When talking with other fans of the Beatles, or just reading up on their history, one rarely sees "Magical Mystery Tour" listed among the band's greatest albums. This writer feels that the point to which this record is underrated is a crime, and after a listen or two, you will as well. The sound is classic Beatles - beautiful melodies mixed with clever, thoughtful lyrics, and enough attention paid to the artistic quality of the sound to make Beethoven jealous.
There is not a single song on the album that can be classified as anything but incredible. With the fairly straight forward pop-rock of "Magical Mystery Tour" (the album's lead off song, and also the title track) and "Baby You're A Rich Man" the band keeps true to its roots, delivering the catchy melodies, good beats, and inventive chord changes they were known for in the first place. On tracks like the more contemplative "Fool On The Hill," a slow, semi-trippy song about finding optimism in spite of the disapproval of others, the Beatles demonstrate their talent for writing thought-provoking lyrics, but managing to wrap them in an accessible and catchy exterior. And not to be forgotten is the full-blown psychedelic rock and roll featured on such songs as "Bluejay Way" or "Strawberry Fields Forever" - where the band moved into new territory, experimenting heavily with Eastern melodies and instruments. Every song has one thing in common, however - the almost painfully lovely vocal melodies, and a skill of songwriting that is as unchallenged and peerless now as it was forty years ago.
When listening to "Magical Mystery Tour," this writer found himself overcome with a feeling of awe - that four young men who had released their first album a mere four years prior, and where not even in their late twenties yet, could make such staggering artistic progress in so short a time. Their talent, hard work, and extreme dedication to always putting the best foot forward, is as evident on this album as it is on anything else they ever produced, if not more. Not a fan of the Fab Four? Not a believer in the Beatles? Pick this disc up, and you most surely will be.
- By: J. Alexander Vance
