"[4] In a 1976 interview with Record Mirror & Disc, Harley revealed, "[The album] took about three months altogether and so much hard work went into it that as far as I'm concerned, it has to be the best I've done so far.

"[5] In a 1975 interview with Record Mirror & Disc, Harley described the album as "irreverent" and one which saw Cockney Rebel take a "huge leap forward".

At the time of writing the material for the album, Harley drew inspiration from his recent reading on Rosicrucianism, as well as the works of a number of French symbolists, including Charles Baudelaire.

[10] "Red is a Mean, Mean Colour" is an anti-Communism song that Harley wrote while Cockney Rebel were in Yugoslavia to perform an arena concert.

Harley wanted to try out the song in the studio and he ended up recording it with the band's second drummer Lindsay Elliott, bassist George Ford and guitarist Jim Cregan.

[17] Geoff Barton of Sounds noted, "For the first half dozen or so listenings, Timeless Flight appears both unremarkable and confounding.

"[18] Angus Mackinnon of Street Life considered the album to have "good music", but "questionable lyrical support systems".

"[19] N. Menhinick of the Harrow Observer praised Timeless Flight as "a beautifully put together album", with "good lyrics" and "excellent production".

"[20] Roger Eversley of the Burton Observer and Chronicle felt the album saw Harley "slid[ing] deeper into his romantic imagination" and "takes a few more listens [than] its predecessors".

He added, "The band are much tasteful than the original Cockney Rebel and at times when Harley's voice becomes unbearable, their accompaniment comes to the fore as a tight, accomplished sound.

"[21] Jon Ford of the Leicester Chronicle was critical of the album, stating that Harley "over indulges in vocal pranks where restraint would be the more emphatic" and adding that "only the life-belt thrown out by Cockney Rebel's solid support saves him".

[22] In the US, Cash Box noted Harley's "unique approach" and "coarsely narrative vocal technique" that "lends credibility to his deeply imaginative lyrics".

[23] Jon Marlowe of The Miami News described Timeless Flight as a "fine record", but "not the masterpiece that many feel Harley is striving to create".

He considered Harley's "subdued vocals" to be kept at a "breathy, sensuous level" which he felt "attained a nice touch of emotional impact".

[26] In a review of the 1991 EMI CD release, Mark Sinker of Select felt the songs on Timeless Flight were "larded with by-the-yard pastel soul clichés, florid piano, 'Astral Weeks'-ish 'adult' guitar [and] poet-in-a-smoking-jacket crooning.

[15] Writing about the 2003 BGO re-issue, Martin Aston of Q felt the album was a "fans-only purchase" and concluded, "Harley blamed 1976's sapping heatwave for the fact that he traded such pop perfection [The Best Years of Our Lives] for a dense, tricky, almost anti-glam party line that exploited his new crew's session-musician skills.

"[27] Donald A. Guarisco of AllMusic considered the album to be even more "ambitious" and "artsy" than its predecessor, but that it also "neglects the strong pop hooks that made The Best Years of Our Lives so appealing".

He said, "Much of Timeless Flight finds Harley getting bogged down in deliberately impenetrable wordplay and songs that, despite slick arrangements, are rather hookless vehicles for the verbose lyrics."

[2] All tracks are written by Steve HarleySteve Harley & Cockney Rebel Additional musicians Production Design ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.