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Post by John Manning on Nov 30, 2020 17:52:07 GMT -5
John, looks like things have changed. I can no longer change a post after a day. Oh, well. One more try: Will, you have 24 hours from the time that you post to edit or delete it. On my iPhone, I seem to have limitless editing access to anything I’ve posted, either on my phone or Mac.
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Post by Will/P.P. on Nov 30, 2020 18:05:40 GMT -5
John, looks like things have changed. I can no longer change a post after a day. Oh, well. One more try: I thought it had always been that way. That code, https:[]//www.youtube.com/watch?v=md7BblKWraw, just isn't working for me. Perhaps try googling what it is you want to post and see where that gets you. Better still, let us know what it is and everyone can have a go... The clip is "Pacific Coast Highway" - live from the 2014 Las Vegas show. I checked the code again, and it will play on youtube if you look it up. Most of the clips from the show are there, but not sure if they will play outside of playing them "at the youtube site". Both "Pacific Coast Highway" and "Summer's Gone" are "bonus" clips on the Blu-ray/DVD. This is not the first time I've had trouble getting a clip to post here. It may be the up-loader doesn't want the clips to play on other forums. If you look it up, you'll see that the code is correct.
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Post by drbeachboy (Dirk) on Nov 30, 2020 18:17:38 GMT -5
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Departed
Former Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2020 18:18:23 GMT -5
Many thanks to Alan for flawless poll execution and expert commentary
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Post by drbeachboy (Dirk) on Nov 30, 2020 18:20:27 GMT -5
Summer’s Gone
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Post by Al S on Nov 30, 2020 20:27:24 GMT -5
Many thanks to Alan for flawless poll execution and expert commentary Awww, thanks, man! It's my pleasure! I always approach the polls quite inspired to do a good job because of the great comments and insights shared to date - there have been some great direct & indirect challenges to one's thinking/opinions and great arguments for both high and low scores. Not to mention the additional learnings via kind folk willing to share their knowledge.
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Post by Will/P.P. on Nov 30, 2020 23:20:33 GMT -5
Thank You, Dirk! Now, what did I do wrong? A code is a code. I think Brian did a very nice job that night. He had lots of energy. A big benefit was having Brian E. on vocals and guitar. And having Matt to step in on some songs. There was a lot of great singers on stage in Vegas. One of my favorite Brian shows.
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Post by jk on Dec 1, 2020 8:20:56 GMT -5
Thank You, Dirk! Now, what did I do wrong? A code is a code. One would certainly think so. So why does the Doc's code work (for me as well) and your identical code doesn't? You haven't been up to anything subversive, have you Will?
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Post by jk on Dec 1, 2020 8:27:19 GMT -5
Many thanks to Alan for flawless poll execution and expert commentary Awww, thanks, man! It's my pleasure! I always approach the polls quite inspired to do a good job because of the great comments and insights shared to date - there have been some great direct & indirect challenges to one's thinking/opinions and great arguments for both high and low scores. Not to mention the additional learnings via kind folk willing to share their knowledge. I'll echo barto on that, A. And yes, the feedback and "additional learnings" must make all your hard work worthwhile. I creased up at your remark that Mikie was mad as a meat axe drongo -- no wuckas!
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Post by Al S on Dec 1, 2020 19:37:12 GMT -5
It's over. Gone. Summer. With a Love!!! rating of 86% from 22 voters, the BB's trailed off into the Sunset, their final harmonies resonating through our minds, perhaps never again to be heard in unison. Until a couple of months later, when they redid Isn't It Time while on the road!
5 - 3 votes
7 - 2 votes 8 - 3 votes 9 - 5 votes 10 - 9 votes
How do you feel about the whole album? It's time to dish!
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Post by Al S on Dec 1, 2020 19:53:25 GMT -5
Today we discuss and rate That's Why God Made The Radio, the BBs final studio album to date.
It's pretty clear I really like this album - it certainly exceeded my expectations given most (but not all) output since '78 was ranged from meh to tragic, with few genuine delights forthcoming.
This time the gang delivered the goods for the most part, with only two iffy songs and some questionable but not surprising production decisions - given the producer and perhaps a little vanity from the band given their age vs the legacy of their vintage years vocals. I'd love to hear the other songs recorded, 28 cuts were recorded all up according to Wiki. I intend to be around for the 2072 copyright extension plasma injection.
A very very high 9.
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Post by Autotune on Dec 1, 2020 21:56:51 GMT -5
Flawed, yet miraculous. It made the sixteen-year wait worthwhile.
