Meanwhile… I'm Still Thinking

Keepers:

All You Need Is Love
Baby You’re A Rich Man
Hello Goodbye
I Am The Walrus
Magical Mystery Tour
Penny Lane
Strawberry Fields Forever
The Fool On The Hill
Your Mother Should Know

Magical Mystery Tour

I’ve almost been afraid to post this for fear of alienating a bunch of readers, but it’s time to come clean – I’ve never liked this record. There are some great songs (it IS a Beatles record after all), but it just doesn’t click for me.

First of all, much of it sounds kind of thin – in true Beatles fashion there is no wasted ear-space, but instead of an interesting guitar thing or drum thing or bass thing we might get a calliope thing or a sound effect… fun the first time I listened but the novelty wore off kind of quick. The other thing that bothered me right from the beginning was that John was using his whiny NyahNyah voice a lot, making some of the lead vocals difficult to like and the background vocals slightly harsh (to my ears, anyway). They would take the same sort of approach on what wound up being Magical Mystery Tour, but on that album they (mostly) got it right and then moved on.

Adding to the (it’s all relative, I know) Misery, She’s Leaving Home is my least favorite Beatle performance of all time. Gives me the creeps.

I’d sooner listen to Besame Mucho a hundred times than listen to She’s Leaving Home once.

Put Wild Honey Pie on an endless tape loop and force me to listen for hours, just don’t EVER make me listen to She’s Leaving Home again.

Ok… I’m ready to do my penance. Thanks for putting up with this.

PS – I intend to listen to the mono version of this album at some point, and I do reserve the right to change my mind about it (except She’s Leaving Home, which I will skip).

Keepers:

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (first one)
With a Little Help from My Friends
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
Getting Better
Within You Without You
A Day in the Life

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band