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

[buddhahat]

From what I remember, Thomas mentioned the songs are incomplete at the moment so unless Brian gets the inspiration to get back in there and work with them I doubt we'll ever hear them in their proper context.  What we do have is extremely beautiful though.

Yeah I just have a hard time envisaging Brian having the impetus to record the rest of the suite to fit around these pieces.

But then it isn't necessarily Brian who provides the impetus ($$$$), so if the suite is written, and the demand is there (which it obviously is) I can see this happening as a solo album in the near future.

[coco1997]

Best song? "From There to Back Again"
Personal favorite? "Isn't It Time"

[Paulos]

Best song? "From There to Back Again"
Personal favorite? "Isn't It Time"

I agree that there is something quite brilliant about Isn't It Time, great little song. From the few listens of the album so far I would have to say the only song I don't really like is TPLOBAS, just find it kinda annoying.

[EgoHanger1966]

Best song? Summer's Gone.

Does anyone wish the harmonies came back in a second time as the song fades? The harmonies in the middle part are so damn strong and I keep hearing them in my head as the last verse ends and the song starts to fade.

[Newguy562]

it seems we all like those soft sweet harmonies

[Paulos]

it seems we all like those soft sweet harmonies

Of course we do, this is a Beach Boys board! 

[EgoHanger1966]

Also, I know I said before that Pacific Coast Highway had some death-related lyrics (in my opinion), but if I were to do an analysis paper on "Summer's Gone", I think I could easily write about how that song is Brian Wilson's peace with his own mortality, his resignation from life. I feel that's why I'm so sad and distraught after every listen. Presumably if you take the song in first person, Brian is sitting very close to the ocean, watching the waves. As the waves get closer, Brian knows that he needs to leave because the waves could wash him away forever ("it's time to go"), but he seems not to care about living anymore ("I'm thinking maybe I'll just stay").

Of coure, Brian didn't write most of those lyrics - it was the hands of Thomas and Bon Jovi. Thomas has said he loves the Surf's Up album, and if he wrote a lot of those lyrics, it shows - it's similar to 'Til I Die lyrically in a lot of ways,

[Newguy562]

it seems we all like those soft sweet harmonies

Of course we do, this is a Beach Boys board! 

most of us think summers gone & from there to back again

[dirwuf]

...Thomas mentioned the songs are incomplete at the moment so unless Brian gets the inspiration to get back in there and work with them I doubt we'll ever hear them in their proper context.

isn't that what Darian's for?...he's done it once.

[RCTID]

i can't get over how much i enjoy the new album. the only song i skip is Beaches in Mind.

[JohnMill]

Man "Pacific Coast Highway" has just overtaken me.  This may just be the most gorgeous buck fifty worth of music I've ever heard.  It gets in, gets out and says what it needs to say.  It's just one of those songs where the music, mood and lyrics all perfectly mesh and the fact that Brian is the vocalist on this just puts it over the top.  Easily a successor to "Lonely Sea" or anyone other seminal Beach Boys ballad you can think of.   

[runnersdialzero]

From what I remember, Thomas mentioned the songs are incomplete at the moment so unless Brian gets the inspiration to get back in there and work with them I doubt we'll ever hear them in their proper context. 

He just started on this a few months ago! Give 'im some time.

[buddhahat]

I've been quite vocal about my dislike of the production and the autotune on this but I have to concede that, through good headphones, this album sounds incredible. Especially the final track.

I'm loathed to admit (especially to Wirestone  ) but even the vocal processing is beginning to work for me within the context of the glossy production. I would've prefered it if they had toned it down a bit, but it's not unpleasant now I'm used to it.

[Alan Smith]

Man "Pacific Coast Highway" has just overtaken me.  This may just be the most gorgeous buck fifty worth of music I've ever heard.  It gets in, gets out and says what it needs to say.  It's just one of those songs where the music, mood and lyrics all perfectly mesh and the fact that Brian is the vocalist on this just puts it over the top.  Easily a successor to "Lonely Sea" or anyone other seminal Beach Boys ballad you can think of.   

