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The Beatles - Help! (Remastered) Audio CD

A fair review of the The Beatles "Help! (Remastered)" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Beatles reviews here, or go back to the The Beatles tabs.

The Beatles Band: The Beatles
Title: Help! (Remastered)
Rating:
Release Date: 2009-09-09
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Help! 2: The Night Before 3: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away 4: I Need You 5: Another Girl 6: You're Going To Lose That Girl 7: Ticket to Ride 8: Act Naturally 9: It's Only Love 10: You Like Me Too Much 11: Tell Me What You See 12: I`ve Just Seen a Face 13: Yesterday 14: Dizzy Miss Lizzy 15: Help! Documentary

This Was My FIRST!
The Beatles album "HELP" was the first LP album I ever purchased. They say you always remember your first, and I have to agree it's true. After seeing the Beatles live in 1964 Germany, even though I was only 10 years old, I loved them without question. My older sister took me to see the Beatles in 64 and she went with me when I bought my first Beatles albums "Meet The Beatles" and "Help" which I still cherish to this day. Although I don't play them anymore, and they're collectables now, These remastered CD's bring the old scratchy and poppy music tracks back to life in a way I can hardly believe. It's wonderful to hear these Beatles songs I love so much brought back to life in the crystal clear digital age! .


Beatles Help
Great Buy! Not a significant change from '87 to today but still great packaging & detail.


EVEN BETTER
RE-MASTERED ENHANCES WHAT WAS ALREADY GREAT. THIS IS STILL GREAT MUSIC. THE BEATLES WILL ALWAYS ROCK.


Returning to form
Several songs recapture the bright, infectious melodies of their early work, while there is also a greater degree of experimentation present. After the very world-weary and tired-sounding 'Beatles For Sale', the Fab Four got some of their mojo back on 'Help!'. For the first time, The Beatles incorporate outside musicians in the form of a string quartet and flutes, and there is also an incresing use of keyboard instruments. The folk rock influence of Bob Dylan is also more prominent in the more downbeat, reflective lyrics. Overall, 'Help!' is stronger and more consistent than its predecessor, although there are still some signs of hangover in the form of covers and a couple of weak songs. Also, with the obvious exception of 'Yesterday', the album is very heavily front-loaded, making it sound a bit stronger than what is actually is.

The first half of 'Help!' holds its own against any previous Beatle album, not just in the well-known singles 'Ticket To Ride' and the title track. Lennon's folky 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away' is one of his most under-rated songs, while 'You're Going To Lose That Girl' seems most reminiscent of their early work. McCartney's 'The Night Before' and 'Another Girl' begin to incorporate the insecure, biting themes of Lennon, while 'I Need You' is the better of the two Harrison tracks.

In the second half, only 'Yesterday' is of a similar quality, one of the band's best and most well-known songs; ironic, given it's effectively a McCartney solo track. The simple acoustic ballad with string quartet accompaniment is the clearest sign of the development that would become evident on 'Rubber Soul'. Apart from that, the two covers, 'I've Just Seen A Face' and 'Tell Me What You See' are pleasant but not up to the standard of the first half. Harrison's 'You Like Me Too Much' is clumsy, and Lennon basically disowned 'It's Only Love'.

'Help!' is a transitional album in many ways; parts of it anticipate the more creative and mature direction they would persue, while others hark back to the band's boy-ish early work. In fact, 'Help!' is really the last Beatles album to be primarily "fun", and the last to portray the band as young, joyous, enthusiastic, and clean-cut. The creativity, maturity and seriousness of 'Rubber Soul' would be a pleasant surprise. With 'Help!' the first tentative steps in this new direction have been taken.

[4. 5 stars].


Heavily Hyped
True, you can hear the bass line a little better here, Lennon's harmony there, but unless you're a Beatles junkie it's not worth the price. There aren't significant differences between this recording and the original. The "re-master" is just the producer's opinion of how the songs could be better. The originals are great enough, this isn't an improvement.


You can see a complete list of all The Beatles discography, or go back to the The Beatles tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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