The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

180 Gram Heavyweight Vinyl LP Record, Stereo Remaster

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Magical Mystery Tour is the eighth studio album by British rock band The Beatles, originally released in December 1967 via Parlophone Records.

Originally released as a double EP in the UK and expanded with singles from 1967 to an album for US release. It’s the only American release to become part of The Beatles' canon. 

Conceived as a low-key art project, The Beatles were oddly nonchalant about the challenges of putting together a movie. As a result, this understated experimental film turned into a sapping distraction.

Musically, however, the accompanying EP was an overwhelming success. The EP format apparently freed the band to experiment a bit, not having to fill sides of a 45 with pop songs or make the grand statements of an album.

The title track is a rousing set piece, meant to introduce the travelogue concept of the film. The remaining four songs released exclusive to the EP are low-key marvels - Paul McCartney's graceful "The Fool On The Hill" and music-hall throwback "Your Mother Should Know"; George Harrison's "Blue Jay Way", and the percolating instrumental "Flying". As a more laid-back release, the EP suggested the direction the band might have taken on the White Album.

In the U.S., the EP was paired with three recent double-sided singles, ballooning Magical Mystery Tour into an album.

Of the three singles, the undisputed highlight is "Strawberry Fields Forever"/ "Penny Lane", John Lennon and Paul McCartney's tributes to their hometown, Liverpool. Slyly surreal, assisted by studio experimentation but not in debt to it, full of brass, harmonium, and strings, unmistakably English.

The rest of the singles collected here are no less familiar: Lennon's "All You Need Is Love" was initially completed up for an international TV special on BBC1- its basic message was meant to translate to any language. Harrison's guitar solo, producer George Martin's strings, and the parade of intertextual musical references that start and close the piece elevate it above hippie hymn. Its flipside, "Baby You're A Rich Man", is a take on Lennon's money-isn't-everything theme.

Lennon’s "I Am The Walrus", crafted for the Magical Mystery Tour film and EP but also released as a double-sided single with McCartney's "Hello Goodbye". One of Lennon's signature songs, "Walrus" channels his longtime fascinations with Lewis Carroll, puns and turns of phrase, and non sequiturs. "Hello Goodbye" echoes the same contradictory logic found in the verses of "All You Need Is Love", a vague sense of disorientation that still does little to balance its relentlessly upbeat tone with a kaleidoscopic, carnival-ride melody and interplay between lead and backing vocals.

The rest of the Magical Mystery Tour LP is the opposite of the middle four tracks on the EP - songs so universal that, like "Yellow Submarine", they are practically implanted in your brain from birth. Seemingly innocent, completely soaked through with humor and fantasy, Magical Mystery Tour slots into your mind as timeless entertainment crafted with a childlike curiosity and appeal but filled with wit and wonder.

On the whole, Magical Mystery Tour is quietly one of the most rewarding listens in The Beatles' career. It doesn't represent some sort of forward momentum or clear new idea - largely in part because it wasn't conceived as an album. But whether it's an album, a collection of separate pieces, or whatnot matters little when the music itself is so incredible.

This album is a 2012 stereo remaster on 180 gram heavyweight black vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve with a 24 page picture booklet, pressed in Germany via Capitol, EMI and Apple Records.

(11686)

Tracklisting:

 

No.

Title

Time

A

Film Soundtrack:

 

A1

Magical Mystery Tour

2:48

A2

The Fool On The Hill

3:00

A3

Flying

2:15

A4

Blue Jay Way

3:50

A5

Your Mother Should Know

2:33

A6

I Am The Walrus

4:35

B

1967 Singles:

 

B1

Hello, Goodbye

3:24

B2

Strawberry Fields Forever

4:05

B3

Penny Lane

3:00

B4

Baby, You’re A Rich Man

3:07

B5

All You Need Is Love

3:57

SKU 11686
Record Label Apple Records
Label / Model # Universal
Catalogue Number 2835
Country DE - Germany
Release Date (Year) 09 November 2012
Original Release Date (Year) 27 November 1967
Barcode # 0094638246510
Shipping Weight 0.5500kg
Shipping Width 0.010m
Shipping Height 0.314m
Shipping Length 0.314m
Shipping Cubic 0.000985960m3
Type New
Format Limited Edition LP Record, 180 Gram Heavyweight Black Vinyl, Gatefold Sleeve, 24 Page Picture Book Replicated Original Artwork, Remastered Audio, The Beatles In Stereo Series, Reissue
Vinyl Colour Black
Genre Rock & Popular
Format VINYL LP

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