HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 10/6/18

HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 10/6/18

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 10/6/18. All exclusive HRD content is featured below the chart:

CHART	CHART	ARTIST	SONG TITLE	RADIO
POSITION	POSITION			SPINS
THIS WEEK	LAST WEEK
1	2	BADFLOWER	“Ghost”	2158
2	1	DISTURBED	“Are You Ready”	2113
3	3	GRETA VAN FLEET	“When The Curtain Falls”	1793
4	6	SHINEDOWN	“Get Up”	1414
5	5	BAD WOLVES (f. DIAMANTE)	“Hear Me Now”	1388
6	8	SLASH F/MYLES KENNEDY	“Driving Rain”	1288
7	4	BREAKING BENJAMIN	“Torn In Two”	1227
8	9	ASKING ALEXANDRIA	“Alone In A Room”	1071
9	7	THREE DAYS GRACE	“Infra-Red”	947
10	11	ALICE IN CHAINS	“Never Fade”	783
11	10	THE GLORIOUS SONS	“S.O.S.”	762
12	19	GODSMACK	“When Legends Rise”	748
13	13	BEARTOOTH	“Disease”	709
14	22	AVENGED SEVENFOLD	“Mad Hatter”	697
15	14	GRANDSON	“Blood/Water”	668
16	15	THRICE	“The Grey”	662
17	16	BRING ME THE HORIZON	“MANTRA”	658
18	12	TWENTY ONE PILOTS	“Jumpsuit”	597
19	17	FOZZY	“Burn Me Out”	580
20	21	IMAGINE DRAGONS	“Natural”	499
21	24	JONATHAN DAVIS	“Basic Needs”	461
22	23	UNDEROATH	“ihateit”	450
23	26	RIVAL SONS	“Do Your Worst”	426
24	33	GHOST	“Dance Macabre”	418
25	20	HALESTORM	“Uncomfortable”	397
26	29	PARKWAY DRIVE	“Prey”	346
27	31	FROM ASHES TO NEW	“Broken”	343
28	30	BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE	“Letting You Go”	320
29	28	THE BLUE STONES	“Black Holes (Solid Ground)”	311
30	32	RED SUN RISING	“Veins”	295
31	18	NOTHING MORE	“Just Say When”	264
32	25	10 YEARS	“Burnout”	262
33	27	SHIM	“Hallelujah”	256
34	36	FEVER 333	“Made An America”	236
35	35	THE STRUTS	“Body Talks”	207
36	37	SEVENDUST	“Unforgiven”	201
37	34	NONPOINT	“Chaos And Earthquakes”	186
38	38	DEAD GIRLS ACADEMY	“No Way Out”	163
39	60	FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH	“When The Seasons Change”	151
40	43	WILSON	“Like A Baller”	142
41	45	ATREYU	“The Time Is Now”	137
42	39	AMITY AFFLICTION	“Feels Like I’m Dying”	127
43	48	SYLAR	“All Or Nothing”	116
44	44	PRETTY VICIOUS	“Move”	116
45	46	MESSER	“Save Myself”	112
46	42	COHEED AND CAMBRIA	“Unheavenly Creatures”	112
47	40	ADELITAS WAY	“Still Hungry”	112
48	47	BLACK MOODS	“Bella Donna”	88
49	50	HANDS LIKE HOUSES	“Monster”	85
50	41	THE DEAD DAISIES	“Dead And Gone”	78

 

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

BADFLOWER – “Ghost”

Suicide is a growing epidemic, one that has taken the lives of some truly talented musicians in recent years.  Badflower’s smash hit, “Ghost,” takes a unique approach looking into the subject by writing the story from the perspective of someone who is thinking about taking their own life, but is refrained by the regret and pain that would come in the wake of a successful attempt.  All too often these days, there is no cry for help, so no one gets a chance to help the person in pain.  “Ghost” provides a glimpse into the stark reality of suffering while still searching for a glimmer of hope.

