''A Space in Time'' is the sixth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the British

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

band

Ten Years After Ten Years After are a British rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Billboar ...

. It was released in August 1971 by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright A ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

. A departure in style from their previous albums, ''A Space in Time'' is less 'heavy' than previous albums and includes more acoustic guitar, perhaps influenced by the success of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are c ...

who were mixing acoustic songs with heavier numbers. It reached number 17 in the ''Billboard'' 200. The third track on the album, "I'd Love to Change the World", is also their biggest hit. By combining a melodic acoustic chorus with challenging electric guitar riffs, they managed to produce a sound that hit number 10 in the charts in Canada and number 40 in the USA. Ten Years After USA chart history Billboard.com. Retrieved 4 May 2013. Although this was their biggest hit, they rarely played it live. "Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You" also charted, peaking at number 61 in the USA, and reaching number 54 in Canada.

Critical reception

Billy Walker gave the album a generally positive review in '' Sounds''. He noted the atypically soft sound of songs such as "Over the Hill" and "Let the Sky Fall" and approved of this "unexpected but pleasing dimension to the overall feel of the album", while simultaneously praising "the old TYA excitement" of tracks such as "I'd Love to Change the World" and "Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You". He particularly praised Alvin Lee's guitar work. However, he complained that a number of the tracks suffered from "lack of strength or projection of Alvin's voice" and concluded "Ten Years After are a far better live band than their albums suggest; they get over much more of their charisma and excitement that has a job surfacing on their recorded work." ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

said the album is one "in which the rock heavy comes of age with his toughest, fullest, and most coherent album. I like it in a way, but it does lack a certain winning abandon, and I'm not crazy about the heavy's economic theories—fellow seems to believe that if you 'tax the rich to feed the poor' you soon run out of rich, with dire consequences."

Track listing

All songs by

Alvin Lee Alvin Lee (born Graham Anthony Barnes; 19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) was an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the blues rock band Ten Years After. Early life He w ...

except ''"Uncle Jam"'', which was composed by C. Churchill, A. Lee, R. Lee and L. Lyons.

Side one

#"One of These Days" – 5:52 #"Here They Come" – 4:27 #"

I'd Love to Change the World "I'd Love to Change the World" is a song by the British blues rock band Ten Years After. Written by Alvin Lee, it is the lead single from the band's 1971 album '' A Space in Time''. It is the band's only US Top 40 hit, peaking at number 40 on the ...

" – 3:42 #"Over the Hill" – 2:28 #"Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You" – 2:10

Side two

#"Once There Was a Time" – 3:20 #"Let the Sky Fall" – 4:19 #"Hard Monkeys" – 3:12 #"I've Been There Too" – 5:40 #"Uncle Jam" – 1:54

Charts

Personnel

;Ten Years After *

– guitar, vocals *

Leo Lyons Leo David William Lyons (born 30 November 1943) is an English musician, who was most notably the bassist of the blues rock band Ten Years After. Biography Leo Lyons was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire in November 1943 and became a profess ...

– bass *

Ric Lee Richard "Ric" Lee (born 20 October 1945) is an English drummer of the blues rock band Ten Years After. Biography Lee was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. Was a founding member of his first band, The Falcons. He was also a drummer ...

– drums *

Chick Churchill Michael George "Chick" Churchill (born 2 January 1946) is an English keyboard player of the late 1960s to 1970s blues rock band Ten Years After. Career Churchill began playing the piano at the age of six and studied classical music until he was ...

– keyboards

Technical

*Recorded at Olympic Studios, London *Engineer –

Chris Kimsey Christopher Kenneth Kimsey (born 3 December 1951 in Battersea, London, England) is an English record producer, mixer and musician most famous for having co-produced The Rolling Stones' ''Undercover'' and ''Steel Wheels'' albums. He was also an ...

*String arrangement on "Over the Hill" by

Del Newman Derrick Martin "Del" Newman (5 October 1930 – 10 August 2020) was a British conductor, orchestral arranger and music producer. His orchestral arrangements appeared on songs by many rock and pop artists from the 1960s to the 1990s, including Ca ...

*Front cover photograph –

Ed Caraeff Ed Caraeff (born April 18, 1950) is an American photographer, illustrator and graphic designer, who has worked largely in the music industry. He has art directed, photographed and designed more than 400 record album covers from 1967 to 1981 for ...

*Back cover photograph – Alvin Lee *Executive producer – Chris Wright

References

External links

''A Space in Time''
at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)
"A Space in Time" Review on "Cool Album of the Day"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Space In Time, A 1971 albums Ten Years After albums Chrysalis Records albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Leo Lyons Albums produced by Ric Lee Albums produced by Chick Churchill Albums produced by Alvin Lee Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios