Actually White played on more albums than Bill. 

No vote, I can't choose, I cannot vote against Bill and I cannot vote against Phil. 

The one with hair

Collins is less flashy but so precise and so in tune with his band mates.

It's like comparing Allan Holdsworth and Steve Hackett: Holdsworth is technical perfection, but Hackett makes far better music (for me).

perhaps with the keyboardists we'll get the bagel that some fool denied us in the bassist category.  Most thinkers, not the fanboys, should fully realize that Banks was the musical weak link of that group.  Rutherford was decent,  Hatchett fully capable but CRIMINANALLY underused, Collins talented enough I suppose, but Banks... urgggg...

anywho.. for this one... not the Bruford idolizer some are. I don't think Yes were THAT unhappy to see him go for his limitations as drummer which White was able to fill.

So a draw.. and no vote.

Don't forget about Brand X...

Horsesh*t. Utter complete horsesh*t. 

Banks may have been quite an unpleasant and domineering personality, but his musical talent is undeniable. And I'm no Genesis fanboy.

and he plays like the song is all about him

Phil is just as good in a different kind of way and blends more with the song---

Phil picked Bill to replace him in Genesis

 voted Bill

Methinks Phil a GREAT drummer--always love his work on any and every project he ever contributed to (and I collected them all!) 

But Bill stands out for me because he stands out. He doesn't just fill and keep (odd) time. He creates a musical line that seems to be reacting to and thinking about music as if from another dimension, another perspective, almost like a West African musician. When I drum, I find myself playing like Bill: drawn to explore rhythms that are not naturally heard within the other musicians' play; I hear hits in the spaces or off-beats, like Bill and Steve Jansen and Mark Heron and, to a lesser degree, Huxflux Nettermalm. These are the kind of drummers that make my soul sing with joy and adoration!  

(Sorry to wax a little too rhapsodic there, but we are talking about the core of what I love about progressive rock music: the exceptional; the idiosyncratic; those beings serving a stream of consciousness outside of the ordinary.)

Wonderfully stated! I also voted for Bill for very much the same reasons.

Well obviously, but I suppose the point was the classic era as defined by the topic's starter. White played on a ton of Yes albums, but Yes classics? 

I can stretch the classic Yes period going from The Yes Album to Going For The One, and that makes it 3-3, but maybe he values the first two albums more.

well elocuted Drew.  I can't disagree with anything you wrote there.  I think highly of each, which is why I took a no vote on this one, which would be the Yes-Genesis matchup I'd rate a draw.   However I think neither really is a patch on Palmer who is in my mind the pinnacle of prog drumming.  Heard on many 70's boots... Carl Palmer.. best drummer in the world. Damn right he was. Perfect chemistry of pure talent, speed, stylistic diversity, composing ability, and his ace in the whole .. pushing the boundries.. not just a basher.. but an innovator.

High-five!

I also think the poll creator does not know White played on more Yes albums than Bill. I may be wrong. :)

I'm reading Phil's autobiography at the moment and it turns out Phil didn't technically pick anyone to replace him. Phil and Bill are actually good friends and Phil was contemplating how he he would sing and drum at the same time for the Trick of the Tail tour. Bill, hearing this and not tied down to any projects at the time, offered his services and Phil took him up on this offer. Phil thought Bill did an admirable job, but it sounds like Tony and Mike had problems with Bill wanting to mix it up at every show and play some part a bit different. Bill left after the tour to work on his solo stuff. Phil did pick Chester after hearing Chester's work on some of Frank Zappa's stuff.

There is footage of both Bruford and Collins playing together here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX0hmpZRFPM" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX0hmpZRFPM

See:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT5UslpgPUA" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT5UslpgPUA

Hi,

My thoughts are that Phil stopped drumming much too soon to be able to be in a comparison show. But doing two jobs in a major band, was not conducive to his being able to concentrate on drumming, is the way I thought this went down.

Bill is likely the better of the two, given that he went on to King Crimson and even doing some very nice, and different things, later in his career whereas you look at Phil and it was just another song, and the drumming was not even interesting to my ears. And at least two of those albums by King Crimson are still considered some of the best work it has ever done ... and a staple in their shows ... Red and Starless and Bible Black. On top of Fragile and CTTE, this would make Bill a much more important drummer, than Phil.

Very different styles with Bruford bring more jazzy & Phil more in your face.

I went with Phil  but you can make a case for either.

Banks the weak link? Definitely not---on the classic period--he is the heart of Genesis and Hackett the soul--or the other way around depending. And from all I read Yes were pretty upset over Bill leaving---but Alan did a great job on so many levels.

I believe you're wrong, since he's specifically talking about the classic era of Yes, which, anyway you look at it, includes very little of White's overall work with Yes.

Correct, No Alan White.  But Chester Thompson (imo) is better than both Collins or Bruford.

 

I consider the first 2 Yes albums Yes classics. That's just my take though 

Sorry bro. I wanted to pin the classic lineups against each other

but Bill left Yes in 1972 if I remember right...

Hatchett