Music Monday: Yes/Time and a Word (Side One)

The second album released by Yes was called Time and a Word. A live orchestra was used on the recording of all of the tracks, giving it a kind of "eerie" feel in my book. This actually caused a lot of tension in the band, prompting one of the members, guitar player Peter Banks, to leave. So this is the last album to feature the original lineup, and unfortunately it started an almost continuous revolving door of personnel. Steve Howe joined the band (and what a major upgrade!) before this album was released, but he didn't play on it.

UK Front Cover

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And now, on to Side One.

1) No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed. This is another one of those songs that was "borrowed" from someone else and Yesified. The orchestra slaps you in the face in this one. At the 2:25 mark you can hear them go into the theme from the western Big Country. This song actually has a real video too. I don't know when this was shot, but I did notice that Steve Howe is in it, already replacing Peter Banks.

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2) Then. One of my favorite early Yes songs.

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3) Everydays. Another borrowed song that has just kind of lazy day feeling. It all gets interesting around the 2:15 mark musically and even in the video (I had never seen this before actually) when they get chased by a freaking nun! Can't make that up.

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4) Sweet Dreams. Another one of my favorite early tracks. They actually played this again on their 35th anniversary tour. Nice little song.

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