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

[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?

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.

I see what you are saying. I was eating the whole enchilada while you were talking about the pork and beans. 

[drbeachboy]

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.

I am intrigued with your term "Empty nostalgia"? When you look back at life when you are 69-70 years old and tell me your memories are filled with empty nostalgia, then I will believe it. I'm 54 and the older I get the more I keep looking back. I have no idea how old you are, but the way you used that term makes me think that you are young enough that nostalgia is not important to you, yet.

[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.

I see what you are saying. I was eating the whole enchilada while you were talking about the pork and beans. 

What time's dinner?? 

[pixletwin]

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.

I am intrigued with your term "Empty nostalgia"? When you look back at life when you are 69-70 years old and tell me your memories are filled with empty nostalgia, then I will believe it. I'm 54 and the older I get the more I keep looking back. I have no idea how old you are, but the way you used that term makes me think that you are young enough that nostalgia is not important to you, yet.

Nostalgia is the gold in "golden age" I was told once.

[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.

Wow. Excellent post. Thanks for sharing your analysis!

Thanks Ego.  Uplon listening to the album, I started to figure out why the songs were spaced out the way they were.  I knew there had to be some kind of reason.  In my mind's eye, I immediately saw what I wrote above as the proper narrative they were trying to relay.  Not sure how many others see the same thing--but all this came instantly for me.  Taking it a step further: the song and title of the album is really like a prayer in itself.  He's saying "Thank God for the radio...that's why God invented it...to take my mind off this other stuff I'm thinking about."  This album is a snapshot of a day in the life of this character (Brian) trying to figure it all out.  On this particular day, he's on the road listening to the radio.  It takes him away briefly (tracks 3 through 8 ) but he's left with his own thoughts at the end of the car ride (tracks 9 through 12). 

[JohnMill]

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!

Thanks Ego.  Uplon listening to the album, I started to figure out why the songs were spaced out the way they were.  I knew there had to be some kind of reason.  In my mind's eye, I immediately saw what I wrote above as the proper narrative they were trying to relay.  Not sure how many others see the same thing--but all this came instantly for me.  Taking it a step further: the song and title of the album is really like a prayer in itself.  He's saying "Thank God for the radio...that's why God invented it...to take my mind off this other stuff I'm thinking about."  This album is a snapshot of a day in the life of this character (Brian) trying to figure it all out.  On this particular day, he's on the road listening to the radio.  It takes him away briefly (tracks 3 through 8 ) but he's left with his own thoughts at the end of the car ride (tracks 9 through 12). 

Yeah pretty much, the whole thing is extremely relatable though so I think it might go far deeper than that.  This whole album might be one that takes a bit of time to sink in.  As I mentioned before there is a lot going on here and a thread that runs through the entire record of the passage of time.  Looking back, a process of adaptation, resignation and finally acceptance.  Time moves on and nobody is immune to it.  Linger on, sit and watch the waves for a bit, dream about yesterday. 

[Shady]

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.

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.

 

[Wirestone]

It's interesting. I think Amanda's reaction is really what a lot of folks here would have said if they'd known nothing about the album beforehand and weren't listening to samples for the last month-plus. So many here collectively freaked out over Spring Vacation -- now lots of people like it. There are aspects of the album that clearly could grate long-term, serious-minded BW fans -- but many of these same fans have had lots of time to adjust their expectations.

I will say the one thing that the new album really does well -- to my ears -- is avoid the loudness wars. It's not super compressed or brickwalled. There seems to be a lot of dynamic range. And after Imagination -- which should only ever be listened to with the treble turned down and bass way up -- this was not a forgone conclusion. So good job, Frank Pappalardo!

[Amanda Hart]

I am intrigued with your term "Empty nostalgia"? When you look back at life when you are 69-70 years old and tell me your memories are filled with empty nostalgia, then I will believe it. I'm 54 and the older I get the more I keep looking back. I have no idea how old you are, but the way you used that term makes me think that you are young enough that nostalgia is not important to you, yet.

You might be on to something here. For the record, I'm 25 and don't understand nostalgia at all. Even people my own age who get nostalgic for old Nicktunes and The Lion King, I flat out don't get it. This may say more for my own life, but I'm really happy in my adult life and have no desire to move backward, especially to my teen years, which is what most commercial nostalgia seems to point to.

For me there is a difference between looking back with fond memories and trying too hard to make connections to the "old days". There are some nice moments on the record that seem to come from honest reflection and aren't cheesy, but there are also moments where it feels like they're trying to capitalize on their past. Obviously they've put stuff out that is a lot worse than this record, but I feel like they could do better by themselves and their fans than self-referencing and the clear nostalgia grabs in songs like "Spring Vacation"

[JohnMill]

It's interesting. I think Amanda's reaction is really what a lot of folks here would have said if they'd known nothing about the album beforehand and weren't listening to samples for the last month-plus. So many here collectively freaked out over Spring Vacation

I still miss the alternate lyrics though:

We're goin' on a Spring Vacation
Diggin' oldies like Good Vibrations
We're sending out the excitations
Spring Spring Spring Spring Vacation!

^That was something to draw to.

