THE BEACH BOYS - That's Why God Made The Radio SS member reviews

[Jaco]

My track by track review:

"Think About The Days" sounds great, but it's also just a little intro: it's something Brian could compose or improvise in 5 minutes. The underlying chords seem to be by Joe Thomas, so it's a little different in style, but that's probably exactly what Brian wanted.

"That's Why God Made The Radio" is like a 50's type ballad with 80's modern chords, it in places similar to "Your Imagination". I like 90% of it except for a few modulations that are wrong to my ears. You can hear how it's live on YouTube, the band has to work very hard to make it sound right.
(Don't Worry Baby has also a jarring modulation imho: But she looks in my eyes / And makes me realize)

"Isn't It Time" is okay and catchy, although it could have used some more strange/exotic percussion, like the intro Heigh Ho/Whistle While You Work, or other weird elecronic effects.

"Spring Vacation" very good one, I love that Jeff Baxter guitar. (he is also playing on "Beaches In Mind"). I've played the cd a lot, and this is the track I return to the most.

"Private Life of Bill & Sue" nice falsetto, probably by Bruce (or maybe Bruce and Jeff Foskett together?). Anyway the falsetto sound of it (and on the whole album) does remember me a lot of the Fantastic Baggies from the early 60s.

"Shelter" A mysterious and complex song, at the same time easy to listen to. The octave unisonos have that same sound as in Jan & Dean's "It's As Easy As 1 2 3" Beautiful arrangement.

"Daybreak Over the Ocean" Mike Love takes credit for this composition, and it's  the only song on the album that I should skip. The harmony chords have wrong notes in it (it clashes in places, f.e. like a combination of C7 and C7sus4), and the instruments below it are uninspiring, compared to all the other tracks. Brian should have rearranged this one and make a brand new recording from scratch. He's a master who could've fixed it in only a few hours.

"Beaches In Mind" really not bad, but without a guitar solo, this is a little pointless song, with no satisfying conclusion. Still enjoyable.

"Strange World" is okay, but like "Beaches In Mind", it's sounds like the fade out comes too early.

"From There to Back Again" / "Pacific Coast Highway" / "Summer's Gone" are the most interesting tracks (they've been praised all over the place). Al Jardine is the greatest. The harmonies of PCH are mind blowing (just like the beginning of "Can't Wait Too Long"). The beauty of "Summer's Gone" is in the arrangement, with all the percussion sounds etc. The song is like one big tag. I find that the basic structure of the song is not typical Brian Wilson style, it's just an endless repeating of a chord pattern, which maybe is not by Brian, but (again) by Joe Thomas. [And guess what... at the end of this I wanted to play "Sumahama"!]


Conclusion: the best Beach Boys record in 35 years. If you replace "Daybreak Over the Ocean" with an instrumental (the album is vocally a bit to busy imho), you'll have a great time listening. ****1/2

[Ziggy Stardust]

Conclusion: the best Beach Boys record in 35 years. If you replace "Spring Vacation" with an instrumental (the album is vocally a bit to busy imho), you'll have a great time listening. ****1/2

[Jaco]

Conclusion: the best Beach Boys record in 35 years. If you replace "Spring Vacation" with an instrumental (the album is vocally a bit to busy imho), you'll have a great time listening. ****1/2

that's not a quote. I never said that

[Ziggy Stardust]

Thank you for saving the day Captain Obvious, i was just giving my opinion via your post.

[Jaco]

I might add that there seem to be some cheesy lyrics on the album too, but it's not my native language. I'm focussed on sound.

[runnersdialzero]

Only song I can't see myself listening to often after a few weeks is "Beaches In Mind". Certainly not terrible, just not really my cup of tea. "Daybreak", "The Private Life", and "Shelter" are a bit iffy, and "That's Why God" has already gotten a bit stale, but still enjoyable.

Thus far, I'd rank dat shiz (spaces where I feel the quality drops a bit from the previously named song/set of songs):

01. From There To Back Again (as good as basically anything from their peak years. Good lawd, I can't believe it!)

02. Isn't It's About Time (about as good as your average late 60s track - yowza~~~!
03. Pacific Coast Highway
04. Spring Vacation (so much cheese, but so many hooks, and Mike's vocal is fantastic)
05. Summer's Gone (feels weird to put this under "Spring Vacation". I think this one is gonna take more listens to sink in)

06. Think About The Days

07. Strange World
08. The Private Life Of Bill And Sue

09. That's Why God Made The Radio
10. Shelter (I really enjoy the lyrics for this one - it very well could grow on me)

11. Daybreak Over The Ocean (replacing Adrian Baker's vocal would've made this better, even if, God help us, Jeff did it)

12. Bitchez In Mind

[Ziggy Stardust]

See, i told you!