Totally agree, prefer it to FTTBA, myself! The "Sometimes I realise..." part is kinda Dennis-esque.

[Lowbacca]

A somewhat more elaborate review of mine will follow someday, but for the time being let me just state that...

TWGMTR played unreasonably loudly via reasonable speakers in my livingroom sounds AWESOME!!!


And "Pacific Coast Highway" is the sh*t..... 

[WWDWD?]

It sounds just like them 

[Newguy562]

It sounds just like them 

i know it's either a huge coincidence or somethings going on  lol

[Justin]

The first song to get the "put on repeat" treatment from me:  "Strang World"...fantastic.

[Kees]

Well, it come sdown to this 

Think About the Days: *****
TWGMTR: ****
Isn't It Time:   *****
Spring Vacation: **
The Private Life of Bill and Sue ***
Shelter: ***
Daybreak Over the Ocean: **
Beaches in Mind: *
Strange World: *** 1/2
From There to Back Again *****
Pacific Coast Highway: *****
Summer's Gone: *****

[Justin]

As a snapshot, I kinda get what they were doing with this album. 

It opens with the introspective wordless chant "Think About The Days'and you immediately know something is up.  What's going on here?  It's dark, it's looming, it's mysterious and it's beautiful.  The opening chant is only validated later after we've listened to the entire album.   Picture this when you start the album with "Think About The Days"..think of a helicopter shot from high up in the sky and we're slowly zooming in on a convertible, with its top down and an older gentleman sitting at the wheel...it's Brian starting his drive down the Pacific Coast Highway.  This is the beginning of his (and our) journey down memory lane.  He wants to distract himself from his thoughts, though.  So what does he have on in the car during the ride?  Why, the radio of course!  BAM..track two..."That's Why God Made The Radio.'  An ode to the radio as Brian is driving.  He celebrates the radio and he smiles at the good times he's had with the radio being the center of his life.  So what follows?  Tracks 3 through 8 (Isn't It Time, Spring Vacation" "The Private Life of Bill and Sue"  "Shelter"  "Daybreak Over the Ocean"  "Beaches in Mind" ) are the songs Brian hears coming out of the radio.  Yes, they are Beach Boys songs coming through the airwaves as he's driving.  It's as if Brian'is listening to a new Beach Boys album inside a new Beach Boys album!  The songs are a callback to the fun, personal and lighthearted stuff we've always known from the Beach Boys.  Sort of no surprises but still familiar old/new tunes.  When those songs conclude, the radio is turned off and Brian finishes his ride with an introspective look at his own life.  We're now removed from the scene as a spectator, this is now Brian signing to us about himself and life as he knows it.  Thus begins "Strange World" ""From There to Back Again"   "Pacific Coast Highway"  a look inward much like Pet Sounds was (which is why these songs sound so much like Pet Sounds!) and then it ends with the painfully heartwrenching "Summer's Gone".  Brian's trip is over.  He's reached home.  And it's raining.  And it's time to get inside.

This is the album coming from the same guy who realized fifty years ago that he just wasn't made for these times.   And it sounds like in this album, he's finally coming to terms with that.

[pixletwin]

I don't see what is so heart wrenching about Summer's Gone. It seems to me like a calm acceptance of the transitory nature of life. It is a bit melancholy, but heart wrenching?

[EgoHanger1966]

As a snapshot, I kinda get what they were doing with this album. 

