12.47am
30 April 2019
AppleScruffJunior said
Too right Fiddy, anyone who placed IJSAF in any place other than #1 is dead to me and I mean that in earnest.As regards we’re all loser introverts… I mean we’re all on an internet forum, many of us with 0000s of posts, talking about a band that hasn’t released a proper album in almost 50 years.
Whoops I have it at 9
5.53pm
15 November 2018
3.29am
7 May 2017
My third album ranking, let’s do it. PS: I’ve done it and I’m almost surprised how positive I rated the album since I’m more of a psych rock / late era Beatles fan, but Help ! , my second Beatles album has always been the step before Rubber Soul to me, and here it is, a generally good record.
14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy Weird finale after Yesterday . I think the Beatles rock’n roll cover era was way over in 1965. Sure, Lennon is singing great and stuff, but it doesn’t really fit the album.
13. Act Naturally Again, it’s a cover and it shows. Ringo does a great job and everything but it’s just not one of my favourites.
12. Tell Me What You See I tell you; I see a good, likeable song that isn’t the best on the album.
11. You’re Going To Lose That Girl Not bad, not outstanding. The vocals are cool.
10. You Like Me Too Much Absolutely decent Harrison effort. Solid.
9. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away Nothing wrong with this one, good folk-track and already leaning towards Rubber Soul in style, but not my favourite.
8. I Need You Very good, considering Harrison just started to write his own songs. Simple, but striking and it suits George’s personality and style.
7. The Night Before I like this one. Suitably, it really is this wistful cry the morning after, sometimes I listen to it the day after a wild party or something like that.
6. It’s Only Love Beautiful melody, beautiful vocals that are both rough and gentle, beautiful folk-vibes.
5. Another Girl The kind of tune I want to slap into the face of past loves, so cheeky.
4. Help ! Nice opener, catchy and iconic. After a while, Lennons intentions of crying for help really shine through, especially thanks to his vocals.
3. Ticket To Ride Everybody, sing along! And listen to Ringos excellent drum Performance!
2. I’ve Just Seen A Face I love it, I love Paul singing and humming and I love the acoustic guitars. Listening to it, I feel like going out and sharing the joy of the song with everyone. And I love its representation in the film Across The Universe .
1. Yesterday Lame choice on my end, but when I overlook how overplayed it is, when I come back to it after a while, then it still is this beautifully haunting, melancholly tune and perhaps the bands first truly mindblowing song.
Queen says no to pot-smoking FBI members.
2.58pm
8 August 2019
One of my least favourite Beatles album, tbh.
14) Dizzy Miss Lizzy – lousy cover of an already meh song, that totally ruins the mood Yesterday sets up at the end of the album. Yesterday should’ve been a closer. 2/10
13) Act Naturally – I just don’t enjoy Ringo singing country songs, just as much as What Goes On was a drag for me. still better than Dizzy Miss Lizzy . 2/10
12) I Need You – uninspired, with a good electric guitar, that otherwise belongs to a boring song. 4/10
11) It’s Only Love – if you listen to the instrumental you actually hear a very original way or recording pop rock, a sound that was never explored again by The Beatles or any other band. still, it’s just too short to explore this sound enough, and the lyrics are complete trash. “It’s Only Love and that is all – why should I feel the way I do? – It’s Only Love and that is all – but It’s So Hard loving you”, that is not a man on his edge. 4/10
10) Another Girl – fun. with a fun verse that I personally enjoy. but it’s just not as good as other songs on the album. 4/10
9) You’re Going To Lose That Girl – feels like filler. the sound is unoriginal. but it’s classic Beatles. of the good kind. this is the kind of song I like to hear, but it makes me realize why The Beatles eventually changed their sound. they just couldn’t make this song over and over because they would’ve grown tired. 4/10
8) The Night Before – I know it’s simple but the harmonies are fine enough to be joyful. 4/10
7) You Like Me Too Much – actually I now am realizing how much this album bores me. because I’m on the 7th spot, and I still don’t enjoy the song enough. still, the delivery of “You Like Me Too Much and I like you!” I like a lot, so there’s that. 4/10
6) Tell Me What You See – I think Paul and John make a good vocal performance off a nice sounding simple song, that I like to hear more than most songs on this album. simple and pleasant. not very bright yet. 5/10
