Editing Magical Mystery Tour (section)

===Contemporary reviews===

Reviewing the EP a month before the film's screening, [[Nick Logan]] of the ''[[NME]]'' enthused that the Beatles were "at it again, stretching pop music to its limits". He continued: "The four musician-magicians take us by the hand and lead us happily tripping through the clouds, past Lucy in the sky with diamonds and the fool on the hill, into the sun-speckled glades along Blue Jay Way and into the world of Alice in Wonderland ... This is The Beatles out there in front and the rest of us in their wake."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Nick|last=Logan|title=Sky-High with Beatles|magazine=[[NME]]|date=25 November 1967|page=14}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Sutherland, Steve|title=[[NME|NME Originals]]: Lennon|year=2003|publisher=IPC Ignite!|location=London|page=51}}</ref> Bob Dawbarn of ''Melody Maker'' described the EP as "six tracks which no other pop group in the world could begin to approach for originality combined with the popular touch".{{sfn|Shaar Murray|2002|p=130}} In ''[[Record Mirror]]'', Norman Jopling wrote that, whereas on ''Sgt. Pepper'' "the effects were chiefly sound and only the album cover was visual", on ''Magical Mystery Tour'' "the visual side ... has dominated the music", such that "Everything from fantasy, children's comics, acid (psychedelic) humour is included on the record and in the booklet."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Jopling|first=Norman|date=1 December 1967|title=Magical Mystery Beatles|magazine=[[Record Mirror]]|page=1}}</ref>

Among reviews of the American LP, [[Michael Jahn|Mike Jahn]] of ''[[Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)|Saturday Review]]'' hailed ''Magical Mystery Tour'' as the Beatles' best work yet, superior to ''Sgt. Pepper'' in emotion and depth, and "distinguished by its description of the Beatles' acquired Hindu philosophy and its subsequent application to everyday life".<ref>{{cite news|last=Jahn|first=Mike|title=The Beatles: ''Magical Mystery Tour''|work=[[Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)|Saturday Review]]|date=December 1967}} Available at [http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-beatles-magical-mystery-touri Rock's Backpages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144632/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-beatles-magical-mystery-touri |date=2 April 2015 }} (subscription required).</ref> ''[[Hit Parader]]'' said that "the beautiful Beatles do it again, widening the gap between them and 80 scillion other groups." Remarking on how the Beatles and their producer "present a supreme example of team work", the reviewer compared the album with ''Their Satanic Majesties Request'' and opined that "I Am the Walrus" and "Blue Jay Way" alone "accomplish what the Stones attempted".<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Staff writer|title=Platter Chatter: Albums from The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, Cream and Kaleidoscope|magazine=[[Hit Parader]]|date=April 1968}} Available at [http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/platter-chatter-albums-from-the-beatles-rolling-stones-jefferson-airplane-cream-and-kaleidoscope Rock's Backpages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131538/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/platter-chatter-albums-from-the-beatles-rolling-stones-jefferson-airplane-cream-and-kaleidoscope |date=2 April 2015 }} (subscription required).</ref> ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' was launched in October 1967 with a cover photo of Lennon from ''How I Won the War'';{{sfn|Frontani|2007|p=208}} in its fourth issue, the magazine's review of ''Magical Mystery Tour'' consisted of a single-sentence quote from him: "There are only about 100 people in the world who understand our music."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Album Reviews|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/magical-mystery-tour-19680120/|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=20 January 1968|page=21|access-date=13 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210042237/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/magical-mystery-tour-19680120|archive-date=10 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Lennon made the remark following the December 1965 TV special ''[[The Music of Lennon & McCartney]]'', in reference to other artists covering their songs.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=220}}}}

Having been one of the few critics to review ''Sgt. Pepper'' unfavourably,{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|pp=83–84}} [[Richard Goldstein (writer born 1944)|Richard Goldstein]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' rued that the new songs furthered the gap between true rock values and studio effects, and that the band's "fascination with motif" was equally reflected in the elaborate packaging. Goldstein concluded: "Does it sound like heresy to say that the Beatles write material which is literate, courageous, genuine, but spotty? It shouldn't. They are inspired posers, but we must keep our heads on their music, not their incarnations."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Goldstein|first1=Richard|title=Are the Beatles Waning?|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/music/123167lennon-beat.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|page=62|date=31 December 1967|access-date=6 April 2020|archive-date=6 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406155955/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/music/123167lennon-beat.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Rex Reed]] of ''[[Stereo Review|HiFi/Stereo Review]]'' wrote a scathing critique in which he derided the group's "farcical, stagnant, helpless bellowing" and "confused musical ideas". Reed said that exchanging drugs for meditation as their subject matter had left the Beatles "totally divorced from reality", and he especially ridiculed "I Am the Walrus" on an LP he deemed a "platter of phony, pretentious, overcooked tripe".<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Rex|last=Reed|title=Entertainment (The Beatles ''Magical Mystery Tour'')|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Audio/Archive-Stereo-Review-IDX/IDX/60s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1968-03-OCR-Page-0113.pdf|magazine=[[Stereo Review|HiFi/Stereo Review]]|date=March 1968|page=117|access-date=6 April 2020|archive-date=22 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122162743/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Audio/Archive-Stereo-Review-IDX/IDX/60s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1968-03-OCR-Page-0113.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In his May 1968 column in ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] considered three of the new songs to be "disappointing", among which "The Fool on the Hill" "may be the worst song the Beatles have ever recorded". Christgau still found it a valid album, "for all the singles, which are good music, after all; for the tender camp of 'Your Mother Should Know'; and especially for Harrison's hypnotic 'Blue Jay Way,' an adaptation of Oriental modes in which everything works, lyrics included".<ref>{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=May 1968|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-aow/column3.php|title=Columns: Dylan-Beatles-Stones-Donovan-Who, Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield, John Fred, California|publisher=robertchristgau.com|access-date=22 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629130741/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-aow/column3.php|archive-date=29 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>