The subject matter of “Ghost” is heavier than most songs heard on Active Rock radio these days.  Yet, the song soared up the charts to take over the #1 spot this week from Disturbed (who held onto the spot for two weeks by narrowly edging out Badflower last week by 8 spins).  Prior to Disturbed’s two-week run, there had been a rotating door at the top, with six different artists holding the position over the course of six weeks.  What makes Badflower’s run so impressive is that they had to climb the chart at a time when all of the heavyweights were battling for the top.  Prior to this week, the chart-toppers were Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Five Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, and Ghost.  With this kind of strength being shown by format staples, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see Badflower stall in the top 10.  So why didn’t they?

“Ghost” is an incredible song (with a powerful message) delivered in a hauntingly poignant way.  Even if you never watched the video (which you should), you can paint a mental picture in your mind about the story.  Musically, Badflower stands out as unique.  While there are heavy sonic parts to the “Ghost,” overall, the song is more moody than rocking.  The opening verse is closer to being in the same vein as Bruno Mars than it is any other Active Rock band.  The fact that this song has risen to the top in spite of a lot of tough competition speaks volumes about what good songwriting can do.  More importantly, it shows that Active Rock listeners are not necessarily looking for more of the typical sound.  This song stands out because it’s unique.  Hopefully, its success will inspire programmers to take more chances with songs that don’t fit into the (often times) uninspired Active Rock sound.

You have to imagine that Badflower has now launched themselves into the same stratosphere as other hot up-and-comers like Nothing More, Red Sun Rising, Bad Wolves, and Greta Van Fleet (to name a few).

 

 

PUBLISHER’S PREDICTIONS (By Adam Waldman)

In recent weeks, the predictions have been somewhat easier, despite the fact that there has been massive turnover at the top over the last two months or so.  Badflower narrowly missed making it seven new #1s in as many weeks when they ended up eight spins behind Disturbed last week.  This week, the band leapfrogged over the established veterans even last week’s chart-topper continued to show strength.  This makes things interesting for next week, as the two are only separated by 45 spins.  Even if both started to decline next week, the next likely contender (Greta Van Fleet) is probably too far behind to reach the top for at least a few weeks.  It’s possible that there will be some flip flopping between the top 2 until they start to show a meaningful decline to create an opening for Greta Van Fleet or Shinedown in the coming weeks.
 

 

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…

SUNFLOWER DEAD – “Victim”

ELECTRIC REVOLUTION – “Burn It Down”

ROYAL TUSK – “Aftermath”

ICE NINE KILLS – “Grave Mistake”

MONSTER TRUCK – “Evolution”

JUDAS PRIEST – “No Surrender”

ROYAL BLISS – “Hard & Loud”

AMBROSE – “Last Man Standing”

 

DROP IT…

Fever 333 – “American Made”

Twenty One Pilots – “Jumpsuit”

Imagine Dragons – “Natural”

Grandson – “Blood/Water”

Glorious Sons – “S.O.S.”

The Struts – “Body Talks”

Amity Affliction – “Feels Like I’m Dying”

Pretty Vicious – Move”

 

 

THE BREAKDOWN (by Jon Loveless)

NOTABLE CHART MOVEMENT

Alice In Chains squeaks into Top 10 this week as the only new arrival in the tier…

A major increase in spins propels Avenged Sevenfold into the Top 20…

A trio of new entries in the Top 30, with Ghost leading From Ashes To New and Red Sun Rising into the middle of the published chart…

Five Finger Death Punch has not only the week’s highest debuting song but also the only debuting song.
 

 

THREE UP & THREE DOWN

RISING
Godsmack – “When Legends Rise”
Avenged Sevenfold – “Mad Hatter”
Ghost – “Dance Macabre”

 

FALLING
Breaking Benjamin – “Torn In Two”
Three Days Grace – “Infra-Red”
Nothing More – “Just Say When”
 

 

TRENDS & OBESERVATIONS

A relatively quiet week in terms of new songs reaching the chart, but that’s poised to change with at least a half dozen songs clearly on their way out.   New Papa Roach will almost certainly appear next week, but who will join them is very much up for grabs right now.