Given the maturing the Beatles did in the five months between Meet The Beatles and A Hard Day’s Night, it’s little surprise that the fourteen months between Night and Help! yielded as great of creative leaps as it does.

Despite the album opening even more violently than the unrefined Meet The Beatles (“HELP!” accompanied with Ringo’s pounding), the album showcases a group coming into their own not only as the biggest band in the world, but as songwriters and musicians (especially George). They’re still writing energetic R&B informed rock songs, but lyrically, the subject matter is more melancholy and nostalgic, reaching far beyond the experience of their combined 111 years (Yesterday is sung with the world-weary voice of a much older man). Musically, their chops are more defined–Ringo stays in his pocket and lets the band play around him, George’s leads lack the blues-punk aesthetic of Meet and are much more prominent, , John and Paul’s rhythm section has never been tighter, and the composition of the songs on display here are much more sophisticated than anything they had released before (see: Ticket To Ride).

The most noticeable maturation here though is the Beatles’ vocal prowess. The BGVs have a much more pronounced role, often singing independent parts off of the lead line, filling the space left over when the drums were brought to a more appropriate spot in the mix. It’s a natural progression, given how much more in control of their voices they sound here than on the previous two albums in my collection. Given Help!’s position in their “best pop band in the world” period, the increased vocal presence and power is a natural move that plays against their growing talents well.

As this concludes the pre-Rubber Soul section of my Beatles collection, I should probably address my accusation of everything before that album as worthless. True, most of the albums before RS fall short of true greatness (Help! suffers for its inclusion of the Ringo-sung Act Naturally, which is a weak start to the second side, and the placement of the raucous Dizzy Miss Lizzy after the tender Yesterday), and very few of the songs reach the stratospheric level of their mid-and-late career output. However, there is some absolutely great pop music to be found there, even if there’s little to hint at the sheer greatness they would later achieve. So, not completely worthless then.