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The Beatles long awaited follow-up to Pepper. It was released under pretty tumultuous times for the Beatles. Their manager, Brian Epstein, had died just months earlier and they were left to their own accord. This was released with the movie of the same name and the movie was considered a flop. In fact, the Beatles would disappear after this album to India and return with their famous eponymous double album. This is also the only CD version of the song that uses the American version other than the British version. The British version was just an EP with the soundtrack songs on it (tracks 1-6). In the US they wanted an ALBUM and just threw on 5 singles from that time period.
The Album
1) Magical Mystery Tour
Nice way to open an album, with the song the album is named after. Very rollicking song that really sets the mood of the album. Trippy but with a nice song to back up the tripped out feeling. Paul sings really well on the this song and the bassline is pretty damn good.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
2) The Fool On the Hill
Paul’s requisite slow song for the album. This was during the movie where he just flew off to France to be a fool on the hill. Very nice and peaceful song with some meaningful lyrics. The piano drives this song but the acoustic guitar fills add flavor.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
3) Flying
The Beatles one and only instrumental that they recorded. It’s actually really good too. The rhythm guitar has a nice tremolo effect on it and the lead guitar adds perfect lines to the song. Really good instrumental that is just the right length and doesn’t get boring by going on too long.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
4) Blue Jay Way
Probably the only bad song on the album. George wouldn’t start consistently writing great songs until about 1968. This song is just very odd based on his previous songs he’d written. It’s pretty clear he was on something during this time. The song is about him waiting for friends but the main keyboard part has too much going on and its hard to get into the song.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
5) Your Mother Should Know
Paul’s silly campy song for the album. This is the same vein as When I’m 64 the album before. It’s just a little ditty you can picture some guy sitting on his piano playing, like one of those gay old songs from the 40’s. Really, no point to the song, it’s just there, and it’s enjoyable.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
6) I Am The Walrus
Another classic from Lennon, as he just creates this brilliant song that really doesn’t even make sense. I don’t know if this is true or not, but the story behind this song is as follows. John had been reading about classes taking time to figure out the deeper meaning behind his songs, so he wrote this one to see what their interpretation would be on it. I think that’s why this song is considered so great. It’s really unlike anything ever recorded. Take this with Tomorrow Never Knows and you see just how creative and inventive John Lennon could be. Just these great sounds and lyrics. Great song.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
7) Hello Goodbye
This starts the singles portions of the album. This was their most recent single I believe. It’s a great song with a great melody and worthy of it becoming number one. Paul handles the singing and delivers another great bassline. I always loved the backing vocals on the song. It’s a technique a lot of the R&B singer bands used that they listened too, and they kept doing it on their own songs which was always effective.
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Love Count: 0
8) Strawberry Fields Forever
This was released before Sgt. Pepper and Brian Epstien almost shit himself when it ONLY got to number 3 on the charts. The Beatles popularity must be fading! Ha, little did they know. This was the start of their new sound. Revolver was a tease to it, but this would be the full realisation of it, as the Beatles recorded new sounds that couldn’t be called pop anymore and transcend into a category all its own. The song is especially fantastic too. To the mellotron in the beginning, the tuned down guitar during the first few verses and the sitar lines played, it’s a great song. The lyrics are amazing and this is probably one of the best John Lennon songs.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
9) Penny Lane
Similar to John writing about a location he lived by as a kid, Paul would do the same. Their songwriting was absolutely at top notch here, as they’d both start these wonderful songs that was like painting with words. Descriptive, but they don’t outright say it. This is a great McCartney song as it was a time of change for the Beatles and the world in general, and they’d be at the forefront. The song is piano based with a saxophone solo with nary a guitar to be found. Paul’s bass playing would become really good around this time, he wouldn’t hold a note down, he’d play some elaborate basslines rooted in said note (similar to Entwistle or Bruce) and this is a fine example of that.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
10) Baby You’re A Rich Man
This was a B-side to some single (either All You Need is Love or Hello Goodbye) and it’s basically a throwaway song. Fun number, but really it doesn’t go anywhere. The instrumentation is sparse and Lennon seems to be having fun on this song.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
11) All You Need Is Love
This really is the anthem for the summer of love isn’t it? The Beatles performed this song live in a broadcast to the entire world and it was the first time anyone heard it. It’s message is that of love. As Paul said in the anthology, “almost all our songs dealt with peace, love and understanding.” Love is the greatest thing and this song says that. Great song with a great meaning.
Yeah Count: 6
Love Count: 83
The Liner Notes
The liner notes are 8 pages long. The front is the cover and the back is the track listing. The second page has the track listings as they appeared on the album with a drawing of the boys as magicians. Pages 3, 6 and 7 have the lyrics to the soundtrack songs and pages 4 and 5 have a full page photo of the Beatles playing Magical Mystery Tour. I was always upset they didn’t reproduce the 32 page booklet that came with the LP.
The Sound
This was recorded WAY back in 1967 using analog tapes and only 4 track tapes to boot. It sounds really good for its age. Nowhere near the standards of today, but the Beatles sounding like this is better than anything released now, in my totally unbiased opinion!
The Final Review
This is personally one of my favorite Beatles albums for a few reasons, which is why my ranking is so high. First, this was the first Beatles album (and for that matter, CD) that I ever owned. It always had a place in my heart because of that. Second, it has I Am the Walrus. For a while, it was my favorite Beatles song and I still love it. The rest of the songs are pretty good (especially since the B-sides are all singles) and though some of the MMT soundtracks songs are decent at best, it’s still an overall great record.
Final Rating:
9.5
5th out of 13
Final Yeah Count: 6
Final Love Count: 83
Cumulative Yeah Count: 170
Cumalative Love Count: 263
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