Recorded as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, this is the last time we'll hear these guys together in a studio. "That's Why God Made The Radio" might seem a strange name for a farewell album, but after a short and glorious piece of wordless harmony it kicks off with the title track, recalling simpler times when listening to the radio in your car meant so much more than it does today. The songs are mostly steeped in nostalgia, as you would probably expect, but it doesn't stop the band from poking some gentle fun at themselves along the way.

As it reaches its conclusion, a trilogy of interlocking songs turns the mood to a wistful melancholy, a graceful acceptance that all good things eventually come to an end. The rather wonderful "From There To Back Again" meanders into a short piece sung by Brian entitled "Pacific Coast Highway" whose climax is punctuated by a heartfelt group vocal which consists of the single word 'Goodbye'. This gives way to Brian's "Summer's Gone", very poignant and a fitting end. By this time, if you're still unsure, the final few bars of the song leave you in no doubt that The Beach Boys have left the building.

Here's "From There To Back Again", and it sounds like Alan Jardine has waited his entire career to nail his finest vocal delivery:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSf4EYeJ_s0

Very cool, thanks for posting!

Sounds good to me after a couple of listens...very sentimental in parts, but hey I'm a PS fan so I like a bit of that...

I guess things have been patched up between Love and Wilson since this article:


By Andy Greene
May 14, 2007 5:30 PM ET

Two years ago U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins scored a major victory for justice when she ruled portions of the U.S. Patriot Act unconstitutional, but four days ago she may have topped herself by throwing out Mike Love's ridiculous lawsuit against his cousin and fellow Beach Boy Brian Wilson. Love alleged that a 2004 promotional CD of re-recorded Beach Boys songs that was given out free with a newspaper in London cost him millions of dollars, damaged the reputation of The Beach Boys and violated Love and Wilson's "partnership." In a stern, seventeen-page decision Collins rebukes Love and states that any partnership they ever had was a creative -- not a business -- partnership and ended in the 1960s.

Love has sued Brian numerous times in the past, but this is the first time Brian has prevailed. Melinda Wilson, Brian's wife, says, "After Mike's deposition, he turned to his cousin Brian and said, 'you better start writing a real big hit because you're going to have to write me a real big check." she says.

But in fact, it was Love's own deposition testimony that played a role in bringing down his case. The decision repeatedly quotes Love's own statements from deposition. Example:
Q: And have you and Brian ever had a conversation about what would be done with the songs separate and apart from actually writing them? Mike Love: I don't -- I don't recall any conversation like that.



Quotes like that underscored Collins decision. "Certainly Plaintiff [Love] and Defendant [Wilson] were collaborators," she wrote. "But Plaintiff's mere "belief" that they had had a legal partnership and his repeated use of the word "partnership" cannot substitute for evidence that a legal partnership existed. Because no jury could reasonably find that Plaintiff and Defendant were in a legal partnership in 2004, there is no genuine issue of material fact to submit to a jury and Defendant is entitled to summary judgment.

Collins also points out that Love has repeatedly done the very same thing he accuses his cousin of doing. "[Love] also admits that he re-recorded some of the co-authored songs several times between 1996 and 1998 without first informing [Wilson]




Either they made up or got some huge lawyer bills to pay off :lol:

It's a great album of songs.

The new album is much better than i expected.
Their voices are still unbelievable !!!

A review of their 50th anniversary show here in Milwaukee last night:

BB Marcus review