The Smiley Smile Message Board

I know they've played it live.  I like to think I'm slightly tuned into the radio because i'm only 25, and this song hits me as the most modern radio friendly song.  Super catchy, nice drums, hand claps repeats the catchiest part over and over.  If they're gonna have a hit on the mainstream radio, this is the only one that has a shot.  The most "fun in the sun" song on there and is seriously the only song of deserving a real radio push. 
Every summer there's a quirky summer hit with ukelele a summery feel, this one seems to be similar.

Mm-hmm.

Agreed. Its a real grower, and Al sounds great, despite the double-tracking.

I only dislike the middle part. I think it doesn't fit and takes too much away from the groove. But it might grow on me.  Apart from that this songs screams to be a single. But will it have any success now that the album is already released ?

How to put this delicately- the song doesn't make a real great first impression. Sure, we're all used to Brian's 'old' voice, but frankly, I don't think it's really radio-friendly. The problem with this song as a single is that it begins with Brian just kind of naked with a ukelele strumming and some hand claps. Sure, things get better as the arrangement fills out and the other voices start coming in, but the poor first impression has been made. I'm just saying- Brian's 2012 voice takes some time and effort to get used to. If they do want to release it as single then maybe they can re-mix it for a single version. They could double  Brian's  vocals or add someone else's voice to smooth it out.

i agree klaw, but once the chorus kicks in, i just get blown over by "f*ckING RADIO SONG" feelings. it reminds me of what phil spector said about i get around, that's it's "silly" enough to be a hit or whatever.

btw guys, if you look at itunes, Isn't It Time is bought more than any other song on the album.

Interesting. And FTTBA is the third most downloaded  followed by Summer's Gone and PCH. But, oddly, Kokomo is their#1 download right now.

I really like it and could imagine doing well on radio playlists.

Yet another reason why BB music is discussed so well here. Different songs hit the spot for different listeners. The way it should be.

My girlfriend likes the beach boys whenever i play them, but today for the first time she actively asked to be played a beach boys song, and it was "isn't it time"  ;D

According to wikipedia "From There To Back Again" is the second single, it quotes NME:

http://www.nme.com/news/the-beach-boys/64083

Hmm...the article is almost 2 weeks old (and before the album was released) and doesn't really say that it will be the new single per se...simply saying that they had released a new song.

Yeah, I would think that it would have been added to the setlist if it really was the second single.

I still can't wrap my old brain around the idea of downloads being "singles". Give me the little 7 inch kind with the big hole in the center. I'd be happy to have ANY of the new songs in that format.

The assertion that FTTBA again would be the second single was on Wikipedia a few days ago till I removed it. Now it seems the same guy put it back up and is still confused from the NME article and another amibuguous source. I've removed it again but unfortunately some people choose to enter edit wars when they think they're right (I am one of those people).

I was starting to grumble until I read your last line, lol.

Anyways.  =Beating a dead horse, but I think Spring Vacation would be better.  "Spring Vacation, Good Vibrations", as horrible as everyone says it is, is actually better than "Isn't it time we danced the night away???? How's about doing it just like yesterday????".   That's pretty god awful.  

Also, All the Spring Vacation vocals are good.  Brian sounds horrible on Isn't It Time. 

I'll buy a physical release, be it a CD, 7" or even a cassette. But I won't pay for a crap mp3 download. If I want an MP3 from an album then I just rip the CD.

What used to make singles interesting was the B-sides....something not from the album. Then when CD singles came out they often included a 3rd track. Downloading an mp3 of a track certainly should count for sales (if done legitimately) but it has zero appeal to me.

I could see Isn't It Time being a single, possibly Spring Vacation (though it's not a great single) or maybe Shelter. But the artistic fool in me would love it to be From There To Back Again. Hearing a majestic, beautiful song such as FTTBA on the radio and in the charts would be truly great.

The only problem with Brian's intro vocal on Isn't It Time is that it is so clearly copied and pasted. I wonder if he sang one line at a time and then they dropped him in after each one.

But, it's one of the best songs on the album, and could have hit potential, much more than Spring Vacation.

That's how popular music is recorded these days.....cut and paste. And to be fair, people were cutting and splicing pieces of tape as far back as the early 50's.

Oh, for sure, but it's not the same as singing one line at a time - I think you lose something there.
I understand it comes with the territory of new pop music but another thing that bugged me a bit is that in some songs, you can tell they only sang the chorus once (Spring Vacation, Bill and Sue, Beaches In Mind, others), and they used the same exact thing for each one. That's fine, but you miss different vocal inflections that would occur if they just sang the song the whole way through, or even halfway.

Amen!

Brian was cutting and pasting choruses (and verses) as far back as Smiley Smile.