10/10
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Post by mfp on Dec 1, 2020 23:52:35 GMT -5
I struggle to enjoy this album. The inexcusable manipulation of The Beach Boy’s vocals by “the mulleted one” oftentimes renders them unrecognisable. Jeff’s vocals irritate me. If I wanted to hear his voice so prominently, I’d buy one of his his solo albums. Most of the songs are fine but nothing spectacular, although I can’t help feeling that the more elaborate passages are less Brian than they are Buddy. I’m bothered rather than delighted by what I hope is their final studio album.
5
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Post by Will/P.P. on Dec 2, 2020 0:20:46 GMT -5
I struggle to enjoy this album. The inexcusable manipulation of The Beach Boy’s vocals by “the mulleted one” oftentimes renders them unrecognisable. Jeff’s vocals irritate me. If I wanted to hear his voice so prominently, I’d buy one of his his solo albums. Most of the songs are fine but nothing spectacular, although I can’t help feeling that the more elaborate passages are less Brian than they are Buddy. I’m bothered rather than delighted by what I hope is their final studio album. 5 Wow, Mark. Bring on the honesty! These first three takes on the album gives me a thought bubble: "Get to popping the corn". It's after midnight here. I'll think about it overnight.
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Post by E on Dec 2, 2020 2:03:36 GMT -5
Seven. Certainly their best since LA and probably Love You, with at least one song that's as good as (or better than) anything since Holland.
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Post by John Manning on Dec 2, 2020 2:04:53 GMT -5
I’ve played this album more frequently than most since 2012 - probably as often as Surf’s Up, Holland, Sunflower, Pet Sounds, Carl & The Passions, and more often than anything else in the catalogue.
After years of obsession with our favourite band, it hit me in the heart - yes, it’s flawed but it’s a flawed miracle, an album that common sense and every instinct said couldn’t happen. So huge emotional investment, that blinds me to its weaknesses: I can love it not despite its flaws but even because of them.
The selfish gene in me wants more; the realist knows that more (outtakes aside… gimme!) will probably be disappointing.
Perfect way therefore for them to bow out, gracefully (though that but they couldn’t quite manage).
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Post by #JusticeForDonGoldberg on Dec 2, 2020 2:12:00 GMT -5
Yes, the album is flawed. Yes, it’s more like a glorified BW solo album than an actual Beach Boys album. Yes, at parts it can easily sound like Summer in Paradise 2, just more melancholy. I guess that would be Autumn in Paradise? Yes, I’m upset that, once again, for like the 33,000,000,000th time in this bands history, a cool idea, in this case in entire life sweet, got cut way down to be replaced with more retreading like Beaches In Mind and Private Life. But, as a person who doesn’t mind Jeff Foskett’s vocals, and who has a soft spot for BB85 and SIP, the good definitely out ways the bad. 7
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Post by AGD on Dec 2, 2020 2:41:11 GMT -5
Firstly, it exists when it logically shouldn't. Secondly, it's not an embarassment when it should be. Thirdly, it roughly nine orders of magnitude better than it has any right to be.
And finally, the closing three songs are as good as anything the band's done since the seventies.
A solid eight. Without the soft centre, it'd be close to a nine.
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Post by ian on Dec 2, 2020 8:02:04 GMT -5
I agree with AGD's points-when I first saw the album on the shelf-I thought this is going to be an embarrassing curio-the kind of thing a legacy artists puts out to justify a tour but it actually was not embarrassing at all and was in my opinion superior to any BBs album since Love You. The album is very revealing of the differences between Mike and Brian. Mr. Positivity is not interested in acknowledging that this might be the last BBs LP and instead crafts some upbeat pop songs on familiar themes, BW on the other hand lets his melancholy mood, at the end of his career with the band he founded, out and, in my opinion, he and his songwriting collaborators, bring most of the magic on this one. Seems to me that the people who have problems with the LP are those who don't like melancholy ballads (and don't want "to be depressed")-but really if you feel that way then BW is not your guy-because that is his sweet spot since 1965. For me there are about five songs on here that I love and they really are good...I've listened to this LP much more than any recent LPs by other legends-I can't recall the last Neil Young, McCartney, Van Morrison or Rolling Stones LP that I've felt like playing as often. I don't think any of them have had 5 or 6 songs that strong on an LP in a long, long time...so kudos to the BBs for pulling one last hat trick off...Let's face it this was the big goodbye....they may sing together one more time-but I don't think they will make another new album (they had the chance while they were all busy doing nothing this last year and they chose not to). I gave it an 8 but that's because it is uneven and there a few songs I just skip over-but the good ones are really good.
