The Smiley Smile Message Board

seems early (according to Amazon), but I just ordered it ... looks like it's a double:

http://www.soundstagedirect.com/beach-boys-thats-why-god-made-the-radio-vinyl-records.shtml

I noticed a few on eBay as well

(apologies if this was mentioned elsewhere, I couldn't find anything)

Sort of strange to spread a >40 minute album on two vinyls.  And FYI to the music industry....make more albums under 40 minutes....they tend to be better.  I can think of more than a handful of modern albums that would be remembered much more fondly IF the artist sliced more of the fat off. 

TO ADD...CHECK OUT AMAZON.COM....Confirms that it is indeed ONE vinyl record, but they altered the tracklist!!  Have to say, I like the change.  I'll be buying!! 

What is altered about the track list? It looks identical to me.

Side One

Think About The Days
That's Why God
Isn't It Time
Spring Vacation
Beaches In Mind
Daybreak

Side Two

Shelter
Bill and Sue
Strange World
From There To Back
Pacific Coast Highway
Summer's Gone

it is strange, but you can get hotter levels and better sound this way. maybe they cut it at 45 RRM ?

It is one single LP.

Weird. I see the exact same sequence at amazon that is on the CD version. Am I looking at the wrong place?

http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Why-God-Made-Radio/dp/B007U1FEQW/ref=tmm_vnl_title_0

 ???

I do like the new sequence a lot better though.

Not the one I just bought.

Look at the picture of the back cover on Amazon.

re:your other post - I wonder why they would be doing a one LP press AND a 2 album press. Wierd.

Oh ok cool. I didn't even think to check the picture.  :p

hmm, it seems like either:

1. There are two versions, one single and one double - for what reason, who knows.

2. Amazon is wrong and that back cover is a mock-up or earlier version.

3. The site I bought it from is wrong, and there is only a single LP ($25 is pretty steep!)

Can't wait!

Vinyls isn't a word.

Who cares? Neither is "excitations".

that side 2 would has a massive advantage of goodness over side 1.

Like Today! ?

When did people start saying this? It bugs the f*** out of me.

a word is a word if people use it as a word.

but anyway,


I don't like this tracklisting at all. Shelter - Bill and Sue - Strange World is absolutely awful, they all sound too similar. and Spring Vacation followed by Beaches in Mind? what were they thinking? this is going to be a lot more boring. I guess they made it this way so  "Serious Brian Wilson Fans" could just listen to side 2. pfft.

I got the impression it was mostly folks (maybe europeans ?) who's parents only had cds around when the kids were growing up and maybe english isn't their primary language so somehow Vinyls was the word they started using, and now it seems like the under 20 crown everywhere uses it. I don't understand adding the 's', but whatever...

Same Europeans who don't capitalise "european"?

Who use "who's" (a contraction of "who is" or "who has") instead of the possessive "whose"?

Who don't capitalise "English" but do capitalise "vinyl"?

Who use commas before "and" and "but"?

Who put an apostrophe either end of a quotation?

Who pop a space before a question mark?

You're right, the language is going to the dogs!  ;D

Apologies for wrecking your day.  "on two vinyl records."  Better?  Anyways, if they took the time to input their feelings on the track order, I wonder if this record will have any reworked songs (ie: Isn't It Time)?

I like the new track order. I felt the CD started and ended strong and then dipped in the middle. This will mix things up a bit better.

I collect vinyls and styrenes. Actually never heard styrenes before... But, a lot of folks say vinyls. I'm not sure why. Perhaps
they want to make sure people know they're not talking about their CD collection. But, wouldn't record collection suffice?
I guess not, because, how do you know they don't mean their collection of shellacs?! Hence vinyls. My, uh, guess.

Also, I really hope the new album is on one LP. I prefer the convenience of one disc, unless it's 45rpm.
Boy, wouldn't that be cool! I have the Elvis 24 karat hits album cut at 45rpm. Best sounding records I have.

If the "vinyls isn't a word, vinyl is the plural and singular form" "yes it is a word" "no it isn't" argument comes up again, I will see to it that the boards are hacked again and the archives are fried in the process. Don't think I'm fucking around, I know my sh*t when it comes to hacking. I have AOL, and as such, am an uber haxx0r, mother fucker.

