HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 8/18/18

HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 8/18/18

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 8/18/18. 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”	1692
2	2	HALESTORM	“Uncomfortable”	1639
3	3	FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH	“Sham Pain”	1586
4	5	BREAKING BENJAMIN	“Torn In Two”	1461
5	7	THREE DAYS GRACE	“Infra-Red”	1436
6	4	FROM ASHES TO NEW	“Crazy”	1314
7	6	GODSMACK	“Bulletproof”	1227
8	8	POP EVIL	“A Crime To Remember”	1208
9	9	BADFLOWER	“Ghost”	1181
10	10	GRETA VAN FLEET	“When The Curtain Falls”	1141
11	12	NOTHING MORE	“Just Say When”	888
12	13	BAD WOLVES (f. DIAMANTE)	“Hear Me Now”	879
13	17	SLASH F/MYLES KENNEDY	“Driving Rain”	827
14	15	IN THIS MOMENT (f. Rob Halford)	“Black Wedding”	795
15	18	ASKING ALEXANDRIA	“Alone In A Room”	683
16	20	TWENTY ONE PILOTS	“Jumpsuit”	589
17	16	ESCAPE THE FATE	“Broken Heart”	544
18	11	ALICE IN CHAINS	“The One You Know”	522
19	19	SEETHER	“Against The Wall”	499
20	0	DISTURBED	“Are You Ready”	458
21	24	GRANDSON	“Blood/Water”	431
22	22	SKINDRED	“That’s My Jam”	406
23	14	FOO FIGHTERS	“The Line”	397
24	21	LIKE A STORM	“The Devil Inside”	390
25	23	10 YEARS	“Burnout”	386
26	25	THRICE	“The Grey”	379
27	27	THE GLORIOUS SONS	“S.O.S.”	339
28	28	BEARTOOTH	“Disease”	315
29	26	THE RECORD COMPANY	“Life To Fix”	303
30	33	SHIM	“Hallelujah”	286
31	29	MOTIONLESS IN WHITE	“Voices”	276
32	30	FOZZY	“Burn Me Out”	271
33	32	KULICK	“Ghost”	261
34	31	LEDGER	“Not Dead Yet”	251
35	36	IMAGINE DRAGONS	“Natural”	227
36	34	NONPOINT	“Chaos And Earthquakes”	201
37	46	SHINEDOWN	“Get Up”	195
38	35	THE STRUTS	“Body Talks”	187
39	37	DEAD GIRLS ACADEMY	“No Way Out”	158
40	48	BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE	“Letting You Go”	139
41	38	THEORY OF A DEADMAN	“Wicked Game”	137
42	40	LIVE	“Love Lounge”	134
43	43	UNDEROATH	“ihateit”	132
44	41	ADELITAS WAY	“Still Hungry”	119
45	42	KOBRA AND THE LOTUS	“Velvet Roses”	112
46	47	PARKWAY DRIVE	“Prey”	89
47	45	AMITY AFFLICTION	“Feels Like I’m Dying”	89
48	44	ROYAL BLISS	“Devil With Angel Eyes”	89
49	58	JONATHAN DAVIS	“Basic Needs”	85
50	63	PRETTY VICIOUS	“Move”	72

 

 

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

RED SUN RISING – “Veins”

One of the best, most unique sounding, bands of the modern rock era is back with their latest single, “Veins.”  This high-energy track is in the same musical vein as Foo Fighters in that it combines infectious melodies, dynamic changes, and just the right amount of edge to keep things heavy.  Pat Gerasia’s drumming is the fuel that keeps the engine humming on a song that inspires involuntary toe-tapping and head-bobbing.  This lays the foundation for the distinct vocal style of Mike Protich, who is always memorable.  Making “Veins” shine even more than usual are the sweet vocal harmonies that gives the song an arena rock vibe from the glory days of the ’70s and ’80s.  Even though Red Sun Rising’s sound is instantly recognizable on Active Rock radio today, you can tell that the band has been influenced by Cheap Trick.  The influence is somewhat subtle, but you hear it when you know its there.  If history is any indicator of the future, it won’t be surprising if “Veins” eventually battles for the top of the chart in the coming months.

 

 

PUBLISHER’S PREDICTIONS (By Adam Waldman)

The end of Ghost’s lengthy run at the top will end next week.  Based on the current trend, it looks like Halestorm has the inside track to top the chart next week, but Five Finger Death Punch is still within striking distance should they gain momentum this week.  From the looks of things, Halestorm, FFDP, Breaking Benjamin, and Three Days Grace will be in the top 4 next week and into September.
 

 

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…

RED SUN RISING – “Veins”

ROYAL TUSK – “Aftermath”

THE LAZYS – “Little Miss Crazy”

AVATAR – “The King Welcomes You To Avatarland”

STONE HORSES – “End Of The World”

ARMORED DAWN – “Sail Away”

WILSON – “Like A Baller”

MONSTER TRUCK – “Evolution”

 

DROP IT…

Twenty One Pilots – “Jumpsuit”

Imagine Dragons – “Natural”

Grandson – “Blood/Water”

Theory Of A Deadman – “Wicked Game”

Kulick – “Ghost”

Glorious Sons – “S.O.S.”

Foo Fighters – “The Line”

Escape The Fate – “Broken Heart”

 

 

THE BREAKDOWN (by Jon Loveless)

NOTABLE CHART MOVEMENT

No new songs in the Top 10 this week…

The only new entry in the Top 20 is also the week’s highest debuting song, as radio welcomes Disturbed back with open arms (and balloons … and a cake)…

The only “new” arrival in the Top 30 is a song from Shim that was already there before slipping slightly last week, a pattern that’s been happening for around two months now…

New to the Top 40 this week are format staples Shinedown and Bullet For My Valentine…

The only other debuts in the published chart this week are found in the final two spots as Jonathan Davis arrives with a shockingly long song (6+ minutes) to receive airplay and punk/pop-punk newcomers Pretty Vicious make their bow.
 

 

THREE UP & THREE DOWN

RISING
Shinedown – “Get Up”
Greta Van Fleet – “When The Curtain Falls”
Slash f. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – “Driving Rain”

 

FALLING
Ghost – “Rats”
Alice In Chains – “The One You Know”
Foo Fighters – “The Line”
 

 

 TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS

Steadily narrowing playlists across the genre give more and more influence to the few stations left that aren’t strictly slaves to the chart.   Two of the three songs debuting this week received over 80% of their spins from non-terrestrial (i.e. satellite or digital) stations.   In turn, the reactive (rather than proactive) approach followed by the majority of stations today means that the odds of them eventually adding those songs just went up significantly.  You might think that traditional radio would want to have more influence, not less, over a format they’ve chosen to participate in, but in 2018, that is clearly not the case.