THAT'S WHY GOD MADE THE RADIO
| The Beach Boys
THAT'S WHY GOD MADE THE RADIO
That's Why God Made the Radio is the twenty-ninth studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 5, 2012 on Capitol Records. Produced by Brian Wilson, the album was recorded to coincide with the band's 50th anniversary. It is their first album to feature original material since Summer in Paradise in 1992,their first album to feature guitarist and backing vocalist David Marks since Little Deuce Coupe in 1963, and their first album since the 1998 death of co-founder Carl Wilson. WIKIPEDIA
Critic Reviews
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RollingStone
2012 - It’s part class reunion, part Requiem for a Beach Boys.
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The Guardian
2012 - tells you almost everything you need to know about America's Favourite Band.
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Ultimate Classic Rock
2012 - In 2012, we shouldn't have expected the Beach Boys to deliver anything nearly this good which, to quote Chuck Berry, goes to show you never can tell.
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CoS
2012 - It’s better than it has any right to be, and that’s a wonderful contradiction in itself.
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popMATTERS
2012 - it's neither a reach nor hyperbole to say this final suite is among the strongest, most affecting music Wilson has ever recorded.
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AV/MUSIC
2012 - is the first album by anything resembling a classic Beach Boys lineup in decades.
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Drowned in Sound
2012 - Ultimately it's just a group of old friends getting back together for a trip down memory lane.
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Entertainment
2012 - The recently rebooted pop legends' most engaged, least cripplingly nostalgic album since 1977's Love You.
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Los Angeles Times
2012 - The entire album would be much less effective were it not for the brilliant three-song suite that closes the record.
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paste
2012 - While all members sound terrific behind the microphone, particularly when the harmonies are at their thickest, Love's lead turns on the god-awful "Daybreak Over the Ocean" and "Beaches in Mind" are excruciatingly over-played in their winky retro-ness and, quite frankly, an embarrassment.
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NME
2012 - It's good to have them back--but only just.
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Beats Per Minute
2012 - The album as a whole isn't flawless, yet by sounding utterly enchanting during its climax it leaves a listener feeling genuinely touched. From a such legendary band, you could ask for nothing more.
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The New York Times
2012 - Vocal harmonies abound, burnished to modern studio precision.
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All Music
2012 - These may not be the songs that will ever light up their live sets, but together they form what is easily the best Beach Boys record in 35 years -- and a surprisingly cohesive, reflective, listenable one at that.
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The Austin Chronicle
2012 - If only all legacy-burnishing attempts could be this effective.
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exclaim
2012 - That's Why God Made the Radio is the dad-rock album of the year.
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BBC
2012 - The sterility and cleanliness of [the album's engineering and production] affords these 12 songs all the warmth and personality of a motorway hotel's car park.
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INDEPENDENT
2012 - A cloudless orgy of nostalgia.
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Under the Radar
2012 - That's Why God Made the Radio isn't a bad album. It's just not the album everyone wanted.
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NOW
2012 - Most of the album is moronic Mike Love nostalgia that makes Kokomo sound good in retrospect.
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GOLDMINE
2012 - is more than good. It is, in a word, phenomenal.
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NO DEPRESSION
2012 - the album is a collection of tunes compiled like a biographical scrapbook of calm and cool memories of driving the open road or having fun times in the sun but a small inkling of ironic experiences sprinkled within the mix.
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SPIN
2012 - for all the erratic songwriting and gloomy vibes That’s Why God Made the Radio ultimately inspires a strange sort of optimism.
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Daily News
2012 - If, by implication, Wilson always sold a fantasy of summer — one unsustainably perfect — the new music makes that notion explicit.
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Newsday
2012 - Nevertheless, "That's Why God Made the Radio" adds a few new worthy additions to the Beach Boys' legendary catalog. Given their long, troubled histories, who thought that was even still possible?
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American Songwriter
2012 - If only The Beach Boys hadn’t taken so long on the album to allow such a melancholy possibility into their glass bubble of sun and surf, That’s Why God Made The Radio might have amounted to something better than what it is: Music that doesn’t do justice to the brand it’s meant to sustain.
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UPROXX
2012 - It”s a mixed bag to be sure, but given that most fans thought the possibility of Wilson recording and producing an album with the Beach Boys again was not even within the realm of reality, the album feels in some ways like an unexpected gift, surprising and welcome.
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Herald & Review
2012 - is a pleasant enough diversion, but there are lots of other Beach Boys albums I will pull out before I reach for this one. And those other ones for which I'll reach are not great, either.
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the abso!ute sound
2012 - Overall, Beach Boy fans won’t be disappointed. Sonically, the album has punchy bass and the drums often are out front, providing a solid foundation for those heavenly vocal harmonies.
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the arts desk
2012 - Despite its missteps, this joyless reunion yields a few gems.
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iconfetch
2012 - That's Why God Made the Radio reminds us of everything that we continue to love about the Beach Boys, and Brian Wilson – great harmonies, surprising and intricate melodies, and plenty of songs about summer, surf, love, and good times.
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hi>fi plus
2012 - Overall, Beach Boy fans won’t be disappointed. Sonically, the album has punchy bass and the drums often are out front, providing a solid foundation for those heavenly vocal harmonies.
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San Diego Reader
2012 -This album, in many ways, feels like a swansong for the Beach Boys. If that turns out to be true, it is a fitting end to an extraordinary career.
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Culture Fusion
2013 - If you go into it with that relaxed state of mind, it’s a great album. Just don’t expect to fall in love with the album or to find it on your play list too often.
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Alan's Album Archives
2015 - Overall, then, this record is a disappointment. Why go to all the lengths of having The Beach Boys reunite and then barely use them?
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The Sound Hound
2012 - That’s Why God Made the Radio feels like 1965 all over again, with its classic Beach Boys harmonies, and its shallow, happy-go-lucky, fun-in-the-sun thematic content.
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