182
38	37	LEDGER	“Not Dead Yet”	182
39	41	DEAD GIRLS ACADEMY	“No Way Out”	176
40	39	MOTIONLESS IN WHITE	“Voices”	167
41	44	THEORY OF A DEADMAN	“Wicked Game”	160
42	0	TWENTY ONE PILOTS	“Jumpsuit”	149
43	47	ADELITAS WAY	“Still Hungry”	110
44	46	KOBRA AND THE LOTUS	“Velvet Roses”	101
45	45	NO RESOLVE	“What You Deserve”	99
46	48	KULICK	“Ghost”	84
47	50	ROYAL BLISS	“Devil With Angel Eyes”	83
48	52	BUTCHER BABIES	“Look What We’ve Done”	79
49	40	BLACKTOP MOJO	“Dream On”	79
50	51	TETRARCH	“Freak”	52

 

 

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

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH – “Blue On Black”

As the biggest hard rock/metal band of the modern era, Five Finger Death Punch doesn’t get the same benefit from doing their own version of other artists’ work as up-and-comers trying to rise above the din.  So why does FFDP regularly do cover songs?  I have a few theories.  First of all, Ivan Moody’s voice and the band’s sound is so distinct that anything that they do instantly sounds like an original.  My other theory is that they are just showing appreciation for music that inspires them even if they weren’t influenced by them.  By doing these covers, FFDP introduces a new audience to songs that they may never have heard otherwise.  You have to think that this is the case with the band’s interpretation of Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s “Blue On Black.”

Though FFDP’s version of the song doesn’t stray far from Shepherd’s composition, their delivery takes the bluesy country vibe of the original and turns it into a haunting southern influenced metal song.  Jason Hook’s shredding solos take you back in time to the days when guitar heroes reigned.  Once again, FFDP shows that they are at the top of the food chain whether they are doing their own songs or covers.

 

 

PUBLISHER’S PREDICTIONS (By Adam Waldman)

Ghost declined by a nominal amount of spins this past week, but the others in the top 3 dropped even further.  From Ashes To New and Foo Fighters both moved up in tandem, closing the gap between them and Ghost to around 500 spins.  Based on the current trend, both bands will need Ghost to start having a meaningful decline to reach the top in the next few weeks.  Even if they get near the top, it looks like they will have Halestorm making things “Uncomfortable” for them based on this week’s trend.  Another week or two like this one, and Halestorm might find themselves as the next #1, leapfrogging both From Ashes To New and Foo Fighters.
 

 

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…

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH – “Blue On Black”

AVATAR – “King Welcomes You To Avatar Land”

LIVE – “Love Lounge”

MONSTER TRUCK – “Evolution”

ONCE AROUND – “Leaving Home”

FAREWELL TO FEAR – “Underneath My Skin”

SILENT THEORY – “Watch Me Burn”

ARMORED DAWN – “Sail Away”

 

DROP IT…

Twenty One Pilots – “Jumpsuit”

The Fever 333 – “Walking In My Shoes”

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

Pop Evil and Alice In Chains both reach the Top 10…

Decent increases in spins elevate both Nothing More and Asking Alexandria into the Top 20, while Bullet For My Valentine backs into the tier despite losing around 5% of their airplay…

Thrice is the highlight of the pair of songs newly arrived in the Top 30…

Solid start for the new Nonpoint single as lands it in the Top 40 this week.
Dead Girls Academy retains momentum to climb into the tier as well, while Shim regains some momentum and returns to the Top 40 after several weeks going in the other direction.

Three songs debut in the published chart this week, including the latest from Tetrarch.
 

 

THREE UP & THREE DOWN

RISING
Three Days Grace – “Infra-Red”
Halestorm – “Uncomfortable”
Bad Wovles (f. Diamante) – “Hear Me Now”

 

FALLING
Fever 333 – “Walking In My Shoes”
Stone Temple Pilots – “Roll Me Under”
Guns N’ Roses – “Shadow Of Your Love”
 

 

 TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS

Radio rather abruptly abandons Guns N’ Roses this week, a little unusual for a song that rocketed into the Top 20 in its second week on the chart and reached the Top 10 by its third week.  Now, a  25% decrease in airplay only ten weeks in suddenly has this one making its way off of the chart.