lambchops's Full Review: Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles
Many modern pop bands owe a great deal to The Beatles. Be they Blur, The Verve, Semisonic, or Suede there is no question that without The Beatles they would not exist nor would their brand of music be even vaguely popular. The Beatles made harmonies, melody, and songwriting something to concentrate on and be very proud of.
Despite the fact that so many of the bands and singer-songwriters I enjoy are indebted to The Beatles I’ve never been able to entirely attach myself to their music. There are songs here and there that I find mildly entertaining but never quite as much any classics from contemporaries The Rolling Stones. Despite my odd lack off real affection for The Beatles, I cannot for a moment discount their importance or fool myself that John, Paul, George, and Ringo are anything less than revolutionary.
However I do not believe that revolutionary and appealing amount to the same end product. Let us pretend for a moment that both of these words are alien to you. According to Webster the definition of these words is as follows:
revolutionary: markedly new or introducing radical change;
appealing: able to attract interest or draw favorable attention;
There is no reason by definition that appealing music must be at all revolutionary, and by the same token it is not a necessity that something that is “markedly new” must indeed “draw favorable attention.” In this music fan, The Beatles definitely fall into the last category. Though, early on, they were merely appealing (outside of their “rebellious” unshorn locks). It took until the band reached musical adolescence before the creative fire ignited and true revolutionist ideals were exposed. Liverpoolian lads John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr broke through their own personal barriers and became musically “revolutionary” in 1966 with the release of Revolver. Up until that point in time, they’d yet to really shine—despite the resounding success of their albums and singles.
From there forward, The Beatles recorded and released a string of undeniably free, rewarding, and creative albums. Revolver (1966) was followed by 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band which was followed that same year by Magical Mystery Tour. 1968 saw the release of The White Album. As the decade drew to a close, The Beatles released two albums in 1969 (the lovely Abbey Road and the inessential improper album Yellow Submarine) immediately followed the next year by Let It Be (though this album was recorded prior to Abbey Road). All of these were largely hailed as magnificent and perfect. For me they have never really struck a nerve. Don’t get me wrong…I wanted to like them all but only really have found myself drawn to individual songs.
Indeed this fact extends through roughshod Magical Mystery Tour. Never really intended as a full album, it began life as a double EP featuring songs from an ill-fated British special by the same name. It was only after this failing that five additional songs were added to round it out to a total of eleven tracks. Prior to the release of Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles had already dabbled in psychedelic music (ala Sgt. Pepper) so the direction of these songs really came as no particular shock. What does however come as something of a disappointment is the decided lack of cohesion. Whereas Sgt. Pepper at least had some overall purpose, Magical Mystery Tour honestly has none.
As far as individual songs go, there are some classics and some which may have been best left unearthed. Whether or not the album is a worthy addition to your collection is all dependent on how big a fan of The Beatles you are. Since I’m not exactly a fan of the band, I can’t say it was necessarily a good choice for my music collection. It’s good, just not great…though with that said a handful of my favorites ever from The Beatles are here. I Am the Walrus, Strawberry Fields Forever, The Fool on the Hill and Penny Lane all leap out at me. If these seem like obvious or easy choices, it is because they are. There are a few others that were also huge hits (All You Need is Love and Hello Goodbye) but still I gravitate toward the four songs I mentioned first.
As far as favorites go, I’m fond of I Am the Walrus because it actually expands upon the psychedelic sound of Sgt. Pepper. It’s a wild and weird and creepy song chocked full of layers of strings and avant-garde melodies. It makes no sense and is wildly bizarre with snippets of words and phrases that were apparently intended not to make sense. I think The Beatles did a masterful job at putting together what could be argued is one of their most complex songs and quite possibly the strangest of the career. Now, remember how I spoke about revolutionary ideas earlier? I Am the Walrus is just that. It appeals greatly to me, but truth be told it is just too weird for most people. Revolutionary, yes…appealing, possibly not.
On the completely other end of the spectrum are The Fool on the Hill, Penny Lane, and Strawberry Fields Forever. The Fool on the Hill was written by McCartney (though it was credited to both he and Lennon). A wispy, crystalline ballad in perfect McCartney style it speaks literally to a “fool on the hill” intent on watching the world turn around him. This is a lovely, wonderful song. Similarly, Penny Lane is a jangly pop tune which appeals to a carefree part of my soul. It represents McCartney’s memories of childhood whereas Strawberry Fields Forever was envisioned by Lennon about his own childhood. Lennon’s vision is much darker, druggy, and existential. However it is also still a fantastic track—I’m particularly drawn to the arrangement of horns and deep orchestral strings.
All You Need Is Love is of course still recognized as a Beatles classic. However, it really doesn’t fit too well into Magical Mystery Tour. It’s simple and upbeat and speaks to the importance of loving one another. Good song, just not well placed. However there are some songs that aren’t so good. Some songs that I just can’t bring myself to like. Unfortunately, one of these is the title track. It is repetitive and banal and as positioned in the first slot nearly always gets skipped over. Smack in the middle is trilogy of tracks I’d prefer to just forget—the instrumental (I’m no fan of instrumentals) Flying, the droning and atonal Harrison tune Blue Jay Way, and the chunk-chunking Your Mother Should Know. I suppose in a way, I do like Your Mother Should No. It starts out well with a nifty little tin pan sound, but there’s only so much I can take of the repetitive lyrics, vocals, and instrumentals.
The only two songs left to mention are Baby You’re a Rich Man and Hello Goodbye. Hello Goodbye is an entertaining enough song, I just prefer other songs to this one in the context of the album. Somehow it just seems too commercial. Baby You’re a Rich Man has a fascinating arrangement. Though like many of the other songs here, it fails in my mind because it lacks variety and just repeats the same coy lyrics and ideas repeatedly. Of course, when the chorus breaks out it is impossible to deny the appeal—I’m just not so keen on the overall song.
Magical Mystery Tour is by no means perfect but there are some fantastic moments which have definitely shaped modern pop (especially “Brit Pop”). The Beatles will never be my favorite “British Invasion” band; that honor goes to the Rolling Stones. There is however a reason why this band is so popular. I think it has as much to do with the memorable vocals and melodies as it does with the fact that the band helped to take people’s minds off of the state of the world in the 1960’s. People have good memories of them. Magical Mystery Tour is a fine enough album; I just happen to think it’s not as good as some folks would have you believe.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Magical Mystery Tour
02. The Fool on the Hill
03. Flying
04. Blue Jay Way
05. Your Mother Should Know
06. I Am the Walrus
07. Hello Goodbye
08. Strawberry Fields Forever
09. Penny Lane
10. Baby You’re a Rich Man
11. All You Need Is Love
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