With each side of this record having its own unique style (which is to say the second half is effectively a compilation), I do think it's worth breaking down the first half on its own merits. As a brief aside, Brits didn't get this record until 1978, as Magical Mystery Tour was originally released as a Double EP - this leaves Magical Mystery Tour as the only US album that's been folded into the Beatles' "canon discography" for lack of better words. With that in mind, though, Magical Mystery Tour is effectively a more psychedelic and less consistent Sgt. Pepper's in contents - the title track has hints of "Sgt. Pepper's" and the reprise in it, "Blue Jay Way" is psychedelic wonder that I'd closest liken to "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", and "Your Mother Should Know" is more of that Paul "granny music" that made up "When I'm Sixty-Four". The parallels are incredibly easy to make, although they aren't necessarily all to disparage this part of the album. "Blue Jay Way" is a bizarre and fascinating piece from George, "The Fool on the Hill" is a sweet ballad from Paul McCartney, and hell I think "Your Mother Should Know" is a whole lotta fun. This side also ends on the proudly meaningless "I Am the Walrus", which may serve as one of The Beatles' biggest studio accomplishments - it's brilliantly quirky and lacking reason. While some moments feel like they're lacking more than reason (see "Flying"), it's ultimately a more-than-enjoyable goof of a time for the first half.
The second half, as previously mentioned, is essentially a compilation album - all of The Beatles' 1967 non-album singles pop up on this release, and this was at a time where The Beatles could hardly do any wrong. "Hello, Goodbye" has never been an absolute favorite, but it's classic McCartney pop fun through and through, and it's hard to hate. The following "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" single still sits as the group's greatest original single release, both brilliantly representative of John and Paul's childhood memories, with the former coated in the wonder of psychedelia and that initial burst of studio freedom (this was recorded right at the start of the Pepper sessions, mind you), and "Penny Lane" is arguably even better with Paul's sweet and catchy tune about a local roundabout with memorable characters such as the banker, fireman, and nurse. Both are still amongst the group's best. The following "Baby You're a Rich Man" is their heartfelt tribute to the late Brian Epstein, and the closing "All You Need is Love" remains an ethos for a generation - love is all you need, man. With a second half this consistently stacked with hits and melodies, you'd be hard-pressed to be disappointed here.
Of course, while the music was as successful as any Beatles record, the resulting TV movie is infamously about as unfocused and aimless as the sessions for the record were - as a serious Beatle fan let me tell you that your time is better spent elsewhere. Magical Mystery Tour is, as an album, a lot of gonzo fun, and a grandiose final hurrah for The Beatles' experimentation with psychedelia. Immediately after would be their famous trip to India which effectively shook of the last real vestiges of that style from their music. This would also begin what is effectively the end of The Beatles, sadly, but that's for another time. As it stands, Magical Mystery Tour can, in some sense, live up to the name.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Magical Mystery Tour.
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