TIME AND A WORD

In 1970, Yes was still an unknown band from England with some potent talent. After a somewhat unremarked first album, yes returned in studio with bigger ideas, with the goal of being more sophisticated in their sound. They decided to bring in a mini- orchestra and to let the jamming parts aside. The point was to find commercial territories. Did it work? Absolutely not. The orchestra did not work commercially, because Yes was still a young band, without a sound of their own, and the string arrangements mostly got in the way of their progression.

Still, a lot of artists did take notice, like Who's guitarist Pete Townshend, who was an avid fan of the group. And for reason, this is a quite good album, with a lot of energy and joy, even if the sound is not well-defined and perhaps the amps are too high for the orchestra. The bold version of the Richie Havens classic, ''No Opprtunity Neccessairy,No Experience Needed'', is a delight, with a good show from the musicians, especially Chris Squire, wich shines here. Bill Bruford is starting to mature, but his textures are still not there yet. Tony Kaye is great throughout the album, with good duets between him and the orchestra. This is also Peter Banks' last apparition as a member of Yes. He has his moments, but the direction yes was taking was to be without him. The tighter sound and the more structured arrangements would not have fit for the jazz guitarist, and the dexterity needed was maybe too high for him.

We can still hear the real basis of Yes, such as the lyrics (see Astral Traveler) and the epic sound ( see The Prophet). A transitional work, indeed, but a great one anyways. This is not up to what would come next, but it is still underappreciated to this day.