Review Summary: "A Space in Time" is an intricately developed and diverse blues rock record.
About a week ago, my father asked me to check out a song. He described
I’d Love to Change the World as one of the greatest songs of his generation, and having listened to it, I have to agree. This piano and acoustic guitar driven song flows beautifully, with the help of some tremendous blues guitar and a simple message; “I’d love to change the world, but I don’t know what to do, so I leave it up to you.” After hearing the song, I decided to check out the album, and what I discovered was an excellent blues rock record.
Ten Years After was a blues rock band that was formed in Nottingham, England in 1967. In the late 60’s and early 70’s the band released several critically acclaimed records, including “Ssssh” and “A Space in Time.” Guitarist and vocalist Alvin Lee was the driving force behind the band, providing exceptional blues leads and the majority of the songwriting. “A Space in Time” was the band’s best seller, and the only album in which they had a successful single. The album itself however, is a well-developed and diverse blues record.
Ten Years After:
Alvin Lee – Guitars and Vocals
Chick Churchill – Keyboards
Leo Lyons – Bass Guitar
Ric Lee – Drums
While listening to this album it’s easy to come to the assumption that Alvin Lee is underrated and virtually unknown. His blues style is somewhat of a hybrid of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton, and is successful at many speeds. The opener
One of These Days is a tremendous example of this. Starting off with slower leads in the verses, the track builds to a faster, Stevie Ray Vaughn-esque solo.
Uncle Jam is another highlight of Lee’s play on this record, it is practically a two-minute jam in which trades off between solos from Lee and Churchill (on keyboards). Lee’s best performance however, is in single
I’d Love to Change the World, in which his leads are truly incendiary.
“A Space in Time” proves to be a diverse album, ranging from the folky
Here They Come, to the 50’s throwback
Baby Won’t You Let Me Rock and Roll You.
Let the Sky Fall is a standout track, in which includes psychedelic vocals not unlike Jimi Henrix's
The Wind Cries Mary. Another underscore of the record is anti-drug song
Hard Monkeys, in which argues that life is too good to risk using drugs. “Got no monkey on my back, and I’m never gonna crack. ‘Cause it’s a good life, too good to lose. But it’s a hard world with the junkie blues.”
Overall, “A Space in Time” is a very underrated album by a very underrated band. Fans of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, and even Eric Clapton will enjoy this, as it is a tremendous guitar record.
Recommended Tracks:
One of These Days
I’d Love to Change the World
Let the Sky Fall
Hard Monkeys
Uncle Jam
