TOOL, PRIMUS Members Pay Tribute To YES

TOOL drummer Danny Carey and PRIMUS bassist Les Claypool both acknowledge being influenced by the classic rock band YES. In the booklet included in the boxed set In A Word: Yes, which came out on Tuesday, July 30th, Carey and Claypool comment on the band's influence.

"There were two bands I consider my most important influences: LED ZEPPELIN and YES," said Carey. "While ZEPPELIN contained the heaviness and power that every testosterone-driven adolescent craves, YES provided everything else I needed on an artistic level to fuel my fire (creativity, beauty and a striving to be unique). I always sensed a higher level of communication between the members of Yes than I did in their contemporaries, and being exposed to this at a formative time in my career made me realize how important being in a band was to me. Alan (White) and Bill (Bruford) are probably the biggest influences I can claim for my rock drumming career, and their effect is still obvious in most of my work. I'd like to say thank you for 30-plus years of inspiration."

PRIMUS bass player Claypool said, "For me, YES was a huge part of my life early on in my attempt to learn the bass guitar. In fact, it was the sound of the bass on 'Roundabout', that led me down the thought path that I wanted to be a bass player because guitar was too 'wimpy.' With those early recordings Chris Squire brings a girth the instrument that has yet to be matched -- and believe me, I've tried.... In this age of cut and paste music production, it a breath of fresh air to know that a collection like this Yes compilation is available for future generations."