New Beach Boys album - That's Why God Made the Radio

Anyone looking to the music itself to check for signs of cynicism need only turn to Spring Vacation. It opens with a verse in which Mike Love claims to be "living the dream … cruisin' the town, diggin' the scene". The Beach Boys' music has often involved a suspension of disbelief – all those songs depicting a perfect, gilded California youth, written by a man whose own youth had been mired in physical and mental abuse – but this seems to push unreality to its limit. You find yourself wondering why on earth a 71-year-old would be cruisin' the town and diggin' the scene: perhaps he's plannin' on askin' them to keep the noise down so an old man can get some rest.

Haven't heard the new album net except the single and now "From There to Back Again" which I really like, but yeah, the production sounds like something Magic Garageband came up with. I'll have to listen to the "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" soundtrack again before deciding whether using pitch correction for the new one was a good idea.

the production sounds like something Magic Garageband came up with.

I don't think so! I use Garageband all the time and this sounds more like a really nice studio with really nice microphones to me!

Tickets for the Wembley show went on sale today, my brother got us a couple. Mixed feelings about that.

xp I wasn't insulting GarageBand's technical prowess, which is impressive IMO, just commenting that it somehow comes across as electronically-enhanced rather than a natural live performance. Mind you the Beach Boys were on the forefront of making records that weren't intended to sound like a live performance. Double-tracking was to 1963 what Auto-Tune is to 2012.

There's definitely a little "Surf's Up" in "From There to Back Again." And did anyone else notice the scanning of the word "wonderful" at around 1:35 or so?

gah the pitch correction just ruins this stuff.

by default i guess this is the best beach boys stuff since the mid-70s, but jeez.

or late 70s i dunno.

LA (Light Album) is better than this

nah, only if the new one had a 12 minute disco version of "God Only Knows", or maybe a dubstep remake of "Surf's Up"

or a smurf movie tie in version called "Smurf's Up"

nah, only if the new one had a 12 minute disco version of "God Only Knows",

would listen

Feel obligated to post this. It's not "God Only Knows" but it is Pet Sounds.

My disco remix of "Sloop John B": http://soundcloud.com/the-me/sloop-john-b-the-me-remix

Indeed, there is crap on LA (Light Album), the disco Here Comes The Night being the overwhelmingly obvious example. It's not a great Beach Boys album, but I'd say the 5 great songs - Good Timin', Angel Come Home, Baby Blue, Sumahama and Love Surrounds Me - stands it as the best album after Love You.

Admittedly that's not saying very much, but it has a lot more going for it than all the others. The remaining mediocre tracks are at least listenable, I suppose.

best album post- Love You, of course.

http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/spinner#/4

Is this getting any radio airplay?

Kinda ok. Isn't It Time/Last 4 tracks are AMAZING. Rest ranges from 'Can We see weirdos + Mike Love?' to passable BW cruising.

NTI, I am both really liking your remix and feeling terribly embarrassed to be listening to it out loud.

private life of bill & sue sounds like Friends filtered through autotune

Beeeeeeaches in mind! Pretty bad.

I am weirdly intrigued by this album. Is it out on vinyl?

Isn't It Time/Last 4 tracks are AMAZING.
otm. the rest i never want to hear again, but i definitely want to re-listen to these!

the opening vocal stuff on the first song i gorgeous

so far this is far better than a beach boys album in 2012 has any right to be

isn't it time is great

one of the really unique things about the beach boys is how on pet sounds and smile they really eschewed conventional trap kit drumming and i like the arrangement on isn't it time for that reason

goddam spoke to soon - SPRING VACATION, is this a stamos number?

haha now spring vacation is just as bad as you'd expect

NTI, I am both really liking your remix and feeling terribly embarrassed to be listening to it out loud.

Just be glad I didn't bust out a "Here Comes the Night"-style vocoder!

"riiide your bicycle anywhere"

*ring ring*

Contrary to what many of us assumed, "That's Why God Made the Radio" written only by Brian, Joe Thomas, Jim Peterik, and Larry Millas (the last two ex-Ides of March).

We all know what that means: In a few years, they're all gonna be sued by Mike Love claiming the "lift up my antenna" line was his.....

Been playing "Isn't it Time" on repeat this weekend - so good!

seeing them tomorrow!

Been playing "Isn't it Time" on repeat this weekend - so good!

"Isn't It Time" is like an unholy combination of all the things I dislike about both 15 Big Ones and Love You.

I know everyone's dying to proclaim the last three songs Brian's autumnal masterpiece and all. But thus far, this tune feels like the best thing on the record by some length, lifted antennae be damned.

I like the melancholy intro tho.

otm

Apparently they are selling the cd for a grand total of $5 US at the tour merch stand, and Mike Love is hawking between songs in his banter:

"We're battling it out with Adele, so buy American," said Love at one point during just one of his numerous pitches.

(from the Houston Press review of Friday's show)

Mike Love, please don't ever change.

Glad I didn't buy it on Amazon then.

anyone read the latest Rolling Stone? when they were listening to the "13 minute suite" that closes the album Mike Love turned his hand into a gun and mocked blowing his brains out

also, Al Jardine needed help flushing the toilet on the plane

"isn't it time" is great.
good tune, good production, good voices (except brian's first words on the opening).
totally unexpected and I'm quite surprised to like a new BW/Bboys song so much in 2012!
the final suite, I'm not really convinced. it's ok but nothing special.

haha I also really hate the opening vocal on that song!
Anyone has a link to that RS article?

couldn't find it on the RS website. for some reason I get the print version.

xpost
yeah, the rest of the vocals is great so I wonder why they left this horrible part !

Mike Love, still a douche...

anyone read the latest Rolling Stone? when they were listening to the "13 minute suite" that closes the album Mike Love turned his hand into a gun and mocked blowing his brains out

Mike Love, still a douche...

Disagree. It's kind of awesome that Mike hasn't mellowed with age.

he's just not the same without a jug of apple juice tho

~thoughts~

-Al Jardine still sounds pretty good!
-I lost track of Brian Wilson at the end. It turns out he was out in front playing the bass. Then he puts the bass down and starts wandering around on stage. Like just pacing back and forth.
-turn up the guitars
-weird and sad Forever and God Only Knows appearance from Dennis and Carl
-had a ball

-weird and sad Forever and God Only Knows appearance from Dennis and Carl

Pls tell me these were holograms, Tupac-style.

I wish!

but, no

did they just show clips of old performances or something

Dennis Wilson hologram would be amazing - arm in a cast, making fun of Mike Love, streaking, drunken rendition of "You Are So Beautiful"

drowning