Customer Reviews:
 Wonderful, like everything else the Beatles ever did April 15, 2008
finulanu (Here, there, and everywhere)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The Beatles, as it has been said too many times to count, really hit their stride in the late '60s. Especially in 1966-1967, when they put out three classic albums: Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and this right here. Probably the trippiest, weirdest, looniest album that the group ever put out. Maybe it's not as good as its monumental predecessors, but who cares?
There are a couple songs that are hit-or-miss for me, though. If I'm in the right mood, I can really dig the bizarre, psychedelic-Eastern ramblings of Harrison's "Blue Jay Way", but when I'm not in said mood they me cold. "Flying" is pleasant, but not much else.
And then there are nine other songs that pretty much all vie for my favorite on this album. Some are famous, some aren't. Everyone knows "All You Need is Love", that wonderful hippy anthem, with 7/4-4/4 time changes; the slightly dippy but amazingly infectious "Hello Goodbye", and Paul's pop triumph "Penny Lane". Those are all amazing, and there's more! "I Am the Walrus" might be the strangest song ever recorded by a famous band. The lyrics are nonsense on purpose, the backing track often borders on avant-garde, its fade is accompanied by excerpts from a radio broadcast of "King Lear", and the song is actually three unfinished tunes put together. One of my favorite Beatles tracks, precisely because it's so far out there. Is anyone surprised that this one was John's? He also wrote the well-known "Strawberry Fields Forever", a beautiful psychedelic ballad that may or may not be about acid. Of course, John always denied it, but you can definitely hear the drug influence in the lyrics. And the coda, a psychedelic whirlwind, is amazing. And I love pretty much every element of "Baby You're a Rich Man" - the chorus, the melody, the traded vocals in the verses, and that little psychedelic noise that runs throughout the tune. I don't know what that thing is, but it makes the song.
That's not to discount the two opening songs, of course. The "see-the-show!" title track might not be as good as the previous albums "see-the-show!" title track, but it's fun, and it has this great part near the end when it slows down and the melody is carried by phased vocals. And while "Penny Lane" is one of Paul's better light-hearted ballads, "The Fool on the Hill" is one of his best depressing ballads.
This is one of the Beatles' more underappreciated records, probably because half of it was the soundtrack to a universally panned movie of the same name which I've never seen, and half was a collection of singles. I see it's getting more recognition these days, and I'm glad for it, because it's one of the Beatles' greatest albums.
Magical Mystery Tour September 26, 2008
Morton (Colorado)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Beatles-Magical Mystery Tour *****
Srg. Pepper...? please...give me Magical Mystery Tour. I have long felt that Magical Mystery Tour was the fab fours most over looked album, as well as one of their very best. It is really unlike any other Beatles album available, and contains five of the bands all time classics.
John Lennon's song writing is at best on some of the tracks here like 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and on the insanity that is 'I Am The Walrus' and 'All You Need Is Love' all three of which are Beatles classics. Also the satire of 'Baby Your A Rich Man' is genius, and should be noted as such. While George only has one real original in the eerie but fantastically so, 'Blue Jay Way' (which is beyond underrated) and in the great instrumental 'Flying.' Ringo just really goes through the motions here but it doesn't weight the album down. While I am not a big fan of McCartney he does contribute quite a bit here. 'Penny Lane' and 'Hello Goodbye' both of which I could take or leave but are none the less bonafide Beatle classics. 'Your Mother Should Know' is sort of grandma, and sort of novelty but feels nice and at home on this freak out of an album. 'The Fool On The Hill' is really where he succeeds through. It is his crowning achievement as a song writer. Sheer pop brilliance. While on the other hand, there is no redeemable quality to the title track, it plays like a joke.
While it may not be as widely recognized as Srg. Pepper, it honestly plays all the way through more solid, and feels like more of an album than that of Pepper, and for that I must rate Magical Mystery Tour a five star album.
Bad movie---great record March 24, 2009
Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth)
MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR was a dismal failure as a BBC television special, and justly so. In fact, it was so awful the program never aired in the United States. Unscripted, ad-lib and haphazard, the film's occasional musical performance highlights couldn't redeem this silly exercise in group personal excess.
Conversely, the American record album of "Magical Mystery Tour" (ironically unavailable in Britain) is a wondrous thing, indeed. Several Top 40 records that weren't a part of that original program are used to flesh out this set. Inside the LP's gatefold cover is an attached booklet of 12 12 photos taken from the TV show. Also included are complete song lyrics, a trend that began with SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND.
The majority of the tracks on this Xmas '67 release received a great deal of American AM radio airplay. No other US Beatles album contains as many chart topping hits as "Tour." Pretty good for what at the time was considered a letdown for all involved and their fans.
In many ways, MMT holds up better than its predecessor, "Sgt. Pepper's." Musically, if not cinematically, this was the Beatles at their height as a cohesive group.
PROGRAM--
SIDE ONE:
[2:51] Magical Mystery Tour
[3:00] The Fool on the Hill
[2:16] Flying
[3:56] Blue Jay Way
[2:29] Your Mother Should Know
[4:36] I Am the Walrus
SIDE TWO:
[3:31] Hello Goodbye
[4:10] Strawberry Fields Forever
[3:03] Penny Lane
[3:03] Baby You're a Rich Man
[3:48] All You Need Is Love
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