[phirnis]

Think About the Days: gorgeous intro, simple but effective; piano playing's a bit over-the-top for my personal taste 8/10

TWGMTR: very pleasant. Is this a slightly different mix from the single version? Still can't get used to that middle-eight... 6,5/10

Isn't It Time: somehow reminds me of "That Same Song" (which i really like, by the way). Lyrics are not very convincing 6/10

Spring Vacation: I have to admit the music has really grown on me; VERY catchy, can't help it; would love to hear the lyrics intended for the original "Lay Down Burden" instead of that mindless cheese, however; Mike's lead is indeed very good and sounds entirely heartfelt 5/10

The Private Life of Bill and Sue: pure quirkiness; irresistably catchy; I don't even mind some of the faux-Carribean instrumentation 9/10

Shelter: bit patchy but that's virtually the only thing wrong with this; spectacular chorus that really reminds me of some of their better 80s material (mostly due to Mike's singing I think, which sounds very much like "Somewhere Near Japan") 8/10

Daybreak Over the Ocean: kind of catchy but also a bit dull; way too heavy on the cliched "Kokomo"-like instrumentation (and I personally love that song, mind you!); this feels like TWGMTR's "Everyone's in Love With You" 4/10

Beaches in Mind: Shania Twain rawking out 2/10

Strange World: really wish it didn't sound like pure plastic because this is actually a very charming tune that wouldn't have been out of place on any of BW's latter-day solo records (TLOS in particular); most of this album sadly lacks the fuzzy bass sounds that Brian always seemed to prefer; really don't like the string arrangement; this one's very difficult to rate 6/10

From There to Back Again: this finally clicked with me this morning; still a bit too musical-like for my personal taste but finally I can hear what others are hearing in terms of this song's overall greatness; hoping it's going to grow on me even more! Really makes you wish for more Jardine lead vocals 8/10

Pacific Coast Highway: genuine tear-jerker; parts of it remind me of Elton John (for better or worse...); really like its overall shortness! 9/10

Summer's Gone: bit longish, yes, but otherwise it's just as good as I expected; took a few spins to get into it, though; personally I don't hear how this is too close to Pet Sounds but anyway... 8/10

[Newguy562]

Most of it is filler not bad nor great doesn't have a pet sounds/ smile sound to it at all it seems like they tried to hard to recapture that sunny sound that they created but it failed smh :/
Anyways on the other hand "The Private Life of Bill and Sue" "From There To Back Again" & "Summer's Gone" are all awesome songs and definitely are the standouts from the album.
This was better than any other album they did from 1970 & on ..(just my opinion)

[runnersdialzero]

smh

smh suck my head

[Gohi]

So far, here's a quicky review, I dont' want to be too negative so I'll just not say anything if I have nothing good to say.

This attitude makes sense when talking about people but not music. It's okay to say something's not so great if you don't think it is.

[Eireannach]

With Shelter, the way in is twofold -- first, get hold of the lyrics. A lot of them are by Brian, and it's a little window into his personality. Secondly, as the chorus is repeated in the song, he introduces these crazy syncopated backing vocals. They're pretty cool and unusual -- and almost too much to take in without repeated listens.

I just started hearing those syncopated vocals in the chorus after probably 20+ listens to Shelter, and they are really cool.  I agree that it's too much to take without repeated listens, because the melody line just sucks you in and you have to focus hard to hear those backing vocals.

[drbeachboy]

I've only listened once through and that is the problem, so far. I have been in no rush to listen to it again, though I will. I don't think I have ever bought a new Beach Boys album and didn't want to play it multiple times. Like many of Brian's songs since the mid-80s, nothing grabs me right away like the older songs did. That is not to say that there isn't special moments in each song, there are. I still think Spring Vacation is the most Beach Boys type song on the album. I am hoping with repeated listens that the album will grow on me. What impressed me most so far is Brian's vocals. This is one of the few albums, along with Gershwin, where I actually like the tone of his voice. Al sounds terrific on everything and Mike sounds the best he has in years. Daybreak... sounds nasally, but it is an older track, so I understand why he sounds that way. I'm gonna hold off on a full review until I've had a few more complete listens.

[Newguy562]

I've only listened once through and that is the problem, so far. I have been in no rush to listen to it again, though I will. I don't think I have ever brought a new Beach Boys album and didn't want to play it multiple times. Like many of Brian's songs since the mid-80s, nothing grabs me right away like the older songs did. That is not to say that there isn't special moments in each song, there are. I still think Spring Vacation is the most Beach Boys type song on the album. I am hoping with repeated listens that the album will grow on me. What impressed me most so far is Brian's vocals. This is one of the few albums, along with Gershwin, where I actually like the tone of his voice. Al sounds terrific on everything and Mike sounds the best he has in years. Daybreak... sounds nasally, but it is an older track, so I understand why he sounds that way. I'm gonna hold off on a full review until I've had a few more complete listens.

