So why is The Beatles’ Help! on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Maybe I’m an outlier in how I think about The Beatles’ obscenely great body of work, but at some point early in my life I automatically slotted all things Beatles into their “early,” “middle,” or “late period” output.
With that came the easy understanding that all periods of Beatles history are great, iconic, untouchable. But just by a hair came the belief that middle-stage Beatles are the best, capped by the towering achievement of two albums that – it’s noteworthy that with merely 49 “slots” remaining to cover on this epic journey through the best 1,000 albums ever – have not yet been etched into digital stone on the best 1k list.
Perhaps 10 or 15 years ago, I embarked on a reassessment of the “early” Beatles period. Brought on in part by the “maturity” of streaming digital music services like Spotify, part of my astonishment and delight here was that there was not just Beatles material, but stunning and earth-shattering Beatles songs I’d only vaguely known — or in some cases, never recalled hearing at all.
Two absolute stunners – “Baby’s in Black,” which originally appeared on Beatles for Sale in the UK, and “Things We Said Today,” off of Hard Day’s Night – broke my brain during this phase, causing me to reexamine my entire take on The Beatles.
Also because, why not? This is the fun stuff of life, right?
And then at some point I felt compelled to take another look at “Help!” off of the album of the same name. Now, I’m not sure what the youth-types think about The Beatles generally and “Help!” specifically these days, but it was a ubiquitous part of the backdrop of Music As I Understood Itas soon as I could figure out much of anything about music while growing up during the ‘80s.
But taking another listen – really listening to “Help!” – prompted me to elevate it in my mind from oh yeah, of course it’s another iconic one from The Beatles to oh my dear lord this is truly astonishing.
And it truly is.
The rhythm, the harmonies, the catchiness, the hint of melancholy and whimsy and earnestness and deeply unique vibes that only the four lads from Liverpool could ever bring to our planet.
It’s all there, delivered in full, served up in two minutes and nineteen seconds.
But with all of that being said, “Help!” is not even my favorite song on Help! the album, and not by a good ways. Depending on the day, that honor goes to either “The Night Before” or “Another Girl.”
Both have ecstatic energy and early electric rock and roll vibes that pulse and perk and percolate sixty(!) years after their original release.
And then of course there’s “Yesterday,” sad and quiet and sweet and powerful, a Paul McCartney masterpiece if there ever was one. As TheBeatles.com notes, “Yesterday” is “the only Beatle to appear on the recording, and it was the first official recording by the Beatles that relied upon a performance by a single member of the band. He was accompanied by a string quartet.”
I’ll end on the wonderful “It’s Only Love,” which shows off John Lennon’s vocals at their very best. It holds the hint of psychedelia, pointing the way to the “middle period” Beatles albums – Rubber Soul and Revolver – that are arguably the greatest of them all.
I’ve come to realize that Help! is the hinge point between early mop-top Beatles and the mid-period masterpieces: still drenched in the mop-top pop energy of their early years, but already leaning toward the sophistication and experimentation of the “middle period.”
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with The Beatles’ Help!
I’ll freely admit that I have never seen Help! the movie, the soundtrack for which forms the basis of this best 1,000 albums ever entry.
Directed by Richard Lester, Wikipedia describes the movie as a “musical comedy-adventure” in which the lads are forced to protect Ringo Starr from “a sinister eastern cult and a pair of mad scientists, all of whom are obsessed with obtaining a sacrificial ring sent to him by a fan.”
I think it’s safe to say that if you dug The Monkees TV show back in the day, you’ll be all about Help! the movie.
Otherwise, you might just want to stick with the soundtrack.
Some stats & info about The Beatles’ Help!
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? British Bands, Rock Music, Psychedelic Rock, Baroque Pop, Pop Music, Film Soundtracks
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #266
- All Music’s rating – 5 out 5 stars
- When was Help! released? 1965
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #50 out of 1,000
The Beatles’ Help! on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Beatles’ Help! that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I believe in yesterday.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.