5) Help ! – a great opener and a uniquely sounding song. the harmonies are sharp and good. still I think it’s overrated, and Lennon himself said that he should’ve taken his time with the sound, because the lyrics where really significant. I agree, it’s too cheerful and formulaic for me to care. still a stroke of genius. 6/10
4) You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – simple, sweet, sharp, good. an original track. probably not as memorable as others, but I dig it a lot. 6/10
3) Ticket To Ride – it has very interesting things to glance at. the drums are very unique, the bass melody is different and the vocals are very good. Ticket To Ride works as a progression and also as a fun pop tune. the bridge kills the potential of being the first track for me. 7/10
2) I’ve Just Seen A Face – it’s not a very beatlesque song, just country. but very original at that, and lyrical stellar. the beginning guitar is good, but it doesn’t hold itself against the rest of the song. still, this “rest of the song” is very good, and the chorus is very good sounding. 7/10
1) Yesterday – a classic that really it’s not one of my favourite Beatle songs, but can’t be beaten by any of the other songs on this album. the guitar is simple but beautiful, as they are the vocals and the string harmonies. great song, that showed the maturity in composition that was about to take over. 7/10
the watusi
the twist
3.30pm
23 July 2019
Clerefor Sede said
9) You’re Going To Lose That Girl – feels like filler. the sound is unoriginal. but it’s classic Beatles. of the good kind. this is the kind of song I like to hear, but it makes me realize why The Beatles eventually changed their sound. they just couldn’t make this song over and over because they would’ve grown tired.
Looks like I’m throwing up some hands here.
The following people thank knowhereman for this post:
Timothy, Jules"Was she told when she was young
That pain would lead to pleasure?
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back
To earn his day of leisure?"
- John Lennon, "Girl"
7.13pm
14 June 2016
knowhereman said
Clerefor Sede said
9) You’re Going To Lose That Girl – feels like filler. the sound is unoriginal. but it’s classic Beatles. of the good kind. this is the kind of song I like to hear, but it makes me realize why The Beatles eventually changed their sound. they just couldn’t make this song over and over because they would’ve grown tired.
Looks like I’m throwing up some hands here.
It’s one of my favourite John vocals of all time. He’s so angry and passionate. The melody is rockin’. Feels like filler? Blasphemy!
The following people thank Timothy for this post:
Jules, knowhereman, 50yearslate1.The Beatles 2.Sgt. Pepper 3.Abbey Road 4.Magical Mystery Tour 5.Rubber Soul 6.Revolver 7.Help! 8.Let It Be
9.A Hard Day’s Night 10.Please Please Me 11.Beatles For Sale 12.With The Beatles 13.Yellow Submarine
Most Avid John Fan 2020 and 2021:
3.43am
7 May 2017
8.35am
23 July 2019
Timothy said
knowhereman said
Clerefor Sede said
9) You’re Going To Lose That Girl – feels like filler. the sound is unoriginal. but it’s classic Beatles. of the good kind. this is the kind of song I like to hear, but it makes me realize why The Beatles eventually changed their sound. they just couldn’t make this song over and over because they would’ve grown tired.
Looks like I’m throwing up some hands here.
It’s one of my favourite John vocals of all time. He’s so angry and passionate. The melody is rockin’. Feels like filler? Blasphemy!
Amen to that, love “You’re Going To Lose That Girl ” probably my favorite song on the track. An unpopular opinion of mine, for sure. It’s anything but filler.
The following people thank knowhereman for this post:
Timothy, 50yearslate, Jules"Was she told when she was young
That pain would lead to pleasure?
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back
To earn his day of leisure?"
- John Lennon, "Girl"
8.09am
26 January 2017
I love the way You’re Going To Lose That Girl transitions into the guitar solo.
The following people thank QuarryMan for this post:
knowhereman, 50yearslate, JulesI've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound.
8.45pm
16 November 2019
Help ! was a very “folky” album in my opinion – definitely more so than any of its predecessors or successors. It would have been interesting to see what the Beatles would have become if they had continued in that direction. That said, here is my ranking (as of November 2019!):
1. I’ve Just Seen A Face – An incredible composition by McCartney. It grabs you immediately and expresses the rush many feel when first meeting, say, their future partner. I find it very impressive that the word “love” is never used, despite it being one of the Beatles’ most love-oriented songs. The guitar opening is also a fantastic touch that subtly introduces the story that is elaborated on in the lyrics. This song was placed excellently in the album immediately before Yesterday , although I think it could have worked as an album opener as well.