Yeah, sure, except it's capitalize, with a "z", unless you're one of those poor, uncapitalized europeans...

What's interesting about the new vinyl LP track list is that the first four and last four songs are in the same order as the CD, while the middle four songs are in the exact reverse order.

Release day in Germany today, so I picked it up and finished listening twenty minutes ago.

It's one disc with the altered track order. It sounds pretty good, but the package itself is a bit underwhelming. The back cover looks a lot less good than that of the CD, and the inner sleeve is just one of these white sleeves with plastic foil in the inside. The label is plain dark yellow with the song titles and lengths in black and isn't really pretty. Man, it's Capitol records, why didn't they use the rainbow label for old time's sake? They do for the reprints of the 60s albums.

No band photos! >:(

I hadn't listened to the album for a few weeks now, and right before listening to the LP I listened to the Summer In Paradise (EU) album. TWGMTR now seemed a very happy record to me now, much happier than when I only had the CD. As you would expect, it seemed extremely good compared with SIP. :-D The only exception was TPLOBAS (cringes), which is of course not better than on CD, and I'd listen to any track from SIP rather than Bill And Sue (cringes again).

The gaps between the tracks seemed shorter than on the CD, but I'm probably mistaken there.


That is indeed interesting. Maybe it has to do with the track lengths?

Oh, and someone at Amazon really got the track order and number of discs really funked up. Look what German Amazon claims:

http://www.amazon.de/ThatS-Why-Made-Radio-Vinyl/dp/B007U1FEQW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1343420028&sr=8-4

That's too bad about the label. That rainbow label looked so nice on TSS Vinyl.

I want to buy the Side Two.

do you think there's a Euro and an American version? is yours a US import or a German pressing ?

so there's now two places that say it's a 2-LP: the site I ordered from an Amazon Germany. weird.

I just took me a magnifying glass and found the words "Printed in EU". It looks like that's what it says on the Amazon picture too, but the resolution is too low. I don't think though there will be different versions. We'll know in a few weeks.

The front cover as pictured on Amazon is actually not the LP cover but the CD cover. On the LP cover, the album title is printed slightly smaller compared to the rest of the artwork. (What a nerd I am to spot this!!! :P)


I'm convinced they are both wrong.

About the track order: Joe Thomas claimed that the first track on side B was Strange World, which of course it wouldn't have been even if they had stuck to the CD order.
http://andrewromano.tumblr.com/joethomasbeachboys

I ordered this directly off the official Beach Boys website.  It came in the mail yesterday.  I ordered the set that comes with the LP, the single 45, and a poster and t-shirt featuring the cover art.  The b-side to the 45 is the instrumental track  of "That's Why God Made The Radio".  Kind of neat in that there is a lot going on underneath the vocals that you don't hear in the regular version.  Just for kicks I mixed in B Dubson's vocals over the instrumental.  :-)

How's the vinyl sound? any different from the CD?

A. The track re-ordering doesn't work :(
B: The packaging could really use a bit of work, even just a lyric inner would have been nice
C: My pressing was a bit off - there were chips of vinyl in shelter, which i had to use my nail to scrape off - I hope I haven't ruined it in the process  :-\
D: Sounds great, but it's not sonically masterful over the CD. Then again, i haven't AB'd it, so my decision is not final...

Still haven't made up my mind about purchasing the vinyl. I guess at the end of the day I simply don't like TWGMTR enough.
A short review of yours regarding sound comparison (CD/LP) would be helpful, though.  :)

Vinyl sounds warm. Warm. Electric blanket. An extra blanket.

Mine's just shipped from Amazon UK!

Well don't put any vinyl on an electric blanker! :afro

Here's the Examiner article about the tracklisting, I'm intrigued by Side 2 :

http://www.examiner.com/review/that-s-why-god-made-the-radio-just-got-better

Got mine today.  I definitely like the new tracklisting better.  Side 2 is da bomb.  Shelter sounds pretty great, the french horn comes out more, so do Brian's background vocals.  overall the vinyl is on the high side, but i'm not gonna pretend to have ears for these things.  Definitely got lost in listening to Shelter, started swaying without realizing it lol.  Good thing to see when you get home after a breakup lol

mine just arrived. gonna go give it a spin or two....

