Regularly cited as one of the lyrically strangest songs ever recorded, talking about “sitting on a cornflake", singing penguins, and indeed the refrain of the title, it’s musically complex, with all sorts of indescribable effects going on under Lennon’s delirious vocals, as well as a break in the middle of the song where a string section effectively takes control of the music. However, one thing you could never accuse I Am The Walrus of is being stillborn. While repetition of one phrase can work well though, here it merely grates slightly on the listener, giving the song a slightly stillborn air. Your Mother Should Know is possibly the second weakest song here, with a strangely stately air that sounds as if the music was designed for an upbeat ballroom dance, although it does possess some of the little touches that made The Beatles stand out, such as a surprisingly catchy keyboard part, along with vocal layering that reflects how well the Lennon and McCartney duo complemented each other. Listening to it now you can still smell what The Beatles were probably smoking as they recorded this song, and that stands out on this slightly paranoid oddity on the album, even though it’s definitely a very fine song. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Beatles album without a Harrison composition on the album, and Blue Jay Way is the example this time, with it being far darker than most of the music contained here, thanks to a fuzzy sounding verse, where the vocals sound completely drained, while Starr’s drumming is surprisingly high in the mix, and the heavily repeated phrase of “don’t be long", which gives the song a narcoleptic air rather than any other sort of feel. This song is being based around Lennon’s synthesised organ and mellotron parts, which create a much spaced out atmosphere, but which ultimately don’t leave a huge amount of substance to the song itself. While the first two songs provide backing for people who say that this is the most underrated of Beatles albums, Flying undermines this somewhat, being one of the few lyricless songs they recorded. The lyrical content seems to be a strike at the people against the prevalent hippy culture of the time, saying that the fool on the hill is wiser than people think, which reflects the then personal beliefs of the band. The Fool On The Hill is another McCartney composition that would later be referenced on The White Album, and is based around a very mellow piano part, featuring gorgeous, bittersweet recorder parts which lurk just under the other instruments on the song. Although it would be typical to cast this as just another drugged up psychedelic song, it goes beyond that, and provides a solid opener for the album, as it doubtless did for the doomed TV show of the same name. The lyrics reflect this, with McCartney’s continued refrain of “Roll up for the mystery tour". Opening track Magical Mystery Tour immediately gives the album a very fun filled mood, with brass instruments providing a constant backing, along with rushes of noise that were meant to represent the full extent of the fun of the tour. Starting to see why this album can fairly be described as underrated yet? 1967 was the year of the famous “summer of love", meaning that songs like All You Need Is Love become revealed as genuine anthems of not only the time in which they were released, but of a whole musical era. Something that is also worth remembering when listening to this album is the concept in which it was released. The album itself is a typically diverse collection of songs, including psychedelica that would not have sounded out of place on the sprawling concept album that was Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, as well as some great pop songs, such as Penny Lane. Like The White Album, this is an album that sounds as if it simply has too many ideas on to all be by the same band, and in a way, that makes sense, because this album is effectively half film soundtrack, and half compilation some of the band’s biggest singles in the preceding year. Coming after the release of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver, but just before the release of The White Album, this album often gets lost in the history of The Beatles, meaning that it’s forgotten how extraordinary it is. However, this album truly is underrated, and the reason for this is simple the time in which it was released. “How on earth can anything made by The Beatles ever be considered underrated? They’re the biggest selling band in history!" Normally, I’d consider agreeing with you. Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking when you read that sentence. Magical Mystery Tour is something of an oddity in the back catalogue of The Beatles, being a contender for their most underrated album.
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