2. Yesterday – You know it’s good if it’s been covered more than 1,600 times! Following the excited, semi-desperate nature of I’ve Just Seen A Face , Yesterday would be a truly perfect album finisher, but unfortunately it’s followed by a rather rude awakening (see #14). Despite this, Yesterday is impossibly deep considering it was written entirely by a Liverpudlian guy in his mid-20s. Individually, one of the greatest Beatles songs, up there with A Day In The Life , Strawberry Fields Forever , and Hey Jude . Yesterday would have also made a fantastic single in the UK.
3. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – HEY!!… You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away … John takes us into Dylan-esque territory with this pre-Rubber Soul version of Nowhere Man . There’s a hilarious touch of annoyed regretfulness in John’s vocal that puts this one so high on my list. The simplicity of the instrumentation really helps to accentuate the lyrical ideas, but I truly wish more than two verses had been written. John really had something going here, and he would develop this reflective, cynical attitude with later compositions such as A Day In The Life and I’m So Tired .
4. Ticket To Ride – Containing possibly the highest-quality bridge of any Beatles song, Ticket To Ride is a much more energetic outlook into John’s cynical view of the world. The drumming style and guitar riff foreshadow the psychedelic styles of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper ‘s that were to come. The lyrics, although thematically fairly simple, work well with this style.
5. Help ! – Along with Taxman from Revolver , one of the best album openers in the Beatles’ impressive repertoire of albums. There is so much energy and seeming happiness that you can easily forget the song represents John’s inadvertent cry for help after the height of Beatlemania in 1964. The backing vocals are very cool and make it a hilarious one to sing along to with friends.
6. You’re Going To Lose That Girl – A vaguely sarcastic piece with catchy drumming and fantastic harmonies. (I’ll be writing much shorter explanations now.)
7. I Need You – One of George’s most underrated compositions, along with The Inner Light and Long Long Long. The volume pedal guitar technique is what really sells this song, along with the (probably unintentional) punchiness of the lines “Said you had a thing or two to tell–me” and “Please remember how I feel a-bout-choo“.
8. It’s Only Love – Although the lyrics are very simplistic, the weariness of John’s voice really sells this song for me, and definitely fits it into the album nicely.
9. The Night Before – A cool track with a great opening. In my opinion, the bridges have a much higher quality than the verses.
10. Act Naturally – This is Ringo at his best, along with With A Little Help From My Friends on Sgt. Pepper ‘s. Unfortunately, Beatles fans set very high standards after the massive success of the previous two albums, and a cover in the album after so many amazing original tracks just couldn’t cut it. That being said, it’s a very enjoyable track, and one of the better covers in the Beatles’ repertoire.
11. Another Girl – For some reason, many of the tracks on this album feature changing one’s fiancee to a different one. This is certainly the most… mocking?… one, and I can’t help putting it this low down because of the vaguely discomforting lyrics. The catchiness of the instruments and melody, however, nearly make up for it.
12. Tell Me What You See – A great message and some pretty enjoyable verses, but it’s so simplistic compared to the other tracks that I couldn’t put it much higher on my ranking. The vocals in the choruses also seem a tad forced.
13. You Like Me Too Much – Unlike the intro of I’ve Just Seen A Face , the intro of this one seems slightly disjointed from the rest of the song, only appearing again at the end. The lyrics (and indeed the song title itself) also seem slightly “possessive” (if that makes any sense!).
14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy – Completely unnecessary and a very rude awakening from the reflectiveness and troubled expression of Yesterday . It would work better as a 1963/1964 B-side.
2.34am
28 February 2020
2.36am
28 February 2020
knowhereman said
Timothy said
knowhereman said
Clerefor Sede said
9) You’re Going To Lose That Girl – feels like filler. the sound is unoriginal. but it’s classic Beatles. of the good kind. this is the kind of song I like to hear, but it makes me realize why The Beatles eventually changed their sound. they just couldn’t make this song over and over because they would’ve grown tired.
Looks like I’m throwing up some hands here.
It’s one of my favourite John vocals of all time. He’s so angry and passionate. The melody is rockin’. Feels like filler? Blasphemy!
