The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

 Not as good
Not as good as Hard Day's Night but I still don't get tired of watching it. April 6, 2008

 Magical Mystery Tour
With Sgt. Pepper's completed & released the Beatles were able to rest & take time to contemplate their next project. Paul McCartney had really stepped out in front of the group with Sgt' Pepper's, he had almost always been the musical director of the group but now he was becoming the lead creative artist within the group. Magical Mystery Tour was even more a project of his own than had been Sgt. Pepper's.

At this time McCartney decided what the Beatles needed to do next was a tv program for the BBC. Paul had always leaned toward the spontaneous, at least behind the scenes. The Beatles would go on a countryside tour on an adventure. The show itself would essentially be scriptless though the songs wouldn't be. The tv special would be a flop &, in many ways, some thought the album the same way. In reality, Magical Mystery Tour isn't an album. The first six songs are from that tv special (though there were others but not performed by the Beatles). In fact, Magical Mystery Tour was only available in Great Britain as an EP. The British didn't get the American version for many years. This American version included five more songs that were hits & had been previously released as singles.

The album opens with "Magical Mystery Tour", one of McCartney's best songs, somewhat reminiscent of "Sgt. Pepper's". "Fool on the Hill" follows, many consider this to be one of McCartney's best ballads. The next song is "Flying". This is the only Beatles instrumental ever released, it's also the only song that all four members of the band co-wrote together. George Harrison's "Blue Jay Way" is next. It's an odd little song. The next song is McCartney's "Your Mother Should Know" which hearkens back to the big band era that he grew up in. Paul seemed to come up with at least one song similar to this on almost every album the Beatles released. Lennon's only contribution to the album was the final song of the Magical Mystery Tour, "I Am the Walrus". This is one of his best songs. He wrote the lyrics when a friend had told him that a university was offering a class on finding the true meanings within the Beatles lyrics. What Lennon offered here was gobbledygook. He pieced together words that held no special meanings, yet they were loaded with imagery that would inspire some searching. Lennon would later explain he only wrote the lyrics to make someone think that there was a hidden meaning. This is an example of just how good a lyricist Lennon could be; he would dream up a complete line of drivel & make it seem extremely intelligent & thoughtful.

Magical Mystery Tour, the album is fleshed out with five hits that had been previously released. Four of them had been major hits. The only one that wasn't a major hit was "Baby You're a Rich Man", a song that was really two different ones that Lennon & McCartney had pieced together. "Hello Goodbye" is here, one of McCartney's best songs. Both sides of a single are next: "Strawberry Fields Forever" (Lennon) & "Penny Lane" (McCartney). Both songs come from childhood memories of each writer. At this time they were considering releasing an album of songs based on their childhood memories but this was as far as it got. Strawberry Fields was actually a Salvation Army homeless shelter in Liverpool. The final song of the album is Lennon's "All You Need Is Love", one of his most famous & loved songs.

Overall, Magical Mystery Tour is a great album; it misses the mark only because of a couple of songs from the tv special.



March 25, 2008

 The best beatle work!!!
Great album, great songs! I highly recommend it to any, and i mean any person who enjoys music, no matter if he likes soul, pop, classic, country, etc. It is worth having it!!! STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER is propably the best of all the good songs in this album. It is really catchy and is considered one of the best songs ever written! February 6, 2008

 Magical Mystery Tour
Quality of service is excellent as usual and has become a mark of Amazon. The product is brand new and in excellent condition. January 28, 2008

 For Beatles fans and old hippies
I had to have this because, well, it's the Beatles! Surely not their best, but part of their whole saga. January 5, 2008

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