HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 9/18/21
Each week 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 9/18/21. All exclusive HRD content is featured below the chart:
| RANK (TW) | RANK (LW) | ARTIST | SONG TITLE | SPINS |
| 1 | 2 | PRETTY RECKLESS | Only Love Can Save Me Now | 1876 |
| 2 | 1 | FOO FIGHTERS | Making A Fire | 1829 |
| 3 | 5 | CHEVELLE | Mars Simula | 1401 |
| 4 | 3 | MAMMOTH WVH | Don’t Back Down | 1374 |
| 5 | 6 | DAUGHTRY | Heavy Is The Crown | 1302 |
| 6 | 7 | SEETHER | Wasteland | 1287 |
| 7 | 9 | POP EVIL | Survivor | 1250 |
| 8 | 8 | EVANESCENCE | Better Without You | 1206 |
| 9 | 4 | VOLBEAT | Wait A Minute My Girl | 1205 |
| 10 | 10 | ATREYU f. TRAVIS BARKER | Warrior | 1069 |
| 11 | 11 | HALESTORM | Back From The Dead | 1061 |
| 12 | 12 | BEARTOOTH | The Past Is Dead | 911 |
| 13 | 13 | FOZZY | Sane | 897 |
| 14 | 16 | ASKING ALEXANDRIA | Alone Again | 896 |
| 15 | 14 | AYRON JONES | Supercharged | 882 |
| 16 | 15 | FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH | Darkness Settles In | 759 |
| 17 | 17 | GRETA VAN FLEET | Built By Nations | 736 |
| 18 | 20 | BADFLOWER | Don’t Hate Me | 616 |
| 19 | 18 | IRON MAIDEN | The Writing On The Wall | 612 |
| 20 | 22 | COHEED AND CAMBRIA | Shoulders | 551 |
| 21 | 27 | BAD WOLVES | Lifeline | 535 |
| 22 | 21 | ARCHITECTS | Dead Butterflies | 525 |
| 23 | 25 | STARSET | Infected | 491 |
| 24 | 23 | FUEL | Hard | 487 |
| 25 | 24 | THRICE | Scavengers | 472 |
| 26 | 19 | DEAD POET SOCIETY | .CoDA. | 432 |
| 27 | 36 | PAPA ROACH | Kill The Noise | 426 |
| 28 | 26 | DIRTY HONEY | The Wire | 396 |
| 29 | 31 | BLACK STONE CHERRY | Give Me One Reason | 276 |
| 30 | 29 | LILITH CZAR | Anarchy | 275 |
| 31 | 32 | DED | Kill Beautiful Things | 270 |
| 32 | 28 | TRIVIUM | Feast Of Fire | 237 |
| 33 | 38 | DEAD SARA | Heroes | 230 |
| 34 | 34 | JOYOUS WOLF | Fearless | 214 |
| 35 | 33 | TWIZTID f. ICE NINE KILLS | Envy | 212 |
| 36 | 35 | DROPOUT KINGS f. SHAYLEY BOURGET | Virus | 196 |
| 37 | 41 | DOROTHY | What’s Coming To Me | 149 |
| 38 | 43 | KINGDOM COLLAPSE | Unbreakable | 131 |
| 39 | 30 | NONPOINT | Ruthless | 131 |
| 40 | 40 | TREMONTI | If Not For You | 129 |
| 41 | 49 | MANESKIN | I Wanna Be Your Slave | 116 |
| 42 | 42 | AVATAR | Going Hunting | 111 |
| 43 | 0 | BRING ME THE HORIZON | DiE4u | 105 |
| 44 | 131 | JERRY CANTRELL | Brighten | 105 |
| 45 | 71 | ICE NINE KILLS | Rainy Day | 101 |
| 46 | 45 | WEEZER f. AJR | All My Favorite Songs | 94 |
| 47 | 48 | BLIND CHANNEL | Dark Side | 93 |
| 48 | 46 | SAUL | Looking To Fight | 93 |
| 49 | 50 | WAGE WAR | Circle The Drain | 84 |
| 50 | 47 | THE RECORD COMPANY | How High | 84 |
PUBLISHER’S PICK OF THE WEEK (By Adam Waldman)
IRON MAIDEN – “The Writing On The Wall”
I recently read an article entitled “What Rock Fans Don’t Want To Admit.” It was fairly lengthy (like a Maiden song), but the premise was basically that rock artists, more than other genres, seem to write their best music in their 20s and maybe 30s. It’s hard to argue when you look over the empirical evidence and the career arc of most rock artists. I would argue that one factor not mentioned is that streaming has made it harder for songs and albums to have staying power because you can basically get any song today for free. No skin in the game (so to speak) makes it less likely that any new music will ever rival the classics of yesteryear. But that is an article for another day.
