Time and a Word is the second studio album by English rock band Yes, first released in the UK on 24 July 1970 and later in the US on 2 November 1970 by Atlantic Records.

[2] It was put together several months after the release of the band's 1969 eponymous debut, during which they continued to tour heavily and recorded Time and a Word between shows.

Yes continued to follow their early musical direction of performing original material and cover versions of songs by pop, jazz, and folk artists.

The line-up of the group at this time included lead vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist Peter Banks, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Bill Bruford, and organist Tony Kaye.

In a November 1969 interview during a tour of Switzerland, Bruford talked about the album, saying Anderson was "pouring out new numbers for us to play ... Usually he writes a tune and we listen to the tape and take it from there".

[4] At Advision, Yes were joined by producer Tony Colton, a friend of Anderson's who was also the singer of the rock band Heads Hands & Feet.

[5][6] Phil Carson, the European managing director of Atlantic and a fan of the band, brought in audio engineer Eddy Offord to assist Colton in the album's production because of his skills and hard work.

[7] The group continued to follow their early musical direction of performing original material and rearranged cover versions of songs by pop, jazz, and folk artists.

[11][13] Time and a Word marked a development in Anderson's lyric content, who began to move from simple love themes to topics of greater scale, described by band biographer Dan Hedges as "life, oneness and the future".

[14] "Sweet Dreams" was particularly well-received by future Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin, who requested that the band perform the song in concert during the 90125 tour in 1984.

Anderson, who was still musically naïve, presented its basic theme to the group on a guitar, using only two or three chords, leaving the other band members trying to discern what he was playing.

Nevertheless, Chris Welch wrote a positive review in Melody Maker noting that despite the amplification problems, the "musical break-through" reaction from the audience suggested to him that the group had "arrived".

[6] The shows were the last in which Yes performed with an orchestra, until the 2001 Symphonic Tour to support their nineteenth studio album Magnification, which also featured orchestral arrangements.

Cox's arrangements were praised, which blended well with the group's ability "to perform intricate and highly complex ensemble passages with meticulous dexterity and precision".

The review credited the band's instrumental strength from Squire's "identifiable" bass playing, which created a "formidable" rhythm section when paired with Bruford's "expertise" with drumming.