Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

It seems like a contradiction in terms but Magical Mystery Tour has to be one of the most underrated albums of all time. So why is that statement a contradiction in terms? Well first off it's not really an album, its two EPs stuck together and released as an album in the US (making it the only US version of a Beatles album to be better than the UK edition). The Beatles never felt pressurized to produce an album, there's no big overbidding concept, it's short, light and breezy almost a hodge podge. Now secondly I called the Magical Mystery Tour underrated, well that's a pretty bizarre thing to say as I've never actually seen a review of this album below ten out of ten or five out of five. However the reason I consider Magical Mystery Tour to be among the great underrated albums is that despite endless glowing reviews it feels like it's been lost, no one ever talks about this record, it's a side note, that's how The Beatles treated it, and that's how it's been remembered but it deserves so much more than that.

Split into two halves the Magical Mystery tour feels like two separate entities. The first EP forges this beautiful musical atmosphere that feels like an unexplored landscape. Nobody ever talks about these beautiful works, and the second EP is an incredibly greatest hits collection. We'll start with the first of side, and I have to say it's my favourite and one of my favourite stretches of any Beatles album. It's starts with this grand joyful musical opening in the form of the title track, it doesn't work as a stand alone piece, it's more this perfect trippy piece to be played over a tv show's opening credits before the curtain arises and the show begins. The horns are so vibrant and so full of life, it's glorious and fun filled and McCartney makes a simple promise "We've Got Everything That You Need, Satisfaction Guaranteed" and he isn't kidding. The arrangement really is wondrous using so many different elements switching moods with ease, it's one hell of an opening, the only question is what comes next?

It's immediately followed by the first EPs undisputed highlight The Fool On A Hill, it's introduced by the end of Magical Mystery Tour which concludes with sad bluesy piano line before McCartney's gorgeous lonely sorrowful ballad begins. Like the album opener it seems to balance these contrasting moods so deftly, The Fool On A Hill at times feels hopefully and light like a barmy waltz in a meadow on a sunny summers days. Then it will suddenly shift and feel ominous, hopeless and sorrowful but the transition is handled with such remarkable fluidity it's simply gorgeous. The transition into the instrumental follow up Flying is equally seamless, led by the melotron and the hypnotic chanting of the Beatles it feels so light ethereal and gorgeous. This is the first time since Rubber Soul where the Beatles really created a mood and an atmosphere, but here it's taken to a new extreme with lush instrumentals and gorgeous spacious soundscapes rather than lyrical imagery. This whole opening feels like a collage of dreams weaving together, culminating in the hazy and beautiful Blue Jay Way that feels almost nightmarish but stops short and instead feels like a thick hypnotic haze. The whole track is encapsulated by the first line "There's a fog upon L.A" and the listener feels like he's lost in this thick oppressive yet beautiful musical fog.

The most interesting part of the LP comes when you emerge from this deep atmospheric dreamlike haze that's been created with the first four tracks into this bizarre jaunty dance hall singalong Your Mother Should Know. It feels like a successor to When I'm Sixty Four but in these surroundings it's mind warping, it feels like a weird irony laden dream. There's something beautiful about the arrangement, it's a stark juxtaposition, musically is sad and sorrowful but McCartney's vocals are charming and light, compared to the epic ghostly piano line that seeps in and out of the track. It feels altogether more menacing than When I'm Sixty-Four and it's a real surprising thrill.

From then on it the rich atmospheric section is waved off with one big crescendo in the form of I Am The Walrus. This is the first track on the album that feels pre-engrained in your psyche before you even hear the first chord, it's a classic and you know it. It's full of brilliant imagery and great lines my favourite has always been "Boy You've Been A Naughty Girl, You've Let Your Knickers Down" the intonation in Lennon's voice when he delivers that line is just tremendous. The rest of the Magical Mystery Tour feels like a greatest hits parade, Hello Goodbye follows, another perfect slice of McCartney pop. Before the two gems of the aborted Liverpool tribute album, Penny Lane and of course Strawberry Fields Forever steal the show, two such different and beautiful pop songs. Penny Lane revels in the ordinary and those wonderful little flourishes of details and well Strawberry Fields Forever is one of the best songs ever penned, full of grand imagery, lush arrangement and wonderful sentiment. It feels like floating in a dreamworld and it's an absolute delight to immerse yourself within. The album closes with All You Need Is Love, I've always considered this track the national anthem of Beatlesland, a joyous loving send off guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

The albums only down note is Baby Your A Rich Man it's by no means awful or even bad but it just doesn't quite come off. It's a wonderful concept and the start of the track is a genuine thrill with Lennon's shrill croon "How Does It Feel To Be One Of The Beautiful People" but the second half can't live up to the early promise and gives it's way to sloganeering and overly simple sentimentality. It feels more like a slog when every other second of this album feels like a sheer delight.

Ultimately what makes Magical Mystery Tour such a delight is the atmosphere conjured in the albums first half. These are not the Beatles most well known tracks, instead they create this wonderful dream like ambiance for the listener to lose himself within. It feels like taking a journey into the Beatles psyche, taking a walk in Beatlesland, it's an utter delight. The second half is crammed full of some of the Beatles biggest and best singles, and some of the greatest songs ever written, and after such a beautifully, light and refreshing listen All You Need Is Love feels like the perfect sentiment to end on, because this has been a beautiful loving experience. It's a testament to the quality of the musicianship that it's that first half and The Fool On The Hill that I keep returning to at the expense of the undisputed brilliance of Strawberry Fields Forever. While Magical Mystery Tour may not be the most famous of Beatles albums you'd be making a terrible mistake if you chose to ignore it even for one second. It stands alongside Rubber Soul, Revolver & Sgt. Pepper's effortlessly.