The Beatles – Help! (1965)

Merely another huge success to The Beatles back catalogue, Help! was released with yet another film by the Fab Four. This was another huge success for the group, and the music here, once again, is timeless. Let’s see how well it stands to this day.

The title track Help! sings about desperate love in a frustrated way by John Lennon. The music itself is great too, simple, and beautiful to listen to. It’s a great way to kick off this album with beautiful 12 string guitar and good timely drumming by Ringo Starr, this is a classic song by The Beatles.

Next is The Night Before which is a much happier sounding song by Paul McCartney about a disappointing experience with a lover. It’s an uptempo number with clanging electric guitars and straightforward music. Good stuff, once again. Thoroughly enjoyable.

You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away follows and is a song reflective of the title of the song. It’s a stern warning for people who are loud and proud about a failing relationship. No doubt John Lennon had some difficulties in his own love life, it’s a melancholy sounding piece that had some typical sounds from The Beatles around this time. There is a horn solo, not a guitar solo here to finish the song.

I Need You is next and has some violining by George Harrison on guitar, which was not really looked at as a guitar technique at the time. It’s a great sounding piece and some more variable sounds that you’d expect. Another good listen, although this album is still following a commercial trajectory, despite the quality of the songs here. Good stuff.

Next is Another Girl which has Paul McCartney boasting about happiness with a new lover he has found. An interesting and rather nasty sort of lyric base for a song. Still, it is classy and good music to hear. The Beatles were the band of the 1960s, no question about that. Paul sounds remarkedly cheerful for this song.

After that, we hear the story of You’re Going To Lose That Girl which is hilarious and witty on the subject matter. The Beatles were not exactly comedians, but this in retrospect, is. A sharp and nasty message, it is merely another good song in The Beatles history. Good stuff.

Ticket To Ride is a really excellent song by The Beatles, and probably the best from the entire album. Its lyrical charm and loud guitars make this a gem. Definitely catchy with loads of guitar riffs that are well done by the group. Seriously good listening. The harmonies in this are really awesome too at the end.

Act Naturally is a good singalong song with Ringo Starr singing about showing real emotion in a movie set. It’s a very good listen but sounds surprisingly cheerful for this sort of music. This album is obviously about conflicting emotions, perfect for the stresses of life when the mood strikes for it. The music and lyrics combine together nicely.

The next song It’s Only Love has a subtle reference to Marijuana at the start, before having John Lennon sing about conflicting internal emotions. The music here matches the lyrics very well. For those who choose to remain single eternally, this is your sort of song to explain why you’re better off that way. Good stuff.

Surprisingly cheerful listening comes with You Like Me Too Much. It talks about relationship troubles at hand but making it through those to have eternal love. A really good listen, although a lot of songs on this album sound the same to each other. Still, a consistent listen throughout the whole album.

Tell Me What You See has a sort of old shuffle music vibe about it. Another devotional love song, it points to eventual happiness and optimistic with said lover. The singing here is excellent, whoever said that The Beatles couldn’t make good tunes? It’s another good listen. It’s a little repetitive, however.

I’ve Just Seen A Face comes next. It is fast and catchy listening about love at first sight, something one can only experience once in their life. It’s a great foot tapping and head nodding number, very catchy and once again, very listenable. Good stuff by The Beatles, nice to hear.

The most covered recorded song in history is Yesterday is a really great Paul McCartney song. It’s simply the saddest song ever done by these guys. It has sad singing, beautiful acoustic guitar, and violin. Definitely a tearjerker moment, and a must-listen. A great song.

Lastly, we have Dizzy Miss Lizzy which is another cheerful tune to finish this album. A rather throwaway number, but still great uptempo music and an awesome way for The Beatles to conclude another successful album.

This is a very good, and yes, an underrated album by The Beatles. No doubt it was another success in their back catalogue, and deservedly so. After this, The Beatles were in a more drug-influenced and artistic direction, from Rubber Soul onwards. Still, give this a spin when you are crying out for Help!

8/10