I was a fan of Yes, having found them as an adolescent when “Owner of a Lonely Heart” went huge. White’s was probably the best drum smash-in I can think of (although Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” is a good runner up).
No-one take this personally, but I think the big limit to their popularity was that Yes fans were among the worst of what we now would call “gate-keepers,” though. It’s like you weren’t ALLOWED to call yourself a Yes fan if you liked 90215 without first finding their older albums divinely bestowed upon humanity.
Genesis fans are just as bad, especially those who think they didn’t do anything worthwhile after Gabriel left.
I was always turned off by Jon Anderson’s wimpy voice.