Alan White - Lights Out
Alan White When Chris Welch commented on Bill Bruford leaving Yes in the summer of 1972 he said it was like Rolls quitting Royce. Over the years since then all the talk has been about how complex Yes's music was by then and what a mammoth task it was for Alan to come in and learn all that stuff in a few days which he did in time for Dallas. That was only a small part of the story the reality was the way Bill and Chris worked was entirely atypical. To break into that required a complete rethink for the entire band. Chris towards the end, on the fortieth anniversary of the Yes Album acknowledged that. Rick in late '72 found the change unsettling. It was as if the foundations of a building had been completely remodelled and the upper floors didn't sit properly afterwards. When you sat in the Wembley Arena in 1977 and listened to Alan count in Starship Trooper you knew the journey had been made. Trooper, Siberian, Good People, And You and I, were BETTER than the original