TIME AND A WORD

When I noticed this album, probably in 1975, it didn't really say much to me. I listened to "Time And A Word" very sparsely; the tape I got remained practically intact until it ruined and was discarded - I found the tape, dusty and musty, when doing some end-of-the-year cleanup of my own stuff (interestingly I care to preserve the tape of Yes first album maybe for the Beatles and Byrds covers listed there).

Well, most recently I redo contact with this album and my perception changed mildly - grey hairs make the difference, perhaps. But it is not a competitor for the debut album let alone the following band works. Production and musicianship are fairer than the observed at Yes first work but songs are generally weaker, the exceptions are 'Astral traveller' which I have liked since the seventies and two other that has called my attention nowadays: the title-song and 'Everydays' - Yes seemed then more lucky making covers than working with their own material. Otherwise I wouldn't say that "Time And A Word" was a step forward, but fortunately things would change soon for the band.

Also peculiar is that CD sound could show me the full orchestra accompaniment which I wasn't able to catch wholly in the old tape, although orchestra adds only a little for the music.

This should be a 2-star rating but Yes history cannot be disdained, the final result wasn't truly awesome but at least they tried; hence I rate it as an average album. Total: 2.5 => 3.