Quintessential Yes drummer: Bruford or White?

IMO, the first two YES albums are not flawless works. So, Bill >> ...........

 

I think of both drummers as equals. Bruford was great on the albums he played on, and White brought a different feel for the albums he has played on. So, I think they are both very necessary to the history of Yes.

 

Bruford for sure. He contributed more memorable parts.

 

Bruford is the quintessential King Crimson drummer. White is Yes.

 

my fav drummers
john bonham
bill bruford
mike shrieve
mitch mitchell
nick mason(just because floyd is my fav band.love him)
phil colllins
frank beard
john densmore

 

But it was with Bill that they released their two most critically acclaimed albums. With Tales and onwards, there is quite a bunch of people displeased with whatever aspect. CTTE, however, is almost always universally revered, except for very rare cases of people, who simply don't like it due to some peculiar subjective taste.

 

I feel like this about it. I'm actually a big fan of Yes Mk I, but Howe was/is The One, and so was/is Wakeman. I've always felt that Bill was/is The One That Got Away. No disrespect absolutely whatsoever to Alan White (listen to Sound Chaser!), but Yes lost something when Bill left (noteworthy that Bill was the first Yes member to leave rather than be fired). And Bill's stance has been absolutely vindicated with time. Have Yes made a lot of really good music since he left? Undeniably. Have they ever made an album that was actually better than Close To The Edge? No. (Some say Tales, but that album suffers from Wakeman and Squire being less than wholly committed, and White still finding his feet).

So, although I fully understand his reasons for leaving, and his subsequent 'been there done that' attitude to Yes (ABWH and the Union tour notwithstanding)- yes, Bruford for me.

 

Bill, of course:

I wish he had played on Topographic Oceans.

 

Bill Bruford - He is one of the best and most interesting drummers.

 

Bruford

 

It's gotta be da Bruf. Alan White did a fine job in his prime, but Bruford's one of a kind, one of the most distinctive, creative drummers I can think of. But BB did the right thing by going over to King Crimson and grew immeasurably as a percussionist.

 

bruford: anytime, anywhere, anyhow. one of the only drummer whom you can sing his part!

 

While I'm most definitely a Bruford man, I've always thought White was a very good and solid drummer. And he's been the rock of the band along with Squire since 1972. Even when the band broke up in the early '80s, the two stayed together as they tried to find a new avenue to express themselves, which led to Cinema. I think he has always acquitted himself well and I can't imagine too many drummers who could have taken on the daunting task of learning those Bruford songs with their percussive and musical complexity in three days before having to play them live on the CTTE tour. And pulled it off to boot!

 

As much as I love Bruford, I don't think he could have saved Tales from what it became. There are moments of musical brilliance on it, but there's too much fat, too much padding and Yes had gone over the edge with that one. And I have to wonder what Alan White was thinking as he was trying to find his niche in Yes while having his first album being this very self-indulgent work.

 

Bill or Alan? Yes!

Bill wins because he is there for the 3-5 albums. Contained therein, the peak (or near) of rock music.
Alan has been a fabulous replacement.

 

Bruford.

Too bad he's a jagoff, though.

 

What happened to the other thread about this?

Once again- Bruford

 

How would you know?

 

I'm probably in minority here, but I always thought that Tales were kinda constrained due to the limited time of the LP size at the time. I loved the concept, but I felt there was just not enough time to expand on all the themes there. And I'm not joking.

 

Bill Bruford is the best rock drummer that ever was, still is and always will be.

 

I cannot fathom this point of view. How much time do they need? If they couldn't get the job done in 20 minutes, maybe they just weren't focused enough. Might it be more accurate to suggest that the band didn't take the time they needed to work out all of the ideas and develop the arrangements fully, prior to recording? I got the feeling that Anderson/Howe bit off more than they could chew, while Squire and Wakeman weren't fully on board with the project.

 

I have super 8 footage of that show.

 

Interesting point of view, because even Jon Anderson, who was the prime architect behind Tales, even later agreed with Rick Wakeman that there was too much music for a single album, but not enough for a double.

 

It took me a while to dig the album, but when I finally did, I really wished it had been longer. We all go through phases, you know.

 

Bruford all the way be it Yes or Crimson. I just love the man's work. White fills in nicely but he still is no Bruford.