TIME AND A WORD

Definitely an improvement on the debut album, Time And A Word was released just like it's predecessor with a different artwork on both sides of the Atlantic (the ocean, not the label ;o))), but this time, the European got the better deal as the American version had a band snapshot in a cemetery, but with Steve Howe (ex-Tomorrow) in the fold instead of guitarist Peter Banks ? which shows how quick and abruptly Yes fired him.

Obviously the group had learned from their mistakes of the debut album and wrote plenty of tracks ala Looking Around and Survival (the better songs of that one) and here we have Astral Traveller, Then, the title tracks and the album-lengthiest and more complex The Prophet are the highlights. The only disputable weakness is the questionable use of additional strings, which tend to hinder, more than enhance the song's progress. A good step forward, but not essential still, as you can have most of the album's better tracks (except sadly The Prophet) on the Yesterdays compilation.