HRD Radio Report – Week Ending 9/18/21

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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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