[JohnMill]

I am intrigued with your term "Empty nostalgia"? When you look back at life when you are 69-70 years old and tell me your memories are filled with empty nostalgia, then I will believe it. I'm 54 and the older I get the more I keep looking back. I have no idea how old you are, but the way you used that term makes me think that you are young enough that nostalgia is not important to you, yet.

You might be on to something here. For the record, I'm 25 and don't understand nostalgia at all.

You may have answered your own question here AH.  Nostalgia is something you are likely  going to experience in your life for one of two reasons.  First just due to "advanced age".  The longer we live the more we see change, the more we realize what is no longer there.  Second is due to some type of traumatic event in your life which makes you nostalgic for the days before the event occurred.

I'm not in any way saying this album can't be appreciated by younger Beach Boys fans but there is something to be said for those who are either within ten years of the age of The Beach Boys or have a keen understanding as what it means to lose something they once cherished.

[Amanda Hart]

It's interesting. I think Amanda's reaction is really what a lot of folks here would have said if they'd known nothing about the album beforehand and weren't listening to samples for the last month-plus. So many here collectively freaked out over Spring Vacation -- now lots of people like it. There are aspects of the album that clearly could grate long-term, serious-minded BW fans -- but many of these same fans have had lots of time to adjust their expectations.

I will say the one thing that the new album really does well -- to my ears -- is avoid the loudness wars. It's not super compressed or brickwalled. There seems to be a lot of dynamic range. And after Imagination -- which should only ever be listened to with the treble turned down and bass way up -- this was not a forgone conclusion. So good job, Frank Pappalardo!

It will be interesting to see what people think of it over time. Some of it might grow on me and I'll be able to look past some of the initial things I don't really like now, or it may go the other way and not hold up for some of the people who have a lot of love for it now. I totally agree with you about the loudness war thing. That is one big positive about the mixing and mastering.

And Shady - thanks for defending my rights. What fun would a discussion board be if everyone agreed all the time?  

[EgoHanger1966]

Well, I'm 20, but even I understand and love nostalgia. Even though I was never there, it's where I feel I belong...yadda yadda yadda.

Nostalgia is used to good effect in "Isn't It Time". "Beaches In Mind" not so much.

I don't get the love for Think About The Days - there's no enough harmony there for it to be like Our Prayer. It doesn't stand on it's own.

With each listen the suite gets sweeter, however.

[Outtasight!]

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.

Nah, no-one intentionally makes background music and the last 3 songs are definitely for sitting down and listening to carefully. Listen, listen, listen.

[runnersdialzero]

I've been an extremely nostalgic person ever since I was in 3rd or 4th grade. That's bad, innit? Cor blimey, innit.

[runnersdialzero]

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.

The rest of what you posted is totally fair, but having listened to parts of Summer In Paradise today (not really voluntarily - it was necessary to help sort some of my music), I really, really, really can't agree with this. Listen to SIP again. That awful, awful late 80s/early 90s "we're in our 50s, but we can still rock!" sound on the "Surfin'" remake. You can just picture the woman in the Baywatch outfit with the shitty poodle hair walking along the beach all sassy, you can picture the aging men wailing away on their guitars while wearing sunglasses, there are big, flashy pants, everyone has a mullet, the Full House kids are dancing, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are there (playing a saxophone or something, no doubt), all the clothes have neon coloring on them, everyone looks like an asshole, blah baslhfkashfbh. That awful 80s reverb over the drums and vocals ("ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH"). Good lord. What on earth was anyone thinking!

[AndrewHickey]

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.

Nah, no-one intentionally makes background music

Tell that to Brian Eno

That said, the point surely is that while a song like I Get Around or When I Grow Up is meant for driving or dancing or background music at parties, it's *also* music that rewards repeated, careful listening. I very much doubt that Beaches In Mind or Spring Vacation have hidden subtleties that will only reveal themselves on repeated listens...

[Aegir]

I'm 24 and while I generally don't like the fact that this is an album about the Beach Boys being nostalgic about themselves, the lyrics are ambiguous enough about it that the songs could also just be about nostalgia for what was good about your life.

Look at a song like "Spring Vacation" with absolutely no context that this is a song on the Beach Boys reunion album. it's just a song reconnecting with someone from your past. it could even be a love song about someone you used to date and it was a pretty turbulent relationship and now you're back together and just enjoying yourselves again.

[GhostyTMRS]

I am intrigued with your term "Empty nostalgia"? When you look back at life when you are 69-70 years old and tell me your memories are filled with empty nostalgia, then I will believe it. I'm 54 and the older I get the more I keep looking back. I have no idea how old you are, but the way you used that term makes me think that you are young enough that nostalgia is not important to you, yet.

You might be on to something here. For the record, I'm 25 and don't understand nostalgia at all. Even people my own age who get nostalgic for old Nicktunes and The Lion King, I flat out don't get it. This may say more for my own life, but I'm really happy in my adult life and have no desire to move backward, especially to my teen years, which is what most commercial nostalgia seems to point to.

