Help! [LP]

When I was a fledgling Beatle fan in junior high school, someone loaned me the U.S. version of help. There were some good songs, but there were also muzak instrumental versions that were a major disappointment. Not so on the UK edition.Help! was the soundtrack for the Beatles' second film, shot in color with a goofy plot involving Ringo with a ring belonging to some kind of exotic cult religion. Ringo as Bilbo Baggins...that's another story.Back to the music. The disk opens with "Help!", John Lennon's plea for sanity amidst the growing pressure of fame. This is a huge leap in songwriting maturity. Great opening with the chorus. Cool guitar arpeggios and overall outstanding performance by George. The background vocal line and harmonies are very distinct. The only thing missing on this version is the James Bond-like intro featured on the US album and the original issues of the "Red" album collection. 5 stars."The Night Before" is a Paul-sung tune with pleasant vocals and harmonies, but is a typical boy-girl love song. Catchy but I'll give it 3.5 stars."You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" is another leap in songwriting for John, a much more mature love song with more personal insights. I like the lyrics, the acoustic guitar parts, the descending lines and the woodwind(?) solo at the end. 5 stars. (Check out Eddie Vedder's solo version on the "I Am Sam" soundtrack.)"I Need You" is George's first song since "Don't Bother Me" and is mainly interesting for it's use of volume tricks on the guitar part. 3 stars."Another Girl" is a Paul, again catchy but another girl song. Cool guitar part, though. 3 stars."You're Going to Lose That Girl" features a nice performance by John on lead vocals and has a nice harmony by Paul, with a workman-like solo by George. 3.5 stars."Ticket to Ride" has the great guitar intro, nice backbeat drums by Ringo, and a very memorable vocal and instrumental melody. "I think I'm gonna be sad..." A classic sing-along, with a middle-eight that really makes the song click, plus the up-tempo ending. 5 stars."Act Naturally" a cover of a Morrison/Russell classic, sung by Ringo, could be one of Ringo's early signature songs. The lyrics nearly fit Ringo's career to a tee. Great country twang, rimshot drumming and knee slapping fun. 4 stars."It's Only Love" brings back that mellotron for a sappy John Lennon ballad. His confident vocal performance saves the song. 3 stars."You Like Me Too Much" is George Harrison's second credit on the disk. His vocal is still tentative, but the lyrics are more boy-girl angst. 2.5 stars."Tell Me What You See" has a melody/harmony line that never quite clicks, but it's a nice experiment. What saves this song is the harmony chorus, with organ line and cool drum part. 2.5 stars."I've Just Seen a Face" is McCartney's 2nd best contribution to this disk, a happy love ditty that shows up on the US version of "Rubber Soul." I like the acoustic guitar and shuffle rhythm.The next song, "Yesterday" is the first Beatle solo tune, with Paul on vocals and guitar, with string accompaniment. Simple lyrics, but delivered with unforced emotion. Most would rank this in the top 10 of all Beatle songs. The most covered tune of all time. A staple of Japanese karaoke to this day. 5 stars."Dizzy Miss Lizzie" is the usual rousing cover tune, probably culled from the Beatles' old performance list. Nice ringing guitar line, raw vocals by John and rocking, danceable beat.

This review applies to Sept 9, 2104 vinyl mono releases only. I've waited 35 years or more for new issues of pure analog Beatles on vinyl. No digital manipulation, or any manipulation, just music from original analog tapes to LP's. After years and years of disappointing digital releases and digitally modified vinyl, I thought this day would never come. I actually gave up buying music for a 20 year span. Based on listening to these new all analog mono LP's, I have found these Lp's have very little noise, if any, sound fantastic, and the pure analog sound is as good or better sounding than original Capital/EMI/Apple releases, in my opinion. No harsh compressed sound, no 2 dimensional sound, no digitally remastered sound transferred to vinyl, and no more dashed hopes in DVD Audio and SACD. These LP's sound fantastic.Like many Beatles fans, I grew up listening to them in the 60's. They made a violent and polarizing time in America more bearable. In the 60's, I bought and played their LP's until they were damaged beyond repair. I bought into digital music in the 80's only to find that it paled in comparison to pure analog. I should have bought more pure analog LP's while I had the chance, but, thought the medium was gone, whether I liked it or not. Finally I found vintage equipment (Sansui 6700 Receiver, Marantz Model 6300 Turntable, and JBL S312BE Speakers) and set out to spend mega money on EBAY for sealed analog LP's from the 60's and 70's. Unfortunately, many albums made in the 70's were made of cheap thin vinyl and were often warped or had defects/noise when new and right out of the package, but, I persevered and have a good collection of Beatles and other pure Analog LP's and some 45's.You don't have to spend Mega money, however, as these mono releases are superb in quality and sound. There is very little noise, often none between songs. The LP's are flat as they are 180 grams, and most importantly these LP's sound warm and beautiful. I just sat back, closed my eyes and let the music and harmonizing soothe my soul. I did not buy the box set for $375. I bought each individually. This along with a $40 reduction for applying for a credit card brought the total to about $250, and if you get a defective album, you can send it back instead of the whole box.Remember though, "Let it Be" and "Abbey Road" are not included in the box set as they were only made in stereo. Capital US releases like "The Beatles Again" and "Beatles 65" won't be there either, but, you will find those songs in these mono releases anyway.Thank you Apple/EMI/Optimal Media (Germany) for giving audiophiles what they've wanted for so many years. You did good.