TIME AND A WORD

In 1970, Yes followed up their promising debut album with this rather patchy affair. I've never been particularly keen on Time And A Word due to the tasteless orchestration throughout the album. I'm not overly fond of the surreal artwork of a naked woman either, and this cover was apparently considered to be unsuitable for the US audience. Some of the songs here are actually quite good, but the intrusive orchestrations spoil them in the majority of cases. Paradoxically, one of my favourite parts of the album is the orchestrated 'Big Country' theme that is incorporated into the cover of Richie Havens' NO OPPORTUNITY NECESSARY, NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED. The remainder of the piece tends to bore me though. THEN is one of the better tracks, but the brash orchestral sweeps obscure Tony Kaye's organ flurries. The album's second cover is a tedious version of Buffalo Springfield's EVERYDAYS, although it picks up in the middle with a nice instrumental section.

Jon Anderson monopolizes the songwriting credits on this album; Chris Squire, who co-wrote four songs on the debut, is only involved on one song here. THE PROPHET is the sole Squire collaboration, and it's an ambitious but dull piece featuring nice Hammond and really cheesy strings. Anderson indulges himself on CLEAR DAYS, which has a chamber feel thanks to the string arrangement, while SWEET DREAMS and the title track are catchy sing-along tracks. For me, ASTRAL TRAVELLER is the album's highlight with its treated vocals and Peter Banks' choppy guitar. As with a track or two on the first album there's a Genesis influence here, during the central instrumental section. Time And A Word is small-beer in comparison to subsequent Yes albums. It's ok, but then again it's not as good as the first album and I could happily do without those orchestrations. So, in my opinion this is for fans only.