Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Yes
Label: Atlantic Records
Released: 1970
Runtime: 40:06
Rating: 3.5/5
Toward the end of the sixties, the music crowd was talking quite a bit about the two biggest hopes among the acts signed to Atlantic Records. While Led Zeppelin had reaped nice commercial success from their debut onward and exceeded expectations, Yes had to work pretty hard just to get noticed outside the British Isles. Their self-titled 1969 debut was admittedly a very solid effort for a young band, already setting out some important stylistic guidelines for this legendary group, but at that stage of their career Yes were still not innovative or distinctive enough within the fast-evolving progressive rock movement, which, especially after the arrival of King Crimson, for many the first ‘real’ prog rock band chronologically speaking, had literally exploded and planted the seed of a new musical revolution.
Yes had been in the top tier of prog pioneers since day one, but in 1970 there was a real danger that quite a few of their peers would overtake them in musical punch and provocation. Their blend of ravishing melodies courtesy of charismatic vocalist Jon Anderson, infectious vocal harmonies where the inventive bassist Chris Squire eagerly backed Anderson up, witty guitar licks from the late Peter Banks, shimmering symphonic arrangements in the domain of keyboardist Tony Kaye, and jazzy rhythmic quirks supplied chiefly by drummer Bill Bruford, with traces of psychedelia and folk being more the exception than the rule, was already at an enviable technical and atmospheric level.
Anderson’s lyrics were something special too, with cliché love poetry increasingly pushed aside by ‘new age’ spirituality and sci-fi themes, and Jon, avidly devouring that kind of literature, ‘infected’ the rest of the band as well. The birth of the ‘green language’ wasn’t far off. Guitarist Banks wasn’t overly thrilled about it, and considerable differences over the band’s future musical direction were starting to surface. Yes simply had no other choice if they wanted to keep pace with their hugely ambitious prog contemporaries, so they had to change their musical concept. That’s exactly why, on their second studio album, »Time And A Word«, also their last with Banks in the lineup, they tried their luck, at Anderson’s urging, working with a 30-piece symphony orchestra. They were nowhere near pioneers there, though. From a commercial standpoint they were actually a bit late with this call, since peers like The Moody Blues, The Nice and Deep Purple had been working with orchestras since the late sixties, so by then the move no longer counted as any special innovation.
»Time And A Word« was mostly laced with original compositions, but there were two exceptions. The first was the opening standard »No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed«, a cover of Ritchie Havens. This epic cover, which opens with a pompous orchestral intro, also contained a few motifs that turned up in the film The Big Country. The individual orchestral arrangements were written by Tony Cox. One of the downsides of »Time And A Word« is that the orchestra, together with Kaye’s keyboards, often drowns out most of Banks’s guitar contributions, and the same goes for some of the vocal harmonies, so not every member of the band gets equal expression. It’s precisely Kaye’s psychedelic-flavored Hammond organ passages that have aged worst on »Time And a Word«, so it’s no surprise he stayed in Yes only until 1971, not counting his later returns.
The main ‘star’ of this album was its chief ‘architect’, that is Anderson, with his distinctive, surreally high-pitched vocal register. Squire’s melodic bass lines nicely keep the individual pieces flowing, while Banks’s guitar passages always stood out from the blues frameworks that were widespread and dominant at the time. Bruford’s intelligent, jazz-flavored drum fills are still a treat for the ears today, so it’s no surprise he established himself early in his career as one of the boldest and most inventive drummers on the prog rock scene. Anderson’s vocal qualities, together with the backing support, shine especially in the chorus of the still-intriguing »Then«, where his ‘sermons’ about human rebirth and a call for change in every area of life already dominate the lyrics. Numerous tempo changes, time jumps and fiery orchestral arrangements don’t disrupt the melodic structure of this ambitiously constructed track, which would still be a classic today if Yes hadn’t gone on to make far better things in the next few years.
