Poll--THE WEAKEST LINK: HELP! (USA VERSION), Round 3

We upset "I Need You."

One more needs to go this time.

Discussion questions: (1) When did you last play the US version of HELP!? Has your opinion of it changed since you first heard it? (2) Same question, but for the UK version.

T7 I Need You
T8 All Instrumentals

 

"Another Girl" - I love it, just my least of the choices.

1) I probably played the US HELP! about four or five months ago. I like it more today than yesterday... I like the sound quality of the tracks, and I appreciate the instrumentals because I'm a movie fan too.

2) The UK HELP! was a big deal when I was first buying imports as a teenager, so I could get all the movie songs on one side without the instrumental interruptions. But the result was that SIDE 2 always seemed like a hodgepodge of a mess of tracks which didn't gel together well at all... probably because I grew up on those US Capitol LPs for so long. My opinion of the UK version (side 2) has not changed at all today.

 

Again YGTHYLA as the least Beatlish. Interesting that I just learned to cover all the Beatles songs on the US album but did it without actually listening to the album, which I last heard more than 5 years ago. Instead I did it mostly by listening to the 5.1 film mixes, which made it easier to discern details of the arrangements.

And I also watched the whole film with my kids recently meaning I also heard all the instrumentals.

 

DQ: I last heard the USA version all the way through when I got the second Capitol box set a year or toe after it was released. My opinion of it hadn't changed as far as it being a ripoff, but I do enjoy that era of Beatle music so much more than I did in 1981 when I first heard it. (I let a friend take several of the US albums from the box set to listen for quality control, and HELP! was in the stack she had, so I didn't play it through when I got it back.)

As for the UK version, I last played it on a road trip last year, as I grabbed a few from the Mono box to play in the car. I liked the UK HELP! from the first time I heard it on CD, and still do, but it has a bit of a sameness to it when played all at once. It lacks the adventure of later stuff, and doesn't quite hold up to AHDN from the year before.

JcS

 

Another Girl

US - last played while listening through the US albums box set. UK - don't remember.
My opinion hasn't changed much..........this is my least favorite Beatles album in both versions - US (lousy soundtrack music), UK (side 2)

 

Another Girl has to go.

Actually, Help! as an album is not on my radar when I listen to The Bealtes.
I've made a nice compilation on iTunes with the best songs from all albums until Help! and that's what I listen to. The albums are stored.

 

Ditto and ditto

I made a comp of all the best songs pre Rubber Soul.

 

Damn, y'all are going to vote off Another Girl? I tell you I have never seen Paul play an instrument with a cuter G string than he does on this one.

Looks like I will get to keep voting off YGTHYLA for a while.

Love the vocal harmonies on the bridge of Another Girl.

 

Another Girl again. I would have chosen I Need You to go after Another Girl so it looks like I'll just have them in opposite order of the majority.

I know I listened to the US HELP from the Capital CD Box. The actual album I haven't listened to in many years.

The UK CD I know listened to within the past year because I went through all the Beatles UK CD's.

 

Another Girl, not because it's weak but just because the others are even stronger.

I don't remember the last time I played the US version of Help, it would be in the 1980s.

 

Another vote for Another Girl, although I like it. Could as easily have been YGTHYLA. There is a noticeable jump up to the other four.

 

Another Girl.

Haven't played this in years.

 

I'm surprised with the YGTHYLA talk.........it's one of my favorites, and I assumed it was more well liked among Beatles fans.
Then again, I also thought the same with "Girl" on Rubber Soul.

 

Voted for "Another Girl" but won't be able to vote after this round (assuming AG goes) as the remainders are all essential for me.

 

Doesn't sound like a Beatles track - sounds like John doing a Dylan rip
Track is largely strumming guitars and a tambourine
Flute solo instead of guitar solo
No vocal harmonies

Another Girl has great lead guitar throughout, full band, nice vocal harmonies, sounds like a Beatles tune

 

Once again Johns songs are the best. Seems to happen with all of these polls.

 

It's one of my favorites and one of Lennon's best songs - love that tambourine! As we have seen with Rubber Soul even the greatest of Beatles songs (In My Life) have their detractors.

Looking like a final between Help! and Ticket To Ride - not a huge fan of the title track so that will be an easy vote for me.

 

Another Girl.....

I listen to the UK version more often. Just listened to that one last week.
Always been on of my favorite albums.

 

Ticket To Ride is the best song on Help! -- either version.

 

1) A few weeks ago when I got the US Boxed Set. Loved it in 1979, love it now, though I probably tolerate the instrumentals less well now. Or maybe I tolerate them MORE because I don't "have to" listen to them anymore - it was much harder to skip them when I only had the album as a vinyl release.

2) A few months ago. Never had the UK version until 1987 and loved it - still do...

 

I think you were right the first time--skipping a track is LESS tolerance.

Now, the tracks may be less irritating...

JcS

 

Another Girl. I don't think I've listened to the Canadian (I think it's the same as the American) version since CDs came out in the 80s.

 

Guess I can go along with Another Girl.

No sense wasting my vote on Gonna Lose this round. Next round fer sure.

DQ: sometime back in the 60s. I certainly like(d) the Beatle songs, but as an "album" this doesn't rate with me. Again, the movie tracks are annoying (with the significant exception of the James Bond riff which I consider part of the title track). So it's no surprise I've never heard the UK.

 

It's semantics! I dislike the tracks less because I don't have to play them - but if I DO hear them, they probably bug me more.

Or maybe not - since I hardly play them, those occasions where I do hear them may be more tolerable/enjoyable than when I was a kid and was "forced" to listen to them every time I played the album...

 

Have any of the Beatles ever commented on their thought on the addition of the Bond bit to the title track? Probably the most notable modification of a Beatles song on a US release, followed by the false start on ILTY.