When you read books with day-by-day chronologies of the concerts of big rock bands,
Help is the kind of group you might see listed as third-billed in the early '70s to
the Who,
the Kinks, or whoever. It's prototypical early-'70s American album rock, not unlikable in any significant way, but fairly yawn-inducing all the same. It's got a good-time, crowd-loosening feel, some rock & roll and country influences here and there, and songs that leave the listeners nothing to remember it by. It's more West Coast in feel than anything else, with a rousing brotherly feel to the harmonies on "For Sale" and "Open Up the Door," whose lyrics seem to be straining for a motto in common with songs like
the Youngbloods' classic hit "Get Together." "Easy to Be Free" goes into a slightly noodlier, more easygoing late-San Francisco hippie rock mood, while "Run Away" seems influenced by
the Guess Who's guitar work on "American Woman" and a few cuts have a mildly rougher, funkier touch. But nothing here's worthy of your attention. ~ Richie Unterberger