Amen to that, love “You’re Going To Lose That Girl ” probably my favorite song on the track. An unpopular opinion of mine, for sure. It’s anything but filler.
Boy’s, are you buzzing?
What is happening? And tell me how you've been.
5.41pm
28 April 2020
I think this was the first Beatle album I bought as a young teenager in the mid-70s. I remember comparing track listings with ‘A Hard Day’s Night ‘, giving each scores, so see which one I liked best! I think ‘AHDN ‘ was the second album I bought! Anyway, I always liked it, but over the years it’s standing has dropped a bit among my favourites. It was a big leap from ‘Beatles For Sale ‘ and happily, the covers were getting phased out! Actually, I think if ‘BFS’ had not been released and the best songs like ‘No reply’, I’m A Loser ‘ and ‘Baby’s In Black ‘ etc added to ‘Help ‘, in place of some of the weaker songs, it would have been a really strong album!
I think this is the end of the ‘Hard Day’s Night’ style Beatles and the beginning of the more serious ‘Rubber Soul ‘ Beatles. Tracks like ‘Yesterday ‘, Ticket To Ride ‘, You Got To Hide Your Love Away’, ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face ‘, ‘I Need You ‘ and ‘Help ‘ would have been good enough for ‘Rubber Soul ‘ …. the rest of the album, clearly wouldn’t!
14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy – nothing against this song, but can’t really see the point! They had written ‘Ticket To Ride ‘, ‘Help ‘ and ‘Yesterday ‘ and in a few months would be recording ‘In My Life ‘, ‘Norwegian Wood ‘ and ‘Nowhere Man ‘ … so there was just no need for covers anymore! If they wanted to end on a R’n’R song, they should have added Paul’s ‘I’m Down ‘, though it’s not all that great either really!
13. The Night Before – I’ve never really liked this one. It’s catchy enough and Paul sings it well, just an underwhelming song.
12. Another Girl – Another Paul one I have never really liked, though the ‘middle 8’ is nice and catchy.
11. You Like Me Too Much – only the second album that George had written songs for. This is the weaker of the two, but still catchy and nice to see his songwriting progressing.
10. Tell Me What You See – nice song and lovely singing by John & Paul.
9. Act Naturally – I always liked this one and think it is perfect for Ringo’s voice. I’m glad that he got to sing original songs from the next album onwards though!
8. You’re Going To Lose That Girl – A fairly standard, but good, John song … slightly threatening as he could be!
7. It’s Only Love – I shouldn’t really like this one, as no one else seems to, including John, but I do! I’ve always loved John’s voice on this one and it is a catchy song, even though the lyrics aren’t that important.
6. I’ve Just Seen A Face – At long last … a good Paul song! He didn’t really have any since the ‘A Hard Day’s Night ‘ album, but this is a good one and has stood the test of time!
5. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – classic John song with cryptic lyrics.
4. I Need You – a great song from George, the real beginning of his songwriting journey! Tom Petty sang a really heartfelt version of this at ‘Concert For George’. He looked so sad while he was singing it, it was heartbreaking to watch.
3. Help – could be swapped with ‘Yesterday ‘. A cry of Help from John, wrapped up in another classic Beatle tune! Always loved Paul and George’s backing vocals.
2. Yesterday – a classic from Paul. One of his best ever! This was the first Beatle single I bought, when it was released in UK in 1976. I think the ‘B’ side was ‘I Should Have Known Better ‘ off ‘AHDN ‘, which I also thought was great! I always made sure to check what was on the ‘B’ side when I bought the Beatle singles!
1. Ticket To Ride – One of my Top 3 Beatle singles (‘Strawberry Fields Forever ‘ and ‘We Can Work It Out ‘ complete my Top 3) and in my Top 10, if not Top 5, Beatle songs … just a classic and I love it! I also love The Carpenters version too … just a really good song!
The following people thank alittlebitolder for this post:
QuarryMan, SgtPeppersBulldog5.29pm
1 July 2020
14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy
11. Another girl
10. Act naturally
9. You’re Going To Lose That Girl
8. Help !
7. I need you
6. Yesterday
5. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
3. The night before
Local George fanatic
2021:
10.57pm
25 February 2020
thought I’d done this before, turns out I haven’t!
from best to worst:
3.17am
5 November 2011
- Yesterday – An absolute masterpiece. I could cry every time I listen to this song.
