"Time And A Word" is one of the most underrated Yes albums, made at a time when they were still young, fresh and ready to rock. The jazz and classical influence becomes more prominent, although their sound was still formative and would fully gel on the next album, "The Yes Album". Nonetheless, there's some good stuff here and on a recent re-listen I found myself enjoying nearly every track. The obvious weak point, noted by most reviewers, is the orchestra, which is added to most of the songs and does not quite mix with the group's basic sound. This proved to be the case with all of the orchestral-rock albums released that year, a list that also included works by Deep Purple, The Nice and Pink Floyd. All of those artists would soon learn how to best express themselves through the use of a wider array of keyboards, although on "Time And A Word" the string backing works OK on the ballad "Clear Days" and the anthemic title track.

Not surprisingly, the two best songs are those without the orchestra, and they point squarely to the sound devoloped for the upcoming "Yes Album"--"Sweet Dreams" is a strong, melodic pop-rock song with an uplifting chorus, while the slightly psychedelic "Astral Traveller" features the soon-to-be trademark "cosmic" lyrics and complex instrumental interplay that would make them famous. "Astral Traveller" would even improve in live performance after Steve Howe joined the group, and is a song the band should reconsider adding to their live setlist (they have periodically reprised "Sweet Dreams" and the title track over the years).

"Time And A Word" is upbeat, positive music that stands in stark contrast to the music being made by today's youth. It was made by a band just coming out of the radical changes induced by the 60s and about to refine it into a classic progressive sound for the 70s. As such, it is a worthwhile historical curiosity--and might surprise you with a few good tunes in the bargain. You just can't beat the jazzy drumming, rumbling bass, hammond organ and clear-toned guitar stylings that marked their sound at this time, and of course if you like this you should love "The Yes Album", "Fragile" and "Close To The Edge".

Of all the Yes albums, this is probably the most neglected, falling between the overtly 60's Yes (album) and the prog cassic Yes Album. It's also unique in their back-catalogue because there's a very prominent string quartet and the occasional brass section on many of the tracks, which combined with Kaye's fab organ, frequently make the instrumental passages sound not dissimilar to some of the great jazzy easy-listening of the time - see the Sound Gallery compilation. Tracks like the apocalyptic Then and the fleshed out Buffalo Springfield cover Everydays most benefit from this treatment, but there's some great and somewhat atypical four minute songs here too, like the boppy Sweet Dreams, the anthemic Time and a Word, which I could imagine Oasis covering, and the storming Big Country (film soundtrack) sampling opener. This all sounds much less dated and hugely more invogorating than Topographic Oceans.

YES before they were YES. This album stands above their first eponymous release as being more closely linked to what they would eventually become with the inclusion of Steve Howe. Peter was still with the band at this time, and his jazz chops jive well with the strings (a harkening forth of where YES's music would go, with more complicated song structures and arrangements). This is a curious mix of prog rock fundamentalism and late psychedelia. The band's past is in evidence as it struggles to forge its future. Jon Anderson's lyrics have more in common with YES ALBUM and FRAGILE than the story-song drivel he wrote for the first LP. This is quite honestly the prequel to THE YES ALBUM, and it shows. The only thing is missing is Steve Howe, but Peter Banks allows you to forget all about him. Banks is a strong musician and it would have been interesting to see where YES would have gone had he remained with the band.
All things considered, this is a terrific album. They utilize two cover tunes (as they did on the first LP), which is something they didn't do later in the life of the band. It's interesting to see where one of prog rock's greatest heroes (or rock in general) came from.
Must see it to believe it. An all-around great CD.[....]

The bass playing and organ work on this recording are intense, this swan-song for Peter Banks is a fitting end to his tenure. He was unfairly treated in the press when compared to Howe, and doesn't even have his picture on the cover. This was because Howe was signed before this album was released in America, (it was out in Europe before) so the American release has the wrong cover picture on it. The songs are good, especially 'The Prophet' and 'Astral Traveller". A good retrospective on a GREAT band

_Time and a Word_ is a good album with one glaring flaw: Yes weren't ready for a string orchestra. In spite of these indulgences, "No Opportunity Necessary," "Sweet Dreams," "Astral Traveller" and the title track linger on today as enduring Yes classics, despite the fact that of these four, only the fourth is still played today at concerts. The strings ruined certain songs -- notably "Then," which was a great song until the _slightly_ pretentious string arrangement adds a few gratuitous ornamental phrases. The orchestra can grate on the listener at times -- it blurs the brilliance of Yes's rapidly improving flair for arrangements. As a whole, the sound of the album is somewhat murky, though this isn't always because of the strings -- their cover of Stephen Stills' "Everydays" would have been murky, strings or no. "The Prophet" was an early Yes epic, but it didn't quite jell as well as some of the next album's songs -- like "Perpetual Change" and "Yours Is No Disgrace" -- would. "Astral Traveller," on the other hand, is one great reason to miss Peter Banks -- even though Steve Howe is better, both as a songwriter and a guitarist. With no Peter Banks in the band, Yes is _highly_ unlikely to ever want to perform this song again, which is a shame because it'd make a great concert piece. "Astral Traveller" and "No Opportunity" and the title track make it worthwhile to sift through _Time and a Word_, but don't expect consistency. Three stars out of five.