Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Help! [UK] (1965)

"Help!" Pretty much the end once and for all of Beatlemania -- I happened to see the movie at the time in a theater packed with squealing, screaming girls -- this version of the album takes the transition a step further: "I've Just Seen a Face," the #12 track here, kicked off the version I knew of Rubber Soul, which it's fair enough to call the first post-Beatlemania album. So some cognitive dissonance here, but overall an improvement on what they offered us in the U.S. Once again my favorites tend to be what did not get overplayed on the radio: "I Need You," "Another Girl," and "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" limn an interesting array of opposing teen heart throb scenarios. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" is tender and gorgeous. "Act Naturally" gives Ringo a nice star turn. This is one of the good ones.

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