I reorder my CD import track list to follow the LP. I think Bill and Sue benefits the most from this new sequence.

Got mine via Amazon UK last week.

It is one LP (I dislike the term 'vinyls' too) with the revised track order. Sounds very full and warm...FTTBA especially fills the room with harmonies and warm music in a way that the CD just...well...doesn't.

The packaging is a bit underwhelming, as previously described. The cover art was definitely designed for the smaller CD format though it does not look bad in 12" format. The centre label on the record itself is yellow with the Beach Boy's logo and track listing. I would have loved the old black with rainbow circumference but I guess that's just for back catalogue or archive releases.

The album has been mastered properly and skilfully for vinyl and for me that is the most important thing. I would have appreciated a lyric sheet or booklet but I am more than happy with the record itself.

Why might they make a 2LP version available? I wonder if the 2LP (assuming it exists) is cut for 45RPM? That would give even better sound quality. A couple of recent Radiohead LP's run at 45RPM and while it is a bit of a hassle to set up the turntable for a speed change it does make a difference.

I assume it doesn't exist.

yeh, the website I originally ordered from never shipped the thing, and I ended up buying the single LP at a shop. I think the 2LP listings were probably an error somewhere.

Found a copy at Everyday Music in Bellingham, $17.99. Been out of town all week, but plan to do some serious listening tomorrow night!

I totally agree!  The ability to make albums longer has increased, but the ability of artists to write good songs has not.  The result is more inconsistent albums.  I'm a huge fan of Steve Earle (granted, very different kind of artist to the BB's!), who regularly makes 35-40 minute albums--12 short, sweet songs. 

Listened to the vinyl tonight, and it sounds wonderful! No one is more thrilled about the resurgence of vinyl than me. I really don't hear a weak song in the set, some songs jump out at me more than others right now, but I think others will grow on me. It all flows very nicely. I do wish Al was more prominent, though. A lot of Brian leads - the most since Pet Sounds? And he sounds great, but if there is another one, I hope Al gets more time in the vocal spotlight. And there are a few moments were I would swear Carl is in the mix.

Just listening to the LP again. Really the revised track order helps the album become more cohesive. For some reason in particular Bill & Sue fits better and I don't dislike the song at all where it is. To be honest it takes it from a 7/10 rating to 7.5/10 for me. The running order really can have an effect on the overall appreciation of an album.

With regard to running times, the average human adult has an ability to concentrate for around 45 minutes. without a break. By sheer coincidence that is around the optimum running time for a vinyl LP so most albums from the late 60's through to the CD 'revolution' in the 80's tended to last 40-45 minutes. There are of course notable exceptions.

I tend to find turning over a record half way is a nice way to break things up.

I have a hunch that when CD's became the norm a lot of artists started making 60+ minute albums simply because they could, or perhaps the record companies preferred it because it helped them push the more profitable CD's over other formats? Or buyers felt they were getting more value - never mind the quality, feel the width.

But in recent years a number of popular and mainstream artists seem to have realised that sometimes less is more. There *are* great 65 minute albums out there, but if an artist feels a cohesive whole has been produced at 42 minutes then it should stay there. Or 34 minutes. Or whatever. There are plenty of sub 30 minute albums. I don't feel short-changed if I have 40 minutes of great music for the same price as a 65 minute CD that doesn't really gell.

Oh may I add that not only does the new track order work a lot better, the mix is much less brittle and it has all the qualities I thought it lacked on CD.

Yes, much more warmth on vinyl. Listening to the cd version just sounds wierd now - the track order being part of the wierdness. And I agree that too many artists got into the "length for length's sake" thing in the cd age. Dylan's albums were always pushing the limits of what would fit on one vinyl album, so it doesn't surprise me that he continued to make 60 minute albums, but too many others are bogged down with weak material - the Kinks' Phobia being one exception, although mine is definately a minority view.