Some legendary artists have decided that the squeeze isn’t worth the juice when it comes to releasing new music in the current climate. Who can blame them? After all, many of them can sell out arenas and stadiums by simply playing the songs that made them famous in the first place. It’s understandable why some would take that approach, but it doesn’t mean that all legendary artists subscribe to the same theory, especially bands like Iron Maiden who never relied on radio play in the first place.
The gap between releases from Maiden has grown over time, the longest being the six years between the release of 2015’s The Book Of Souls and the recently released Senjutsu (an album that I’m not exactly sure how to pronounce if I’m being honest). Perhaps it’s a sign of the times that Senjutsu just became Maiden’s highest charting debut in their illustrious history. It’s not that it sold the most copies, just that they sold enough to make waves in a streaming society. Unlike most bands, people still want to own physical copies of Maiden releases. The band used smart marketing techniques to inspire sales.
Is this record selling well because it defied the premise of the aforementioned article that bands make their best music in their 20s and 30s? I don’t think so. An honest Iron Maiden fan will most likely not mention Senjutsu in the same breath as The Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind, Powerslave or the like, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have value in the present day. The album is filled with epic songs, but most are unlikely to reach the type of fan favorite status that makes them a must-play in concert for years to come. However, I believe that one song has the potential to be a modern day “Fear Of The Dark.” That song is the lead single, “The Writing On The Wall.”
It’s somewhat surprising to see the song getting played on Active Rock radio given that the format has consistently shunned any type of classic heavy metal. But maybe, the format is at least willing to give a nod to the all-time legends who are still releasing music worthy of recognition. “The Writing On The Wall” seems like it’s tailor-made for the stage. Out of all of the songs on Senjutsu, it is the one that I would actually be disappointed not to hear in concert. That’s not to say that the album doesn’t have other memorable moments, just not ones that I believe will stand the test of time against a juggernaut of a catalog that dates back nearly five decades.
HRD SPIN CONTROL
Hard Rock Daddy recommends the following tracks for airplay on Active Rock Radio…
| ARTIST | SONG TITLE |
| BLACKTOP MOJO | Wicked Woman |
| BLACK LABEL SOCIETY | Set You Free |
| PARALANDRA | Despicable |
| BLACK VEIL BRIDES | Crimson Skies |
| RISE AGAINST | Talking To Ourselves |
| TESLA | Cold Blue Steel |
| ICE NINE KILLS/JACOBY SHADDIX | Hip To Be Scared |
| FROM ASHES TO NEW | Light Up The Sky |
| ROLLING STONES | Living In The Heart Of Love |
| SUECO | Paralyzed |
| LOVE THE HATE | Solid Ground |
| BIG WRECK (f. CHAD KROEGER) | Middle Of Nowhere |
| PSYCHO HILL | Dying Day |
GREATEST GAINERS…
| ARTIST | SONG TITLE | spINcrease |
| PAPA ROACH | Kill The Noise | 426 |
| BAD WOLVES | Lifeline | 535 |
| ASKING ALEXANDRIA | Alone Again | 896 |
| PRETTY RECKLESS | Only Love Can Save Me Now | 1876 |
| SEETHER | Wasteland | 1287 |
| HALESTORM | Back From The Dead | 1061 |
| CHEVELLE | Mars Simula | 1401 |
| POP EVIL | Survivor | 1250 |
| BRING ME THE HORIZON | DiE4u | 105 |
| JERRY CANTRELL | Brighten | 105 |
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