TIME AND A WORD

Although this album marks an improvement over the first album, something here simply doesn´t work (at least as a whole album is concerned). The band is more confident, bolder and there are some brilliant moments (the title track, Time Traveller, Sweet Dreams, Then). But there are parts that is also clear they were just experimenting. The orchestrations didn´t help much most of the time, since they tend to bury the group´s sound (the guitar sound to be more especific). Tony Cox simply seems not to know what to do with Yes music. Little wonder the band refused to use an orchestra again for over 30 years!

What strikes me here are the organ sound: I guess Tony Kaye was better than I used to think. And Bill Bruford is very confortable too, working very well his jazzy influences. The bass is a little too high in the mix, but Chris Squire´s playing is as beautiful and skillful as ever. Sometimes I´m not sure if Jon Anderson´s voice was recorded right all the time. The same goes for the harmony vocals. Peter Banks suffers the most as he is hardly noticed (lack of interest? He was sacked soon after this release).

In all, I see this as a transitional album. They tried different approaches to the music and some worked, some didn´t. However, the songwriting department did improve and their potential would be shown in the next album with full force. There are some strong tunes and in general I think this album is superior to their debut. However, it is also way below anything they would do in the next few years. Be sure to have their major albums before getting this one.