Magical Mystery Tour

The EP version of Magical Mystery Tour was the soundtrack to the film of the same name, a film that proved to be too weird for even the majority of Beatles fans. The Beatles had been successful with their two previous films, A Hard Day's Night, and Help!. These films were written and directed by people other than the Beatles themselves; these writers and directors were talented, as Help! is considered enjoyable and A Hard Day's Night is critically acclaimed. The Beatles wrote, directed and starred in Magical Mystery Tour .Unfortunately, as the world would find out, The Beatles were not nearly as good at making motion pictures as they were at making music.

To add to the confusion, the original Boxing Day British broadcast of the film on television had to be in black and white because the BBC was in the process of changing their 405 line system to a 625 line system, and they wanted people with older sets to have the same opportunity to view the movie (broadcasting in color would prevent a large portion of the population from seeing it at all). But this made things even stranger for Magical Mystery Tour, which was a bright and vibrant movie, meant to be played in color.

The film itself wasn't and isn't great, color or no color. But they were still The Beatles, after all, and the music in the film was some of their best, from Paul's introspective The Fool on the Hill to John Lennon's stream of consciousness masterpiece, I am the Walrus. The British EP can hardly compare to the American version, the Magical Mystery Tour LP, which adds five more Beatles songs (tracks 7-11) from that time period, which had previously been released as singles.

The movie might deserve the poor reviews, but the Magical Mystery Tour album is greatly underrated. Chronologically, it had to follow Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album which had an impact on music that nobody, including the creators, could ever repeat. Sgt. Pepper had its psychedelic moments, with classics like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Harrison's Within You Without You, but neither of those can compare with Mystery Tour's I am the Walrus. And I am the Walrus wasn't the only psychedelic song on Magical Mystery Tour as it was joined by Blue Jay Way, Strawberry Fields Forever and the hippie love anthem All You Need is Love.

Both Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour loosely followed an initial concept, though it might be a stretch to call them full out concept albums (John supposedly hated the term concept album anyhow), they both started with the album's introduction song and they were both colorful in both sound and image. The problem is, Magical Mystery Tour came second, and will always be always be looked upon as the little brother of Sgt. Pepper. But don't let them fool you.

Oh yeah, and the cover is kinda dorky.

1. Magical Mystery Tour
   Written by McCartney with Lennon assistance

   This overture to the album and the movie is highly reminiscent of the opening of Sgt. Pepper. A short but sweet and overall very appropriate start for the record.

2. The Fool On The Hill
   Written by McCartney

   Classic Beatles, a song that is not incredibly complex in music or lyrics, but still manages to affect us with both. The lyric is straightforward and the message is meaningful. In my opinion, one of McCartney's best lyrics. This song is slow and begins the album on a quiet note.

3. Flying
   Written by all The Beatles

   An instrumental The Beatles needed and wrote for the film, which was included in the album. Another slow and peaceful song. If it's filler, it's good filler.

4. Blue Jay Way
   Written by Harrison

   Harrison's slot on the album, written while he was waiting for someone one night, in a house on…you guessed it… Blue Jay Way. The song itself is somewhat creepy, mainly due to the organ Harrison uses, and the haunting voice he sings with. .