A lot of bleating goes on about the Beatles' work from Rubber Soul onwards. Their studio experimentation, massive success, refusal to conform to the boundaries of pop music and simply brilliant songwriting from the second half of 1965 onwards cannot be downplayed (outside of Magic Mystery Tour/Yellow Submarine). However, there is often a reluctance to accept the pre-Rubber Soul Beatles as being anything better than a very good pop band.

I beg to differ. I think that the Help album, while in posession of a duff track or two, is a simply magnificent, life-affirming 35 minutes of wonderfully written pop. Pop, yes, but - at the risk of becoming Bones McCoy - not as we know it. This is the catchiest, most well written pop with a great attention to detail.

One thing that has to be pointed out is that the 'classic' standout songs from this album - 'Yesterday' the most covered song ever, 'Help!', the most confessional of John's earlier songs - as good as they are, are not necessarily any better than the lesser known moments here. Both of George Harrison's contributions, while ignored by the man himself in his book I Me Mine, are great. Paul McCartney's 'Another Girl' sets a slightly vicious lyric to a quirky tune, preluding his dumping of Jane Asher for Linda Eastman by three years. 'Dizzy Miss Lizzie,' while being a shameless attempt to emulate their early cover of 'Twist And Shout', is underrated. While the guitar riff is somewhat meek, the constant crashing cymbal and Lennon's throat-shredding vocal make it a wonderful closer.

The only slack moment is Ringo's vocal turn on 'Act Naturally,' a cover of an artist the name of which escapes me, but even that is perfectly listenable when in the right mood.

This is a perfectly tuned album of pop genius. Avoiding this based on the later quality would be a big mistake.

For some reason this album has quite often attracted less than flattering reviews complaining that The Beatles were tired and such like. Yeah right. I wouldn’t mind being tired if it meant I could churn out tracks like ’Ticket To Ride’, ’Yesterday’, ’I’ve Just Seen A Face’ and ’You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.’ Perhaps it was because from their next album ’Rubber Soul’, released just a few months after this one in 1965, the music The Beatles produced was taken to such heights that it was virtually beyond criticism. So this was the poor relation after the exuberance of ’A Hard Day’s Night’ and before the psychadelia of the mid 60s output? Well that would be a pretty ridiculous conclusion. This album’s songwriting was for the most part far superior to that on ’Beatles For Sale’ from the previous year and only marginally less consistent than ’Rubber Soul’.

When discussing a weaker link amongst Beatles albums, one does not think of Anne Robinson. And this album was way above what most bands were producing at the time and still sounds remarkably fresh and vibrant 40 years later. If you can I would avoid purchasing Beatles compilations. Their original albums are so much more rewarding. They each give a snapshot of where they were at the time. But blink and you’ve missed a few beats as the next album was always different. Other artists have successfully reinvented themselves it is true. David Bowie, Dylan, even The Stones on occasions. The Beatles did it with practically every album.

Other tracks worthy of note here are ’The Night Before’ from Paul, a fast catchy number with great backing vocals. ’I Need You’ is a simple but effective and quite charming Harrisong (check out Tom Petty’s version on Concert For George). ’You’re Gonna Lose That Girl’ is one of those lost Lennon classics that one finds on most Beatles albums. Among the covers, ’Dizzy Miss Lizzy’ is delivered with gusto and ’Act Naturally’ is a suitable vehicle for Ringo’s country vocal (he was to do a whole album of country songs in 1970 after the split entitled ’Beaucoups Of Blues’, to great effect).

A couple of the other songs are a little ordinary but only by this band’s Everest High standards. The title track was a genuine cry for help from Lennon (or so he said later) but is actually one of their less engaging singles. Not that it’s bad or anything. On the whole this album finds The Beatles at or very near their peak. I rediscovered it recently and it was great. It is the kind of album that you forget how good it is. And surely ’Ticket To Ride’ is their most majestic single for their early-mid period.

On Beatles For Sale, the band had made their first forays into a Dylanesque style of folk-tinged guitar pop. Songs such as I'm a Loser, I Don't Want to Spoil the Party and No Reply had hinted at an insecurity at the heart of Lennon, which was beginning to brim out more obviously than before.

However, that album was not totally in that mode. The big single Eight Days a Week was still guitar-pop, and others songs such as Rock and Roll music were as much part of the roots/rock and roll scene as before.

Help! continues this odd disparity, this strange mixture of styles. There are the straight-out guitar pop songs such as the title track, Night Before and Ticket to Ride and there are the dylanesque folkier numbers; You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, It's Only Love, I've Just Seen a Face and Yesterday. In between, there is the country Act Naturally and the country-esque Another Girl.

Overall, it is a massive leap in quality from the previous album - the singles ensure this. However, there is also something else going on with Help! that makes it such an intriguing album. It is the first of the band's middle period that takes in Rubber Soul and Revolver, a run of albums which are marked by an even quality lacking in the band's first efforts.

Indeed, there are only really a few weak tracks You Like Me Too Much, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, and possibly Act Naturally. Overall though, only Dylan could compete with such a strong selection over 14 songs.

Help! was, and is, a linchpin of the Beatles output. Some of the attention that should have been afforded it has often been deflected to the superb Rubber Soul. This is unfortunate as Rubber Soul would cast a shadow on any album with which it was compared against. Taken on its own merits, and if you look a little deeper, Help! is the first of The Beatles Folk/Rock albums (at least in part) and may be one of the band's most lovable records.

It is a shame that the cd is not available in a remastered format. As with the rest of the catalogue, this would help restore some of the warmth that can be heard on the original L.P. The mastering itself is very clear, but you may need to fiddle with your equalizer to try and give this version the depth of tone it should have.

Help! continues The Beatles' flirtation with Rockabilly/Country music with Ringo's terrific version of Act Naturally. The band plays the style with great gusto.

The title song introduced me to the concept of polyphony, or at least, having two or more tunes going at once. [OK, OK, so J.S. Bach they ain't!]

Lennon's nod toward Bob Dylan, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, is different from any song The Beatles recorded before or since, though maybe hints at Working Class Hero. I love the multi-tracked flutes and alto flutes.

Ticket To Ride has an interesting lead guitar part, played by Paul, and a great vocal part shared by John and Paul.

Paul's arrangement of his song I've Just Seen A Face is interesting, especially the sensitive guitar introduction. This is a great Country-influenced song.

The album contains Paul's solo performance of Yesterday, accompanied by a string quartet. The arrangement is vey simple, but effective. George Martin remarked later than McCartney had a bit of a hand in the arrangement, including the idea of the haunting, long high note in the last verse.

Just when you begin to think the guys are closet classicists, John rips into the album's raucous closing number, Dizzy Miss Lizzy.

Highly recommended.

Help! is one of the Beatles better albums although it is ignored by many critics around the world. Sgt.Peppers and Revolver are talked about frequently and Help along with Rubber Soul are I think up there alongside Sgt.Pepper and Revolver. Pics for tracks include You've got to Hide Your Love Away, Yesterday and for a Ringo song, the funny Act Naturally. 1965 was one of the Beatles most productive years producing Day Tripper, (My personal favourite) Norwegian Wood and Drive my Car. Joe, 13 years old.