The Help Album

The Help Album
Studio album by Various artists
Released 9 September 1995
Recorded 4 September 1995
Genre Various
Length 75:39
Label Go!
Producer War Child
War Child charity albums chronology
The Help Album
(1995)		 NME in Association with War Child Presents 1 Love
(2002)NME in Association with War Child Presents 1 Love2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
NME(10/10)[2]

The Help Album is a 1995 charity album devoted to the War Child charity's aid efforts in war-stricken areas, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. It features many then-popular British and Irish artists, and spawned the follow-up albums 1 Love (2002), Hope (2003), Help!: A Day in the Life (2005) and War Child Presents Heroes (2009).

Recording

The album's recording was inspired by the concept behind John Lennon's "Instant Karma!" – records, like newspapers, should be released as soon as they are recorded. Help was recorded on Monday, 4 September 1995, mixed on Tuesday the fifth, and was in shops on Saturday the ninth. The original version release did not include any track list attached to the sleeve notes, the track listing was instead printed as a full page ad in the NME. Notable tracks include:

The album's sleeve notes included a contribution from former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, as well as artwork by John Squire and Massive Attack's 3-D. It reached number one on the UK albums compilation charts, and would have reached number one on the UK albums chart had the UK chart compilers not refused to accept it as a single artist album (Go! Discs had attempted to get around the chart restriction on various artists albums by declaring that all contributors were members of a one-off supergroup called War Child). In his book A Year with Swollen Appendices, Brian Eno writes bitterly about this decision, claiming that it cost the charity thousands of pounds in lost sales. Nevertheless, the album raised more than £1.25 million for War Child.

Track listing

The full track listing is not given in the booklet as it was not known at the time of printing.

  1. Oasis and Friends – "Fade Away"
  2. The Boo Radleys – "Oh Brother"
  3. The Stone Roses – "Love Spreads"
  4. Radiohead – "Lucky"
  5. Orbital – "Adnan"
  6. Portishead – "Mourning Air"
  7. Massive Attack – "Fake the Aroma" (alternate version of Karmacoma)
  8. Suede – "Shipbuilding"
  9. The Charlatans vs. The Chemical Brothers – "Time For Livin'"
  10. Stereo MCs – "Sweetest Truth (Show No Fear)"
  11. Sinéad O'Connor – "Ode to Billie Joe"
  12. The Levellers – "Searchlights"
  13. Manic Street Preachers – "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"
  14. Terrorvision – "Tom Petty Loves Veruca Salt"
  15. The One World Orchestra featuring The Massed Pipes and Drums of the Children's Free Revolutionary Volunteer Guards (aka The KLF) – "The Magnificent"
  16. Planet 4 Folk Quartet – "Message to Crommie"
  17. Terry Hall and Salad – "Dream a Little Dream of Me"
  18. Neneh Cherry and Trout – "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 "
  19. Blur – "Eine kleine Lift Musik"[3]
  20. The Smokin' Mojo Filters – "Come Together"

The Help EP

An abbreviated Help EP was released in conjunction with the Help album, reaching number 51 on the UK charts.

  1. Radiohead – "Lucky"
  2. PJ Harvey – "50ft Queenie (Live)"
  3. Guru – "Momentum (Guru's Jazzmatazz)"
  4. Portishead – "Untitled"

"Come Together" single

The Smokin' Mojo Filters' version of "Come Together" was released as a single, reaching number 19 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] Like the Help EP, it featured a variety of artists.

  1. The Smokin' Mojo Filters – "Come Together"
  2. The Beautiful South – "A Minute's Silence"
  3. Dodgy – "Is It Me"
  4. Black Grape – "In the Name of the Father (Remix)"

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  2. ↑ nme.com/photos/21-1990s-albums-nme-has-given-10-10-1418946
  3. ↑ The title is a parody of Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik.
  4. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 510. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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