The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour

THE REVIEW

I know exactly what you're thinking: "Here comes another die-hard Beatles fan presenting yet another review of an old or very old record just because they had nothing else to do!" Let me say that's absolutely not the case. This is my first official review, and I care a lot about writing it correctly, so I will cover many different topics, carefully analyze each song, and even touch on themes outside of the context (such as the PID legend and Lennon's use of the "Walrus" character).

First of all, it must be said that the album "Magical Mystery Tour" is not just a Beatles album, very "strange" and "prestigious," but also a splendid, albeit senseless film on celluloid. Many will describe it as an album "without head or tail" or as the "biggest mistake that the Liverpudlian bugs ever made," but in my modest opinion, both statements are wrong and off the mark. Personally, I find the album brilliant and full of interesting tracks. However, even here the influence of drugs begins to be felt. The album was released on December eight 1967 immediately after the debut of the film, which received almost no success (although it's known that in great film schools, many consider it as a real "masterpiece" and that people like Steven Spielberg appreciate and rewatch it many times with pleasure). The album not only contained unreleased tracks by the legendary FabFour but also very catchy singles, inserted to fill the gaps left by the few new pieces.

The cover shows the four Liverpool boys dressed as grotesque animals such as: A Hippopotamus (Paul McCartney), A Rabbit (George Harrison), A Rooster (Ringo Starr), and among these three pseudo-puppies, the most disturbing and terrifying of all, The Ominous Walrus (John Lennon). The colorful lettering that represents the name of the record immediately stands out, as does the star lettering that instead represents the name of the group (note how the writing states "Beatles" and not "The Beatles," but we'll discuss this later).

The record opens with the beautiful and catchy "Magical Mystery Tour" written by John and Paul (many attribute the idea for the film and the song solely to McCartney, but you can immediately see Lennon's necessary contribution too) which spreads joy and cheer to those who listen to it and which indeed talks about this mysterious and magical journey, trying to persuade people to buy a ticket. Right away, Paul wants to make himself known and launches with "The Fool On The Hill" narrating about this "Fool On The Hill" that no one seems to know and with whom no one wants to have anything to do. The help of the flutes in the song is providential. The record continues smoothly with the almost purely musical piece "Flying", which may initially seem rather slow and unelaborated, but after the first minute hits the listener. It continues with Harrison's dark and gloomy song, in which he recounts his gloomy experience on the street of Los Angeles from which the song takes its name: namely "Blue Jay Way". At this point, the Beatles proceed in their climb towards psychedelic rock and progressive rock offering us a piece mixed with Swing, Blues, and Slow Rock such as "Your Mother Should Know". At this point, I would like to pause to describe in the best possible way the masterpiece (often cited as "the best Beatles song ever!) of my much-loved John Winston Lennon, namely the magical and disarming "I Am The Walrus".

Lennon is well-known for his adoration of the Walrus character; suffice it to say he mentions it in no fewer than four songs: the same "I Am The Walrus", the progressive "Glass Onion" where he openly declares that he is not the walrus (... there is another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul ...) and passes the ball to Paul McCartney (from the double album "The Beatles" also known as "White Album" or "LP Bianco"), the dark and haunting "Come Together" where he declares that a character of his invention wears walrus gumboots (... walrus gumboot, he got ...) although the phrase is very confusing (from the album "Abbey Road"), and finally in his "God" where he once again declares he was the walrus (... i was the walrus, but now I'm John...) and subsequently says he is just himself. Examining many interviews and reading many books, it was thought that Lennon was referring to the character created by the writer Lewis Carroll (writer of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass") and that he was inspired by him to write the song masterpiece on this album (since he also reprises the character of Humpty Dumpty, or "the eggman", the egg man). It is known that both John and Paul love Carroll's writings, and having to choose between different characters, they chose the walrus instead of the carpenter (after the scandal of Lennon's statements on the church and Christianity, they would have accused him of comparing himself again to Christ!!). Other people instead believe this dark and fantastic character is another clue in the famous P.I.D. (Paul McCartney Is Dead) Mystery because in the Greek language "Walrus" means "Corpse" (it was known shortly after the announcement of this clue that the aforementioned word does not exist in any other language than English or American and means just "walrus").

Indeed, there are many other clues on these records that would "profess" or "make known" and inform the world that Paul McCartney actually died in a car accident on November 9, 1966, and that he was replaced by a lookalike very similar to him (the differences were retouched with plastic surgery). Personally, I disagree with this hypothesis, but I must admit that in the FANFOUR records there are some clues, and they are quite disturbing. Returning to our "Magical Mystery Tour," it can be said that there are also clues in songs like "The Fool On The Hill" or "Strawberry Fields Forever" or again "All You Need Is Love" and "Blue Jay Way". Even in the album cover itself (as mentioned earlier), the writing "Beatles" and not "The Beatles" symbolizes that the group is no longer the same as before.

Anyway, having finished this clue examination, let's get back to talking about the record. In this second part of the album, there are some very fascinating and astonishing singles that George Martin (the Beatles' personal music consultant, as well as the band's assistant, considered by many the "Fifth Beatle") inserted into the album to compensate for the shortcomings the album had. These pieces are, progressively: the catchy and simple "Hello, Goodbye", the dark and intoxicating "Strawberry Fields Forever" (considered by many one of the most beautiful Beatles songs ever, it is known how this piece was instead to be included in the previous album "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" but due to technical issues it was later included in this LP), the sweet and spasmodic "Penny Lane", the beautiful "Baby You're A Rich Man", and the record concludes with the ultimate masterpiece of the legendary bugs, the song that has made generations of lovers dream and cry and that is still listened to and purchased today, namely the surprising "All You Need Is Love" (this song also had the good fortune of having in the ensemble valid and important musicians such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, etc...).