Help yourself to another Beatles album! (Help! - The Beatles)

Member Name: Sharpishglass

Product:	Help! - The Beatles
Date:	17/08/09 (9 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: at least 5 songs of fantastic quality, the album flows very well

Disadvantages: Cover songs are lacking, doesn't sound quite as fresh as some other Beatles records

Following quickly on the heels of A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles released their second album designed to accompany a film release. Generally considered as their last 'early' album, Help! offers perhaps the best portrait of the band in transit between their poppy and more experimental phases.

That being said, it's sad to find that the album initially comes as a slight disappointment. Following the revelation of A Hard Day's Night including exclusively Beatles-penned numbers, two covers find their way into the tracklist here, 'Act Naturally' and 'Dizzy Miss Lizzy' being among their worst efforts yet. Occasionally the original material doesn't pay off either, as John Lennon famously dismissed 'It's Only Love' as one of the worst songs he ever wrote. The sense of fatigue that plagued Beatles for Sale, though less prevalent here, is still apparent in some of the tracks, and the album suffers for it. And for all the positive things that've been said about this album bridging the gap between their early and later work, the result is a transitory album that sees old and new styles and moods sit uncomfortably alongside each other ('The Night Before' to 'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away', 'Ticket to Ride' to 'Act Naturally').

But for all this, the album, as with all recorded by this band, has a wealth of magical moments. The title track and 'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away' are prime Lennon numbers, loaded with ambiguities and deeper than anything the band had recorded up to that point. 'You're Gonna Lose That Girl' is one of the group's most overlooked tracks, featuring perhaps Lennon's best vocal performance to date and pitch perfect harmonies. 'Ticket to Ride' is simply one of the band's best songs, lolloping and unconventional while making perfect sense at the same time. And 'Yesterday', quite probably the most famous melancholic pop hit in the world, the most covered song of all time, still has the power to command your attention.

When taking those glorious moments into account, it's hard to regard Help! as a failure. It has its weak moments, sure, but at its best it features several songs that remain at the forefront of the band's achievements.

Summary: A band in transition, creating some of their best music alongside some tunes with less inspiration..