For me there is a difference between looking back with fond memories and trying too hard to make connections to the "old days". There are some nice moments on the record that seem to come from honest reflection and aren't cheesy, but there are also moments where it feels like they're trying to capitalize on their past. Obviously they've put stuff out that is a lot worse than this record, but I feel like they could do better by themselves and their fans than self-referencing and the clear nostalgia grabs in songs like "Spring Vacation"

I think you did answer your own question in a way. At 25 you're not too far removed from your teen years so there's no point in going backwards to something that just happened to you. It may SEEM like it was a long time ago (just as there always seemed to be some huge difference between being a freshman in high school and a senior when it's nothing but 4 years) but it'll be just a mere blip in the time continuum once you hit 45.

As for the references to past songs on the new record. Yeah, it's cheesy but I'm not expecting these guys to make a definitive band statement when they're pushing 70. They did their work. They made their mark. The brilliance of Pet Sounds and Smile was rediscovered and cemented into rock lore in the late 80's and early 90's and history will now remember them well. The album and the tour are just a victory lap.

[DonnyL]

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.

I agree for the most part ... I'm hoping the delay for the vinyl is a complete analog remix (maybe to mono!?!? - a man can dream) without all of the dated '90s touches.  The mixes are so weird that I can't even tell what the meat and potatoes behind it sound like.

[Wirestone]

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.

Nah, no-one intentionally makes background music

Tell that to Brian Eno

That said, the point surely is that while a song like I Get Around or When I Grow Up is meant for driving or dancing or background music at parties, it's *also* music that rewards repeated, careful listening. I very much doubt that Beaches In Mind or Spring Vacation have hidden subtleties that will only reveal themselves on repeated listens...

I doubt your doubt.

[DonnyL]

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.

I am intrigued with your term "Empty nostalgia"? When you look back at life when you are 69-70 years old and tell me your memories are filled with empty nostalgia, then I will believe it. I'm 54 and the older I get the more I keep looking back. I have no idea how old you are, but the way you used that term makes me think that you are young enough that nostalgia is not important to you, yet.

Well, there's nostalgia, and then there's 'empty nostalgia'.  I interpreted this to mean that it's kind of fabricated.

(for the record, I'm fairly young but I've always been a very nostalgic person).

[drbeachboy]

It's interesting. I think Amanda's reaction is really what a lot of folks here would have said if they'd known nothing about the album beforehand and weren't listening to samples for the last month-plus. So many here collectively freaked out over Spring Vacation -- now lots of people like it. There are aspects of the album that clearly could grate long-term, serious-minded BW fans -- but many of these same fans have had lots of time to adjust their expectations.

I will say the one thing that the new album really does well -- to my ears -- is avoid the loudness wars. It's not super compressed or brickwalled. There seems to be a lot of dynamic range. And after Imagination -- which should only ever be listened to with the treble turned down and bass way up -- this was not a forgone conclusion. So good job, Frank Pappalardo!

It will be interesting to see what people think of it over time. Some of it might grow on me and I'll be able to look past some of the initial things I don't really like now, or it may go the other way and not hold up for some of the people who have a lot of love for it now. I totally agree with you about the loudness war thing. That is one big positive about the mixing and mastering.

And Shady - thanks for defending my rights. What fun would a discussion board be if everyone agreed all the time?  

Believe me, I was not questioning your rights for what you said, but just interested in the term that you used. I know that when I was in my twenties, I did not wax nostalgic for my teen years. So, I do know from where you are coming from. I wax nostalgic for my teens and twenties now, though.

[drbeachboy]

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.

I am intrigued with your term "Empty nostalgia"? When you look back at life when you are 69-70 years old and tell me your memories are filled with empty nostalgia, then I will believe it. I'm 54 and the older I get the more I keep looking back. I have no idea how old you are, but the way you used that term makes me think that you are young enough that nostalgia is not important to you, yet.

Well, there's nostalgia, and then there's 'empty nostalgia'.  I interpreted this to mean that it's kind of fabricated.

(for the record, I'm fairly young but I've always been a very nostalgic person).

So, I will ask you, what was the empty nostalgia for Mike or Brian or any of them for that matter? Considering that I lived during their hey day, what they sing on the new record sounds quite familiar and real to me.

[DonnyL]

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.

The rest of what you posted is totally fair, but having listened to parts of Summer In Paradise today (not really voluntarily - it was necessary to help sort some of my music), I really, really, really can't agree with this. Listen to SIP again. That awful, awful late 80s/early 90s "we're in our 50s, but we can still rock!" sound on the "Surfin'" remake. You can just picture the woman in the Baywatch outfit with the shitty poodle hair walking along the beach all sassy, you can picture the aging men wailing away on their guitars while wearing sunglasses, there are big, flashy pants, everyone has a mullet, the Full House kids are dancing, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are there (playing a saxophone or something, no doubt), all the clothes have neon coloring on them, everyone looks like an asshole, blah baslhfkashfbh. That awful 80s reverb over the drums and vocals ("ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH ME MUH"). Good lord. What on earth was anyone thinking!

Here's the thing: In the '90s, the Beach Boys sounded '80s.  Now that it's the 2000s (or whatever you wanna call it), the Beach Boys now sound '90s. But that's what happens when Joe Thomas is hanging around.