See the horrible thing about that is when you listen to an album if it's a beautiful piece of work it'll drawn you in immediately but no beach boys album has done that for me since pet sounds.  I've had to sometimes even force myself to find things in the songs i missed before. Don't get me wrong there's plenty of gems since pet sounds it's just as an whole album the closest thing was Sunflower, and even i had to relisten to that a few times and there are a few songs on that album i still can't listen to without cringing lol (slip on through,add some music to your day,got to know the woman,tears in the morning)
As for album that i relistened to and found amazing Wild Honey is a perfect example of that...it's weird..low quality yet it has such a a special place in my heart..it's truly amazing.

[drbeachboy]

It is funny you mentioned Slip On Through. It had the opposite affect on me. In 1970, I knew as soon as I heard it start the album, that I was in for something special, but I do know what you talking about.

[Ziggy Stardust]

smh

smh suck my head

may i

[Ron]

I find that the basic structure of the song is not typical Brian Wilson style, it's just an endless repeating of a chord pattern, which maybe is not by Brian, but (again) by Joe Thomas.

Not so sure about this, isn't "Mona" just one big repeat of a chord pattern?  I think Brian comes up with musical bits and sometimes just fleshes them out to be the whole song!

[Ron]

So far, here's a quicky review, I dont' want to be too negative so I'll just not say anything if I have nothing good to say.

This attitude makes sense when talking about people but not music. It's okay to say something's not so great if you don't think it is.

Your opinion sucks then. 

[Newguy562]

It is funny you mentioned Slip On Through. It had the opposite affect on me. In 1970, I knew as soon as I heard it start the album, that I was in for something special, but I do know what you talking about.

your favorite song off of sunflower? and your least favorite?

[drbeachboy]

It is funny you mentioned Slip On Through. It had the opposite affect on me. In 1970, I knew as soon as I heard it start the album, that I was in for something special, but I do know what you talking about.

your favorite song off of sunflower? and your least favorite?

Favorites: Slip On Through, This Whole World, All I Wanna Do, Forever, Cool, Cool Water
Like: Add Some Music, It's About Time, Our Sweet Love, At My Window
Least Favorite: Deirdre, Tears In The Morning, Got To Know The Woman

[Runaways]

something about our sweet love seems reaaaaally forced.  That might be my least favorite on the album

[Newguy562]

something about our sweet love seems reaaaaally forced.  That might be my least favorite on the album

wow :/ that's a really sweet song though

[atroxi]

"The Private Life of Bill and Sue" is pleasant enough. I think people would probably really dislike this song if we were told that Mike had written it, though.

Somewhere in an alternate universe, the line on the chorus is "From California to Kokomo...". 

[CarlTheVoice]

I got my CD today, the case was broken but on went the headphones and I sat down for a listen. I'm not going to write a full review of each song but I will give my opinion on the album. This is my first album of new material from the Beach Boys and I feel very lucky to say that!

I absolutely love:
Think About The Days
From There To Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
Summer's Gone  

They represent the true Beach Boys sound and the harmonies on these are still so much better than everyone out there at the moment. They make me feel quite emotional and spiritual so to me they are 100% BB.

Good, but not amazing:
That's Why God Made The Radio
Isn't It Time
Shelter
Daybreak Over The Ocean

And the rest, hmmm, not classics and probably won't be the most played songs on my iPod but they will do!

In summary, I really like the album, it's much better than I could have expected and I would recommend it to anyone. For men in their 60s/70s this is very good. It is amazing to think these are the same people who did Surfin' all those years ago.

I really miss Carl on this record, I knew I would but all the music lacks soul without his voice. Foskett actually does a good job of Carl's parts. I did think I heard Carl in Daybreak Over The Ocean,  but it's Christian Love. I saw him last year and thought he had the softness of Carl's voice and I think he should have been included a little more in this. It's so sad that Carl and Dennis aren't here to record again, but the boys have done a good job of keeping their legacy alive.

That's Why God Made The Beach Boys

[dirwuf]

Have listened to the album for a couple of days now, and while virtually every criticism I've heard has some merit, they're missing the point. This isn't music for putting on headphones and listening to intently, this is for playing while you're driving around or just hanging out...much like the early BB catalog. I can't recall the last album by anyone that has these qualities...

IMO, the Beach Boys haven't changed as much as we have.