http://weeklyexaminer.com/?p=2665
03-15-06
Since
many
people
find
it
hard
to
tell
the
great
from
the
godawful
when
it
comes
to
21st-century
mainstream
rock,
welcome
to
“Corporate
Rock
Still
Sells,”
where
Al
Shipley
(a.k.a.
Idolator
commenter
GovernmentNames)
examines
what’s
good,
bad,
and
ugly
in
the
world
of Billboard’s
rock
charts.
This
time
around
he
experiences
some
emo-related
schadenfreude,
ponders
the
question
of
crossover
ballads,
and
takes
a
look
at
a
band
you
probably
know
nothing
about
but
that’s
topped
the
mainstream
rock
chart
as
many
times
as
some
Napster-hating
metal
heroes.
Perhaps
no
band
epitomizes
the
dearth
of
household
names
in
mainstream
rock
quite
like
Puddle
of
Mudd.
Sure,
you
can
call
Nickelback
faceless
and
bland,
but
you
still
probably
know
what
the
singer
looks
like–you
might
even
know
that
his
name
is
Chad
Kroeger.
But
Puddle
of
Mudd,
whose
extra
“D”
was
mandated
by
law
during
their
Limp
Bizkit-assisted
rise
to
fame,
back
when
knowing
Fred
Durst
meant
something,
have
quietly
become
the
most
anonymous
sure
thing
on
the
airwaves.
When
Puddle’s
current
single
“Psycho”
began
its
residency
at
the
top
of
the
Hot
Mainstream
Rock
Tracks
chart
a
few
weeks
ago,
I
foolishly
assumed
it
was
their
first
time
at
No.
1
since
“Blurry,”
their
massive
2002
crossover
hit,
held
the
spot
for
ten
weeks.
But
in
fact,
“Psycho”
is
the
fifth
Puddle
of
Mudd
song
to
top
the
chart.
To
give
you
an
idea
of
what
that
means,
only
ten
artists
have
reached
that
No.
1
spot
more
than
five
times,
many
of
them
monsters
of
rock
like
Van
Halen
or
Aerosmith,
and
Nickelback
is
the
only
relatively
recent
entrant
to
that
club.
Puddle
of
Mudd
are
actually
now
tied
with
Active
rock
poster
boys
Metallica.
In
fact,
they’d
have
more
chart
toppers
if
their
last
single,
“Famous,”
hadn’t
stalled
at
No.
2
last
year.
“Famous”
is
also
pretty
much
the
only
song
of
theirs
I’m
willing
to
go
to
bat
for;
I’ve
got
a
weakness
for
that
dramatic
intro
and
the
Dire
Straits-biting
chorus.
But
as
for
“Psycho,”
I
find
it
even
more
repulsive
than
any
of
Puddle’s
previous
hits,
and
am
kind
of
mystified
by
its
success.
In
my last
column,
I
looked
at
a
few
new
songs
that
were
going
for
adds
at
the
time,
and
now
begins
the
fun
part,
where
I
get
to
see
how
my
predictions
are
shaking
out.
And
I
have
to
admit
that
it
tickles
me
a
little
that
one
of
the
bands
I
thought
I
was
harshest
on,
Panic
(!)
At
The
Disco,
have
actually
fallen
short
of
my
modest
expectations.
As
I
foresaw,
“Nine
In
The
Afternoon”
is
a
canary
in
the
coalmine
for
their
inevitable
sophomore
slump,
but
it
hasn’t
even
reachted
the
Modern
Rock
Top
10
yet,
like
I
assumed
it
quickly
would.
It
might
get
a
boost
once
the
album
is
released
in
a
couple
weeks,
but
for
the
moment
I’m
enjoying
my
schadenfreude.
It’s
always
interesting
to
see
how
rock
radio’s
core
constituency
responds
when
a
typically
harder-edged
band
scores
a
crossover
ballad.
The
latest
instance
of
that
is
Buckcherry’s
“Sorry,”
which
has
been
all
over
pop
radio
over
the
last
three
months,
peaking
at
No.
9
on
the
Hot
100.
But
it
only
recently
entered
the
Mainstream
Rock
chart
after
it
had
already
been
climbing
the
big
chart
for
eight
weeks,
and
has
so
far
only
slowly
risen
to
No.
34.
One
might
assume
this
is
a
standard
pattern,
but
for
a
close
point
of
comparison,
Hinder’s
“Lips
Of
An
Angel”
absolutely
dominated
both
Mainstream
and
Modern
Rock
charts
while
it
was
crossing
over
to
Top
40.
Meanwhile,
Nickelback’s
softer
material
has
been
fairly
hit
and
miss
with
rock
stations;
they
embraced
“Photograph”
and
“Savin’
Me,”
but
ignored
“Far
Away”
and
“If
Everyone
Cared.”
It
might
be
a
simple
matter
of
labels
only
activing
pushing
certain
songs
toward
formats
where
they
know
they’ll
work,
or
maybe
there
are
some
subtle
aesthetic
distinctions
between
these
songs
that
make
some
more
suitable
for
Active
stations
than
others.
All
I
know
is,
when
Puddle
of
Mudd
drop
their
power
ballad–and
oh,
they
will–watch
out.
Original
post
by Al
Shipley