Help! by The Beatles - Is This A Cry For Help? Or Help Coming To Save You? (Help! - The Beatles)

Member Name: Caveat-Emptor

Product:	Help! - The Beatles
Date:	29/06/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 14 (out of 14) Stunning Songs

Disadvantages: The film that accompanies this album is not such a classic (though still worth a watch)

My review of the Help Album by The Beatles

INTRODUCTION
Perhaps often (unfairly) remembered as the sound track for the screwball comedy film of the same name; HELP is in fact one of the best, and one of my favourite Beatle albums.

A look down the track listing reveals a wealth of incredible songs that I just love, even after all these years.

Even at the outset, this album goes straight for the jugular, opening up with the album's title track HELP, a wildly underrated song. This was one of John Lennon's favourite compositions, and although he would later dismiss some of his 'earlier' song writing efforts - Help (along with Strawberry Fields) remained two of the Beatle tracks he was most proud of penning (and quite rightly too).

I absolutely love Help (the song) as it's such a cry for help on a profound emotional level, while still being an incredible pop song (modern 'whiney' lyric bans could take many a lesson from this one song alone).

The way the vocals cry out, the brilliant use of dynamics like in the 3rd verse where the arrangement becomes sparse and the melody drops down to almost an acoustic folk performance, before climbing back up to Beatles style fever pitch intensity... and what about those clever contrapuntal (now there's a good word-lol!) backing vocals that pre-empt John's main vocal lines? Outstanding!!

Help (the song) is far from being the only aural feast on this album though;
THE NIGHT BEFORE - which is so catch I hummed it for days when I first heard it, and there's an awesome weird country style guitar solo by George.

YOU'VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY - Is such a touching acoustic song, in all it's vulnerability -and there's a definite Dylan influence creeping in here -but all done in the 100% pure 'Lennon' acidic vocal, lyric twisting style!!

There are other well known classics like TICKET TO RIDE -with that brilliant guitar riff that Ringo cleverly compliments by dropping his second snare beat of the 4/4/ bar in exactly one beat earlier (yes I'm guitarist/musician I admit it -lol!!) -brilliant stuff!!

Perhaps my favourite song on help (though it's so hard to choose) the lesser known track I'VE JUST SEEN A FACE which zooms around a simple 'turnaround' chord sequence (very popular in the 50's on tracks like Stand By Me, Duke Of Earl, True Love Ways and O Carol etc) with such a catchy fresh melody!! I always sing along in harmony when this track comes on (I know I'm sad), I can't help it!

Other contenders for the crown of best song (in my opinion) on the album are Yesterday (which features only Paul and a string quartet), and Lennon's stomach churning vocal rendition of Dizzy Miss Lizzy, with it's powerful and dirty guitar riff (I think this riff may have been the influence for Lennon's later work; Cold Turkey as they're based vaguely around the same movement in a pentatonic blues scale).

Every time I hear DIZZY MISS LIZZY I feel like I'm looking back into the Beatle's past, back to their Hamburg days -when they were a hardcore Rock N Roll Band, Lennon was the unquestioned leader, and they would (so the legend goes) do scorching 9 hour sets!! (Occasionally, so I've read; with a toilet seat round his neck in Lennon's case -lol!!). The song is so raw, and although it's not a Beatles written song -it's a kick ass contribution to an already stunning album.

I wouldn't be without my copy of HELP, I have it on vinyl and cd -it's just too good!!!

Hope you found my review of some help, and good luck with your bargain hunting!!

Best wishes,
Brett

Summary: A brilliant album, much underrated!!