Music Reviews

Magical Mystery Tour Blu-ray

Much like the aforementioned YellowSubmarine,1967’s Magical Mystery Tour received the deluxe visual-restoration treatment by Paul Rutan Jr. of Eque Inc. And the soundtrack was done at Abbey Road Studios by Giles Martin and Sam Okell. The special 10x10-inch boxed deluxe edition seen here includes both the DVD and Blu-ray, plus a 60-page book and a reproduction of the mono double 7-inch vinyl EP of the film’s six new Beatles songs, originally issued in the U.K. I asked Major Mystery Tour fanatic Mark Smotroff for his impressions. “The video quality is amazing, the best I’ve ever seen — and I ’ve seen it many times, including the prior DVD release, college showings, and at Beatlefests back in the day,” he says. “And the movie soundtrack contains a more conventional, full-room, stereo-sounding mix.”