Hey, has anyone done a vinyl rip of the LP? I just received my copy, but have got no vinyl player these days (I am most certainly planning on getting one, but just not in the near future), so would really appreciate if someone would want to be so kind and send my way. :)

Indeedy-- the sound is much more organic.  And Shelter/Bill & Sue works very well, since they're both in the same key.  Beaches in Mind sounds less weak being on side one.

The jacket itself is the cheapest, most disappointing thing ever-- like someone said, no group photo, no gatefold, translucent plain sleeve.  But the record itself was the cleanest record I've ever seen in my life-- it hardly had a single speck of ANYTHING on it when I removed it from the sleeve.

Mine had a grain of Vinyl on Shelter I had to pick off! The only advantage I find to the sleeve is that, unlike most new vinyl releases, it doesn't stick out like a sort thumb when put with the rest of the artists catalogue - it flows from 'Still Crusin'' Nicely! (Darn my lack of SIP Vinyl!)

Vinyl sounds great.  Happy with the purchase.  However….let me get this straight…

25 years ago, I can buy a vinyl record under $10 and get the LP, double gatefold, lyric sheet, large nice/bright album art and possibly other goodies like a mini artist catalog.   (The Kenny Rogers LP’s had the FUNNIEST promo catalogs….a Kenny Belt buckle, how about a Kenny nightgown or sculpt of his face..)  You also had the option of buying the dandy new compact disc format for a heavy premium..$17.99 which usually had a sucky digital mastering job (format was new) or the same vinyl master job which didn’t quite work sound wise on the CD format.  The extra’s were gone and the album art was a low resolution shrunken image. 

2012 and I bought the Beach Boys new LP on CD for $7.99 with nice album art, band pics, lyrics.  Of course, I also could purchase the vinyl record now for $17.99 with a barebones thin slipcase, no photos, no ‘goodies’ and so on. 

I’m not exactly dissatisfied with my purchase.  I knew what I was getting going in.  But, still, somehow this all seems wrong.  Many people predict vinyl will never fully take off again.  Quite possibly correct, but in a lot of cases, record companies aren’t doing anything to help the cause.   I probably buy a vinyl record for every 2-3 CD’s I get.  TWGMTR vinyl is my go to for the most enjoyable listen, but sometimes, I do wonder…why am I bothering with this.  Ha. 

It's hard to understand the packaging. There's much more room with a vinyl album for a readable lyric sheet, credits, and larger photos...but yet TWGMTR had none of these things. Fortunately, that has been the exception in my recent vinyl purchases.

Got my disc. Enjoyed listening to the whole album for the first time.
..got to feeling super wistful and depressed about missing out on
my chance to see a 50th anniversary show. Oh well.

Holy Hell! 

Just got my copy (well on Friday, but had a big night) This is a must have on vinyl; I am gob-smacked as to the difference between the sonics of this v the cd.

Yeah, the overall packaging is a bit lacking, but all is forgiven - hey, the inner plastic bag is cool!

If you don't have a turntable, then buy, borrow or steal one.

(and the TWGMTR 45 B-side SMOKES, just like Mike Eder said)

Interesting point.  However, a lot of LPs are now mastered from 88.1 digital masters (exponentially higher resolution than cd), and are pressed on 180-gram vinyl.

BTW, I recently received my LP of thenewno2 (Dhani Harrison's band)-- not only was there a signed poster, but the vinyl must have weighed 300 grams.  It's as heavy as a 12" 78.  :o  Both that LP and TWGMTR are among the best-sounding records I've ever heard.

Isn't it time on vinyl: Perfection! ;D

oops.

So, did they cut this from 88.1 or was it the CD master?

 Please talk about the bridge and the other changes to isn't it time thank you

I don't think the single version is on the vinyl.

Really not that crazy about the single version, the album version fits in with the theme of TWGMTR better.

Oops. I only meant that the vinyl ritual enhanced my appreciation of the song. Not a different version.

I'd think 88.1, as 88.1 tracks can be purchased online, according to Desper.  The SMiLE 2004 LP was cut from an 88.1 master copied to 30 ips analog (and sounds totally badass), and TSS is available in 88.1 online.  (No, I don't remember where.  Search the board for Smile HD tracks, or something like that.)

I think the whole point with modern vinyl is to master it from higher-res sources than CD masters, so it is even more of an audiophile product.