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").

Entertainment Weekly (10/12/01, p.34) - Ranked #33 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" - "...A mind-blowing slew of verging-on-adulthood Fab gems..."

Mojo (Publisher) (6/02, p.65) - Included in Mojo's "100 Coolest Movie Soundtracks" - "...Pop music this good has rarely been written for the movies."

Paste (magazine) (p.59) - "It set the stage for one of the most groundbreaking and innovative periods in The Beatles' career, not to mention pop music in general."