MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

"Magical Mystery Tour" was originally a US/Canada only album release by UK rock act The Beatles. It was released through Capitol Records in November 1967. Side 1 of the original LP featured tracks from the "Magical Mystery Tour" movie while side 2 featured tracks from three 1967 singles by The Beatles. The material featured on side 1 was also released in the UK as a 6 track double EP in December 1967. The album was released only six months after the release of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)". A release cycle which wasn´t unusual in those days.

Stylistically the music on "Magical Mystery Tour" isn´t surprisingly much in the same vein as the music on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)" being recorded in about the same period of time (late 1966 - early to late 1967). Simple, memorable, yet sophisticated material with a focus on beautiful and strong melodies. There are several classic Beatles songs featured on "Magical Mystery Tour" including "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane", "I Am The Walrus", "Fool on The Hill", and "All You Need Is Love". All tracks on the album are strong though and arguably among the best the band ever made.

The material on side 2 of the original LP (tracks 7-11 on the CD) are taken from the three singles "Strawberry Fields Forever (1967)", "All You Need Is Love (1967)", and "Hello Goodbye (1967)". As always the vocal performances are brilliant and the songwriting inspired. There are some great psychadelic tunes featured among them in "Blue Jay Way", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and "I Am The Walrus" (the latter is probably one of the weirdest song ever written by The Beatles. Just take a listen to those oddball lyrics), but also some beautiful catchy and more pop oriented moments on "Penny Lane", "Fool On The Hill", and "All You Need Is Love". The usual humour is there too on tracks like the title track and "I Am The Walrus".

There´s no concept between the tracks on Side 2 on "Magical Mystery Tour" and even though the tracks on Side 1 are featured in the movie soundtrack they don´t neccessarily sound like they were made with that in mind. So there´s not really an album concept here which may or may not have provided "Magical Mystery Tour" with an extra dimension similar to the concept experience on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)". The quality of the material is generally as high as the quality of the material on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)" though and the two albums actually compliment each other very well. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.