Released in the summer of 1965, Help! found The Beatles at a crossroads – caught between the screaming insanity of Beatlemania and the serious, studio-bound artists they were rapidly becoming.
Ostensibly the soundtrack to their second feature film (don't bother, it hasn't aged well), The Beatles' least amazing album was the closest they came to treading water, with two tracks – Tell Me What You See and Another Girl – offering little more than pretty replicas of what had gone before. And this from a band that had previously refused to stand still.
Elsewhere, the revolution continued unabated. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were writing with increasing confidence and sophistication, and Help! captures that growth perfectly. There’s the folk-rock shimmer of the Bob Dylan-inspired You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, the dazzling two-minute perfection of Ticket To Ride, the extraordinary vulnerability of the title track itself – a rare moment of candour from Lennon, later described by its author as a genuine cry for help – and McCartney's typically-sappy-but-melodically-astonishing Yesterday.
For all its forward momentum, Help! still crackled with the humour, energy and melodic instinct that made The Beatles a global phenomenon. From the swagger of The Night Before to the harmonies of I’ve Just Seen A Face, it’s an album packed with moments that reward the most concentrated of listening.
So how well do you really know Help!? This quiz delves into one of the most pivotal – hell, they were all pivotal – chapters in The Beatles' story. Let us know how you got on in the comments.
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