- I’ve Just Seen A Face – This song is a jam. Always a highlight of Paul’s concerts.
- Help !
- You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – I feel this song on a spiritual level.
- Another Girl
- The Night Before
- Ticket To Ride – This song always reminded me of Scooby Doo.
- You’re Going To Lose That Girl
- You Like Me Too Much
- I Need You
- It’s Only Love
- Tell Me What You See – Kind of depressing to listen to.
- Act Naturally
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy – The repetitiveness stresses me out and I do not like John’s vocals. It was also disrespectful to put this after Yesterday and end the album with it.
All living things must abide by the laws of the shape they inhabit
7.10am
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Can’t remember if I did this previously.
Probably the hardest album to rank as there is very little in it with many of the songs
- Ticket To Ride – Maybe it should be lower but it isn’t. There is something about this that puts it here and it feels right. The intro, the drums, the vocals, the guitars, the promo.
- I Need You – The second Beatles cassette I bought (I cannot have been older than 10) was ‘Help !’ with the messed-up song order where it opened with ‘I Need You ‘ and ever since then I have loved this so much and it must have played a massive part in getting into the Beatles. I had to do music classes in primary school and one of the very few things I did was find out how to recreate the Wah-Wah part from this on the keyboards. After I did little else was achieved as I couldn’t care less.
- Help ! – Vulnerability covered up by sheer force and volume. John was crying out ‘Help !’ and no one realised he meant every damn word. Nothing else to add.
- Yesterday – One of Paul’s masterpieces. The lyrics, recording and everything is spot on. And it’s not even in my top three on the album.
- It’s Only Love – John hated it. I get why but he was wrong, so badly wrong. A pure undiluted innocence and vulnerability flows thru-out the whole track which wasn’t how John wanted to be seen.
- Tell Me What You See – Gets a lot of meh reactions, I adore it. It sounds like one half of a constantly repeating getting nowhere discussion with a lot of frustration (where they yell “Tell Me What You See !!!! at the end of the choruses) before it ends in sheer collapsed exhaustion having gained no ground or resolution.
- I’ve Just Seen A Face – The intro is class and then you’ve off with no breather until it’s done with.
- You’re Going To Lose That Girl – The highlight has to be Ringo savagely beating the living hell out of the bongos. The longer the track goes on the more manic he gets.
- You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – Great song, prefer the above more.
- You Like Me Too Much – Arguably could be higher up. A knock-offed George track with a fabulous instrumental section and I love how the transition vocal back into the main verses (“If you leave me”)
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy – The album placement kills the song as it simply does not fit. Good live. It’s better than the below, far worse than the above.
- Act Naturally – It’s alright, an average Ringo vocal with the highlight being Paul’s harmony vocal and the sound of Ringo’s clicking sticks.
- The Night Before – Slightly less boring than the below.
- Another Girl – A boring song that doesn’t do much. When the highlight of a song is the writer getting embarrassed when he accidently touches a girl’s boob when miming said song in a film there is a problem.
The following people thank meanmistermustard for this post:
Vera Chuck and Dave, WeepingAtlasCedars, SgtPeppersBulldog"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
12.43pm
1 January 2017
Similarly to AHDN , side one is solid, but side two is more hit and miss IMO.
Help !
Tell Me What You See (this still gives me warm and fuzzy nostalgia for 2016-17 and first getting into them )
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
You’re Going To Lose That Girl (I underestimated this for a long time, but now I see I was wrong to. Great song!)
It’s Only Love (I used to like this one a lot more. It still has a very pretty melody and it’s a great performance, but listening back after some time, I can understand why John felt the lyrics were weak and I think those, unfortunately, Let It Down in a big way.)
I’ve Just Seen A Face (I’ve never quite got the hype for this one. It’s decent, but Paul trying to sing fast and fit a lot of words in I find slightly irritating. But hey, maybe it will grow on me in time…)
Dizzy Miss Lizzy (love John’s energy here, but this song definitely feels like it has one foot stuck in the past compared to everything else on the album, plus that riff can get annoying after a while.)
The following people thank SgtPeppersBulldog for this post:
vonbontee"Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles... "
2017:
3 Guest(s)