Did we dare dream that the Beach Boys could ever come together to build upon their own dashed aspirations, much less touch greatness? Probably not. That’s what made That’s Why God Made the Radio such a stirring surprise upon its arrival on June 5, 2012 – and such a consistently enjoyable listen.
It started right from the first: “Think About the Days” began with this gorgeous intertwining of voices, the very sound of sunshine, and it’s difficult not to be transported back into time – even if it was a time you never knew. After all, the Beach Boys (save for Dennis Wilson) weren’t surfers, anyway. So it’s not like this reverie was ever really made real, even if you bought the records in the first place.
No, the Beach Boys’ medium was always nostalgia, even back then. Same with That’s Why God Made the Radio: Moments like the hopelessly dewy-eyed title track, the multi-layered goof-ball flirtatiousness of “Isn’t It Time,” the devastatingly beautiful “Shelter,” the soaring sentimentality of “From There to Back Again,” well, they were pure romance – with all of the expected complexity, good and bad, that it involves.
Anyone who complained that this stuff is two dimensional was thinking more than they’re feeling. Oh, and also ignoring everything we’ve come to know about the Beach Boys in general, and Brian Wilson in particular. He was waxing poetic about muscle cars, teeny boppers and transistor radios back when those things were new.
In that way, Wilson seemed to have finally – in the warm embrace of these voices – come all the way back from a long period in the wilderness: Listen to “The Private Life of Bill and Sue,” as he finally fashioned the kind of Paul McCartney-esque story/song that seemed so elusive during the troubled era that produced SMiLE (or didn’t). It was sweetly constructed, impishly conveyed, and inescapably charming.
“Beaches in Mind,” a co-write from Mike Love, had a coiled, Chuck Berry-inspired attitude that had been missing from Beach Boys music for far too long. And what would an album like this be without its “In My Room” moment?: “Strange World,” a billowing Phil Spector-ish anthem to aloneness, found Wilson once again standing apart from the wider comnmunity around him. But just as he had with that signature earlier composition, Wilson uncovers a fragile, cerulean beauty in these experiences.
There were, to be sure, a few twinges of regret, a few sad absences. Any fan of the Beach Boys must have come in dreading the now-standard age-inappropriate Love-fronted high school-themed reminiscence, and tracks like “Spring Vacation” and “Daybreak Over the Ocean” certainly seem to fit the bill. But, even here, Wilson’s recently reawakened studio wizardry – the tasty turn on guitar from David Marks on the former, a swirling cathedral of meshed vocals on the latter – saved those songs from themselves.
It’s difficult, too, not to miss Dennis and (in particular) Carl Wilson, as the Beach Boys were forced to augment their sound with additional singers like Jeffrey Foskett (on “Shelter”), and Christian Love and Adrian Baker (“Daybreak”). Brian Wilson was bolstered throughout by co-writer Joe Thomas; the album also featured compositional assists from Jon Bon Jovi on the finale and Jim Peterik, of Survivor and Ides of March fame, on the title track.
Nevertheless, That’s Why God Made the Radio got unquestionably stronger as it went along, peaking during the final sequence that began with “Strange World.” So began a remarkable journey through the Al Jardine-led “From There to Back Again,” into the fading sunlight of “Pacific Coast Highway” – and then landed, finally, amid the twilight poignancy of “Summer’s Gone,” Along the way, Brian Wilson faced squarely the idea the things come to an end, even the Beach Boys’ mythical time in the sun.
In so doing, the Beach Boys reclaimed not just their sound, but their emotional center. It’s no small thing, after the personal struggles that Wilson endured and the bad feelings that had torn this group of survivors to shreds (and would again).
That’s Why God Made the Radio was that most unexpected of delights, after so much had gone on: A return to form. For a moment, the Beach Boys – dare to dream – sounded like nothing so much as themselves again.
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