The Beach Boys – That’s Why God Made the Radio album review

Bouffant hairstyles; Barbie dolls; slot cars; and who could forget the ever-famous Woodstock festival? These were the times of the sixties; where peasant skirts were todays miniskirts and psychedelic rock fueled the decades rebellious youth.

Most of today’s rock n’ roll hall of famers emerged from the sixties including the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys and more. It is even rumored that the Beach Boys formed as an calling to English pop band, The Beatles. The rivalry between the Beatles and The Beach Boys was created by mass media hype. Despite the media’s attempt on creating this competition between the four-manned band from England and this all-American rock band, each influenced one another in many ways and had much respect for one another.

The Beach Boys formed in 61’ first appealing to high school students. Their musical style is exemplified by their rock and roll influences, major and minor key tonality, and the intermingling of vocal harmonies with melodic songwriting and phrasing. The Beach Boys are highly characterized by their “beachy”, surf rock sounds. Their twenty-ninth studio album, “That’s Why God Made the Radio,” is truly a blast from the past. Despite our move to an electronic, synth-fused musical style, the Beach Boys continue to keep their integrity even after 50 years that still appeals to all ages.

“That’s Why God Made the Radio,” “Summer’s Gone,” “Spring Vacation,”  and “Beaches In Mind,”  are all perfect representations of the good ol’ Beach Boys. The only major difference between this album and their previous albums like, “Pet Sounds,” and “Smile” is the slowness in tempo. No song on this album has that “get up and dance” feel to it. It has a more headnodic flow to it, but; overall, it’s still a refreshing throwback of the good times when music had soul, feeling, and realness.