It opens with the introspective wordless chant "Think About The Days'and you immediately know something is up.  What's going on here?  It's dark, it's looming, it's mysterious and it's beautiful.  The opening chant is only validated later after we've listened to the entire album.   Picture this when you start the album with "Think About The Days"..think of a helicopter shot from high up in the sky and we're slowly zooming in on a convertible, with its top down and an older gentleman sitting at the wheel...it's Brian starting his drive down the Pacific Coast Highway.  This is the beginning of his (and our) journey down memory lane.  He wants to distract himself from his thoughts, though.  So what does he have on in the car during the ride?  Why, the radio of course!  BAM..track two..."That's Why God Made The Radio.'  An ode to the radio as Brian is driving.  He celebrates the radio and he smiles at the good times he's had with the radio being the center of his life.  So what follows?  Tracks 3 through 8 (Isn't It Time, Spring Vacation" "The Private Life of Bill and Sue"  "Shelter"  "Daybreak Over the Ocean"  "Beaches in Mind" ) are the songs Brian hears coming out of the radio.  Yes, they are Beach Boys songs coming through the airwaves as he's driving.  It's as if Brian'is listening to a new Beach Boys album inside a new Beach Boys album!  The songs are a callback to the fun, personal and lighthearted stuff we've always known from the Beach Boys.  Sort of no surprises but still familiar old/new tunes.  When those songs conclude, the radio is turned off and Brian finishes his ride with an introspective look at his own life.  We're now removed from the scene as a spectator, this is now Brian signing to us about himself and life as he knows it.  Thus begins "Strange World" ""From There to Back Again"   "Pacific Coast Highway"  a look inward much like Pet Sounds was (which is why these songs sound so much like Pet Sounds!) and then it ends with the painfully heartwrenching "Summer's Gone".  Brian's trip is over.  He's reached home.  And it's raining.  And it's time to get inside.

This is the album coming from the same guy who realized fifty years ago that he just wasn't made for these times.   And it sounds like in this album, he's finally coming to terms with that.

Wow. Excellent post. Thanks for sharing your analysis!

[phirnis]

I'm starting to really enjoy this as an overall album as opposed to just a collection of songs. "Strange World" has grown on me quite a bit, just a very sweet song (and a very sweet sentiment too).

[Amanda Hart]

I'm going to keep my review short, as I haven't read the entire thread, and I'm sure I don't have any sort of spectacularly new insights to make. From what I have read everyone is being so positive and seems to really dig the album, but it's honestly kind of "blah" for me.

Some of the songs are good, and are just a little something here or there away from being really good. Overall though, I'm having a really hard time getting past the production and mixing. It sounds so dated. There is only a marginal difference between how this sounds and how SIP sounded. The drum sounds, the tone on the guitar, it all sounds like it was done 20 years ago.

I don't want to be one of those people who bitch about Foskett, but there is no reason he should have a line with Bruce, Al and/or Mike and be mixed the loudest. "Isn't It Time" is my early favorite, but I wish Bruce was more audible in the chorus. He voice is weaker now, but in the studio you can play with that and push him up front. His voice still sounds great and that chorus should be his. It feels like whoever is making those decisions is saying "It's The Beach Boys, there has to be falsetto or else people won't know it's Beach Boys song." It's just so pandering.

Really that's what I don't like; the pandering, and it's all over this record. It's in the lyrics with empty nostalgia, old song titles and a chorus where we name off cities for no reason. It's in the faux island sound in nearly every song. I'm going to buy the vinyl when it comes out and give the mix another chance, hopefully they use a different master for the vinyl pressing. I know this little review sounds pretty negative, but I don't hate the album and it's honestly about what I expected it would be. I think the published reviews that are giving it around a 6/10 are fair and that's probably about where I would grade it.

[Justin]

I don't see what is so heart wrenching about Summer's Gone. It seems to me like a calm acceptance of the transitory nature of life. It is a bit melancholy, but heart wrenching?

You know, I actually do.  I'm a sucker for melodies and the melody in this song is just so sad.  Only the lyrics that lay over the melody soften the blow (slightly) for just how "heart-wrenching" it can be for the listner.  But I'm extra sensitive to a sad melody and those notes underneath those lyrics just slay me.  You juxtapose this song with any of the other "up" songs from the tracks 3 through 8 section---there's obviously a stark contrast.  To me, the music and melody speaks more to me than the lyrics and that's what hit home for me.