The psychedelic-orchestral »Everydays«, a cover of Stephen Stills, hasn’t stood the test of time as well. It’s a typical ‘child of its time’ composition: the first part has a slow, sleepy rhythm, psychedelic vocal harmonies and ‘antique’ orchestral arrangements, and after the first time change it flips into a faster tempo and a playful instrumental section with extensive guitar improvisations. The ethereal classic »Sweet Dreams« is one of the few »Time And A Word« tracks that, with its romantic-nostalgic atmosphere, is still fondly remembered by Yes fans. It’s ruled by a mighty, multi-voiced and shamelessly infectious chorus that easily carries the listener off into one of Anderson’s ‘astral dimensions’, while thick bass lines and branching guitar passages tie together the strongly melodic structure. Along with the title track, it’s one of two songs on the album where Anderson’s old buddy David Foster, whom he knew from the days of their first band The Warriors, helped out as a songwriter.
»The Prophet« features a long, psychedelic-tinged instrumental intro ruled by Kaye’s Hammond organ and string-spiced orchestral arrangements, which together dominate the rest of this positivity-tinged composition as well. There’s also a motif from the orchestral classic »Jupiter«, taken from Holst’s Planets suite. You can clearly hear how Anderson’s vocal, due to overly pompous orchestral arrangements, doesn’t come through fully in the production, while the song, despite some interesting instrumental ideas and complex rhythmic twists, somehow doesn’t develop in a direction that would keep its main motifs from being forgotten soon after you stop listening. »Clear Days« is a short love ballad with a slightly naive and melancholic Anderson in the role of a lover over lovely string-and-piano arrangements, which likewise leaves no lasting, deep emotional mark.
Quite a different story is the ambitious, psychedelic epic »Astral Traveller«, one of two pieces on the album without orchestra, where, as Anderson sings the cosmic experience of an astral traveler, the instrumental Banks-Kaye pairing shines above all. The vocal harmonies are already fully on par with those they’d spoil listeners with at the peak of their career, while in the brilliant instrumental interludes you can hear that Banks was a seriously overlooked guitarist after all. The title track, »Time And A Word«, has definitely stayed in the fondest memory, and it’s also the only one from this album that Yes remembered to play live more than 25 years after its release. Of all the tracks on the album, it’s precisely the title classic, thanks mainly to its epic vocal harmonies, lyrics, tastefully placed time changes and ‘green’ atmosphere, that best foretells where Yes would be carried on their next studio effort, while its majestic, uplifting chorus is still one of the best in their long and exceptionally rich career.
»Time And A Word« may be a typical product of its time sonically in many ways, but it successfully secured Yes a place among the most ambitious bands of the progressive rock movement. Tracks like the title piece, »Then«, »Astral Traveller« and »Sweet Dreams« are still rightly cherished by most longtime fans, while the rest of the album hasn’t stood the test of time as well. On release, »Time And A Word« bombed commercially almost completely and the band found itself in an extremely awkward spot, with Atlantic Records already starting to think about ending the partnership. New, far more radical changes were needed if they still wanted to ‘keep their heads above water’. What followed beat even the wildest surprises. Yes fired Banks, one of the most tragic figures of the prog rock scene, before the album even came out and brought in Steve Howe (ex-Tomorrow) in his place; Howe, together with the rest of the band, already appeared on the American version of the »Time And A Word« cover. That one differed from the European version, which featured a naked female torso with a butterfly, for (quasi-)moralistic reasons. The story of Steve Howe’s arrival is also the story of the complete rebirth of a band that had practically been written off.
Lineup
John Anderson – vocals
Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
Peter Banks – guitar, backing vocals
Tony Kaye – keyboards
Bill Bruford – drums
GUEST MUSICIAN:
David Foster – backing vocals on “Sweet Dreams”, acoustic guitar on “Time And A Word”
Production
Tony Colton
Track list
1. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (4:47)
2. Then (5:42)
3. Everydays (6:05)
4. Sweet Dreams (3:48)
5. The Prophet (6:32)
6. Clear Days (2:04)
7. Astral Traveller (5:50)
8. Time And A Word (4:31)
