This chart-topping double album was Alan’s first studio work with Yes, and gave him the chance to make his mark... and teach the rest of the band to drum.

“We spent an awful long time making this album, over nine months. Musically, it was an adventure into new things, and completely different to anything I had done before.”

“We came up with a lot of diverse rhythms: a bit ethnic at one point, then back to rock‘n’roll, jazz sections and orchestral influences. On Ritual the idea was to take the melody and only play it with drums at the end.”

“Chris Squire (bassist) was playing timpani, Jon Anderson (vocalist) had a cocktail kit... I played a regular kit and taught them all how to play the melody. It became very tribal.”