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Post by jk on Dec 2, 2020 11:39:36 GMT -5
I'll dig up my party piece for the occasion. This is my verdict of June 2012 and it still applies:
"Bowing out gracefully. This is how I would describe That's Why God Made The Radio by the surviving Beach Boys. In response to comments made in earlier posts [elsewhere, that is], I do feel that up-tempo tunes would have been inappropriate to what is clearly their swan song as a band. (The idea of a follow-up is patently absurd.) "There are plenty of joyous songs on board but the undercurrent is one of sadness and finality: 'Summer's gone / It's finally sinking in.' The Beach Boys are saying goodbye. "This is a CD I feel I could play at any time, in any company. There are tracks on the original albums that would throw the casual listener and I feel the compilations of hits sell the Boys short, musically. Which is why I've never played Beach Boys records when we've had visitors -- until now. "Recorded if not written more than forty years since the original Beach Boys peaked, it's fascinating to hear the nods to musical styles that have emerged since then. I'm reminded too of recent things by Peter Lacey, himself heavily influenced by Brian's Boys. (It's hard to say who is being paid the bigger compliment.) "That's Why God Made The Radio has far surpassed my expectations. This is a band whose members had long gone their separate, often acrimonious ways. There can't be many who could pull off something as contrived as an anniversary album in such fine style."
Ten.
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Post by kds on Dec 2, 2020 11:42:22 GMT -5
I'm giving the album a nine. It's not perfect, but it's better than anyone could possibly expect a half century into their career, and who would've thought they'd release their best album since Holland?
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Post by pendlewitch on Dec 2, 2020 12:18:54 GMT -5
When I go to streaming to choose a BB Album to play off-hand, TWGMTR isn't one I routinely pick. But when I do listen carefully, I do like it. So, an 8 from me.
(Just a bit perturbed by the implicit factual assertion in the title!)
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Post by drbeachboy (Dirk) on Dec 2, 2020 12:21:12 GMT -5
I am giving TWGMTR a 7/10. When this album was released I really loved it. I played it all of the time. I even giddily exclaimed to Mike Love in 2012 that the album reached #3 on the charts, to which he responded “Who'd a thunk it”. Now, 8 years later it is an album that I rarely play. So, I really have mixed feelings about it.
My first issue is that that the background vocals don’t always sound like The Beach Boys. On some songs I hear Jardine & Johnston and think, wow these guys can still pull it off and sound like their old selves. Then I hear a song like Strange World and hear no Beach Boys. It is too Brian centric. I say this only as a lead vocalist. At this stage, I think a little more Jardine would have made this a better album. No Carl Wilson. Man, do I miss his voice in the vocal blend and as their lead vocalist. While Jeff Foskett works fine for Brian’s high voice, he is not a replacement for Carl.
On the good side, some great writing by Brian. I didn’t expect anything near this good. I wish the production was more organic and natural sounding. This album sounds like Joe Thomas... oh, that’s right.... Anyway, if it does turn out to be their last album, they went out on a good note with an album to be proud of.
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Post by Will/P.P. on Dec 2, 2020 16:52:30 GMT -5
I listen to this album a lot more often than I did the first year it was out. I continue
to warm up to many of the songs to this day. The best Beach Boys album since '85.
After that they were the Sorta Boys.
What might happen if the living remains of The Beach Boys got together for a project?
We found out. They rushed the sessions, so we ended up with a mostly Brian and Joe
set of tunes. Some may not like Joe, but this could not have happened without him.
Not with these songs. I like Joe, and was glad we got 'em. A few really excellent cuts
here. That's Why God Made the Radio was better than what I expected. 7/10 sounds
about right.
My Top 5: "Strange World", "That's Why God Made the Radio", "Think About the Days"
- a virtual tie of 10/10 tracks. Then, "From There to Back Again" and "Pacific Coast
Highway". Special mention for a credible remake of "Do It Again" and the wonder of
"Shelter". I believe Jeff Foskett was a good soldier for all the many many years he was
needed, especially at the concerts. He more than deserved to be a part of this.
Al should get special mention. Before Brian contacted Joe to see what music he had left
from the late '90s sessions, and meetings with Mike, Al got the ball rolling when he (at
long last) finished and released A Postcard from California in 2010. He talked Mike into
plugging in his laptop to add his vocal for "Don't Fight the Sea". A very important track
in my world. Al had the Brian and Carl parts done in 1988, but the song needs The Mike
there. They should have done some more tinkering, and put it on this album. You know,
it's never perfect perfect, even when Al thinks it's perfect. Time will show the wiser. "If",
a big if, they ever do get back together for "one more try", "Don't Fight the Sea" should be
the first one to revisit. Al said at time of release, "Indeed. This is my little message to the
world. It's a postcard. It's just charming."
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Post by hankbriarstem on Dec 2, 2020 20:49:18 GMT -5
Graded on the curve, a 9. Against the majesty of All Summer Long, a 3. It gets a 6.
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