

The locomotive is back on track with “Once There Was a Time”, where you can clearly see the influence of country on the band’s sound, of course duly poisoned by the infinite energy of the group. The heavy rock “Baby Won´t You Let Me Rock´n´Roll You”, direct and simple, refers to the fifties and sounds totally out of place. His melodies, despite (or precisely because they are) simple, still thrill, enhancing the lyrics that talk about drug addiction. The rugged “Over the Hill”, with a well laid out string arrangement, is another highlight.
A space in time album wiki full#
Its structure, alternating quieter moments with faster passages, stitched by the vocal full of personality of the leader of Ten Years After, transformed it not only in the biggest hit of the band’s career, but also in one of the most crystalline and brilliant records of that beginning of decade, where heroes were dead and the future was looking hazier every day. “I´d Love to Change the World” is as follows. The beautiful and spatial “Here They Come” shows all the lyricism of Alvin Lee. The disc opens with “One of These Days”, a hard blues that begins with a traditional structure that leads to a long instrumental section in its core, where the influence of the psychedelic groups from the turn of the sixties and early seventies is perceived. This hitherto unprecedented facet, where the guitarist is as brilliant as on his previous path, contrasts with the musician’s iconographic figure at the Woodstock Festival (1969), igniting a crowd in hallucinogenic ecstasy with his impish Gibson. Filled with songs with acoustic bases, they would have inspired Alvin to follow the same path in his new compositions. This change was probably due to the great success achieved by the first Led Zeppelin albums. Most of his ten tracks are built not on guitar riffs, but on fingerings from Alvin Lee’s instrument. Space in Time, with its upbeat songs and full of sticky choruses, is like a last breath before the final journey through the darkest alleys of the seventies. The overflow and innocence of flower power were gone, as if predicting a dip in more dark and delicate times. Though not as consistent as Cricklewood Green, A Space in Time has its share of sparkling moments.Extremely cohesive and intertwined, the band managed to synthesize the transformations of the period in which the album was recorded. The production on A Space in Time is crisp and clean, a sound quite different from the denseness of its predecessors. Many of the cuts make effective use of dynamic shifts, and the guitar solos are generally more understated than on previous outings. After the opener, however, the album settles back into a more relaxed mood than one would have expected from Ten Years After. The leadoff track, "One of These Days," is a particularly scorching workout, featuring extended harmonica and guitar solos. However, there are still a couple of barn-burning jams. In fact, six of the disc's ten songs are built around acoustic guitar riffs. The individual cuts are shorter, and Alvin Lee displays a broader instrumental palette than before. TYA's first album for Columbia, A Space in Time has more of a pop-oriented feel than any of their previous releases had. This was due primarily to the strength of "I'd Love to Change the World," the band's only hit single, and one of the most ubiquitous AM and FM radio cuts of the summer of 1971. A Space in Time was Ten Years After's best-selling album.
