Help!

    John Lennon said that he was in his Bob Dylan phase around the time of Help! and the music really reflects it. The majority of the album has a more folk-y feel to it, opting for acoustic guitars instead of electric for most of the songs, and using other acoustic instruments not really found in rock too often, namely tambourine; seriously, there's so much tambourine on this album. Despite being inspired by 60's folk and Bob Dylan, while the sound matches, the lyrical content doesn't. It's mostly the same sort that was on A Hard Day's Night, i.e. mostly love songs and a few more personal, deeper songs (Help!, Yesterday). Speaking of things that haven't really changed since AHDN, the instrumentation and complexity of the music hasn't evolved much yet. Aside from the obvious folk direction, it isn't really doing anything that AHDN didn't also do. It has the same general level of instrumentation and harmonies, without being too complex. It's a little disappointing to me after liking the last one so much. And while I'm talking about how I personally feel about the album, let me say this: I don't care for folk music, and this sentiment kind of is transferred to Help! as a result. It just didn't hold my attention throughout; a lot of the tracks just bored me. There are a few exceptions of course (that's part of why I even have a highlights list) but the ones that I liked were the tracks that had much less of the Dylan influence on them. This album can mostly just be skipped I'd say, just listen to some of the more popular tracks and you're probably good. 

    Highlights: Help!, The Night Before, Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, Dizzy Miss Lizzy. 

Rating: 3/6