HELP (US VERSION)

This is the actual soundtrack of "Help" that I saw recently so was drawn to this. The US version here has all the instrumental music from the film which is similar to what they did with the "Yellow Submarine" soundtrack. There are tons of sitars and psychedelia but it soon wears out its welcome as The Beatles were always best when they sang, and they do not even contribute to the soundtrack sections. There are no titles to each section but when you watch the movie the tunes come back to me. None are all that good except for the Beatles medley heard near the beginning of the film, and the actual songs.

The songs are all good as expected. The title track has been covered ad infinitum for good reason as it captured a generation, the paranoia of the war, the loneliness and alienation of a technologically advancing society, the terror of the 60s. Or it could just be asking for help, but in any case these tracks are wonderful and memorable.

Best tracks are The Night Before, Lennon's soulful You've got to hide your love away, and the boppy tuneful Another Girl. Also I am a fan of Ticket to Ride, the huge single with catchy riff, and I Need You, always a highlight of the film. There are only 7 songs on the album so it was a great idea to initially release this album with a bunch of other songs and that is far superior to this because you get the likes of Tell Me What You See, a definitive harmonious track, raucous Dizzy Miss Lizzy, and the monster hit Yesterday.

None of those latter songs are here so I can only manage 2 stars for this collectors curio.