The Beatles Help! (180 Gram Vinyl, Remastered, Reissue)

The Beatles: John Lennon (vocals, guitar, electric piano); Paul McCartney (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass); George Harrison (vocals, guitar); Ringo Starr (vocals, drums). Additional personnel: George Martin (piano). HELP was the last Beatles album to feature a cover version (Larry Williams's "Dizzy Miss Lizzie"), and is considered a turning point in the quality of their songwriting. Like the previous album's "Im a Loser," "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" was Lennon's nod to the influence of Bob Dylan. McCartney's gift for melody was obvious in "I've Just Seen A Face." And Harrison's songwriting contributions grew to two tracks. Instrumentally, "Ticket To Ride"'s off-beat rhythm was Ringo's masterpiece, while the string quartet in the huge hit "Yesterday" was unusual for a rock band at that time; it was the start of a stellar series of McCartney ballads with strings ("Eleanor Rigby," "She's Leaving Home").

• Genre: Rock
• Format: Vinyl