MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

This is the soundtrack to one of the Beatles four feature films which include "Help!", "A Hard Days Night", "Let It Be", and this one "The Magical Mystery Tour". It is a very solid track with some very good songs and some okay songs but overall this album is still pretty good. Anyway, on to the music:

"Magical Mystery Tour": The title track starts with trumpets blaring, introducing the circus leader that welcomes you a board. Then it goes to the main part of the song, and the harmonies there aren't bad. The vocals, sung mostly by Paul McCartney, are high in pitch and are accompanied by trumpets throughout the whole song. The drumming from Mr. Starr is not the best, but it doesn't detract too much from the total song. The song then ends with some keys and piano.

"Fool on the Hill": It opens up with piano that transition into Mr. McCartney singing while being accompanied by some flutes. Vocals are soft and good and it has a good, but very short, instrumental part in the middle of it all. Nice choruses with what sounds like a big brass section in the background. It is probably the solidest song on the album.

"Flying": Starts out with some bass, drums, and guitar then goes into a full instrumental piece. They call it an instrumental piece of music, but I did pick up some soft singing that used no words and sounded pretty bad. Then it ends with some distorted sounds that sound like they were just thrown in there.

"Blue Jay Way": This song starts out with organ and then it goes into some cool vocals that are a bit different then normal. There is some very basic drumming in the background by Ringo. Also there are some stings in the background that sound like cellos and basses. Choruses are okay, but are repeated a lot.

"Your Mother Should Know": Starts out with some organs then it transitions into some acapella singing. When it gets to the real vocals they are very solid and with the harmonies they add great depth. Then it ends in sub-par guitar.

"I Am the Walrus": Some soft bass and tambourine start it off then it leads into keys and drums. The vocals are very distorted and don't make much sense. Many violins in the song and then they have a whole orchestra in the middle of the song. It all sounds very nice until it is ruined in the end by a compilation of sounds like the one at the end of "Flying".

"Hello, Goodbye": This song is the first song on the album that starts right off with vocals. The vocals sound very sweet and the choruses are very good. The choruses though are over used making the song kind of boring. There are some strings in the piece and some drumming, but it does not show Ringo at all. The song then ends in the choruses and drumming.

"Strawberry Fields Forever": Starts slowly with an organ then it moves into vocals smoothly. The vocals are accompanied with guitar and some bass. Trumpets and violins play a big part in the middle of the song. The violin is a repeating theme in the song making it have a very good flow to it. But the end is very bad and it sounds like they threw a bunch of other songs together to make the end.

"Penny Lane": Starts out with vocals and bass that then move into some piano and the choruses. This song tells the story of a small town and you can really picture the town and the people within it when you listen to the song.

"Baby You're a Rich Man": This song starts out with the strumming of a guitar that then moves into bagpipes, piano, and vocals that are very soft and sweet. The vocals for the choruses are a bit harsher than the beginning of the song. Bagpipes are a repeating theme throughout.

"All You Need is Love": Starts out with trumpets and some drum rolls from Ringo. The vocals are very sort and work well with the strings that accompany them. The choruses are very simple, but work well with a big brass section behind them. Ending switches to the choruses from the song, "She Loves You".

Overall not a bad album, but some of the songs aren't good enough to make this any better than a three star album.