The Beatles Albums – Magical Mystery Tour
In 1967
The Beatles manager Brian Epstein was found dead at his home at the age of 32,
it seemed he had overdosed on sleeping pills. It was a blow to the band that
had cherished him both as a friend and business associate. Yet with heavy
hearts they began filming for the low key film project; Magical Mystery Tour.
The movie was set to be the bands take on Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters,
yet like the Merry Pranksters, the effect was rather ramshackle and misguided.
The film itself wasn’t much to write home about; in fact it has been dubbed
rather critically as The Beatles one true disaster despite 15 million people
tuning in to watch the Boxing Day special. Since then critics have tirelessly
tossed the film back and forth debating whether it was without direction or
whether it should be compared to Buñuel!
Whatever the verdict there can
be no doubt that the album out surged the film in many aspects. Although not
their strongest album; Magical Mystery Tour still has plenty of merit and is
bursting with color. Following the grand affair of Sgt Peppers must have been a
tricky concept in itself and it’s easy to see that this is almost a wind down
album. If Sgt Peppers was the carnival esque trip then Magical Mystery Tour was
the soft come down. It’s an album that falls only marginally short of
expectations. The saving grace tracks help tip the balance though; you can
meander in and out of sentimentality with childhood favorites like Strawberry
Fields Forever and drift unconsciously downstream on the tide of I am the
Walrus. Yet there are a few weak links in an otherwise strong chain, most
notably Hello Goodbye. Sure the riff is catchy and the melody…nice, but the
lyrical integrity leaves little to the imagination. Penny Lane although
wonderful in many ways has a certain grating effect; but oh well you can’t win
them all and in some ways it’s rather charming to hear The Beatles missing the
mark at times. It’s what makes us human after all.
Surprisingly this was
John Lennon’s favorite Beatles album, he stated ‘There are only about 100 people
who understand our music’ and seemed to adore this quirky, weird and at times
wonderful album. For good, for bad and for ugly, it’s a great album to critique
around the dinner table; one of the only albums that will have people throwing
back and forth your grans finest china in disagreement. Everyone is quick to
agree that earlier albums were imperative in the bands evolution and the later
albums no one would dare to criticize. Thus Magical Mystery Tour is the only
album left to have an opinion about! The album still hit the number one spot,
out of true adoration or habit, it’s hard to say. Yet I think we all agree on
one thing at least, the closing quote of Magical Mystery Tour hit the nail bang
on the head; all you need is love.
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