Favorite Bono Guitar Parts

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Running To Stand Still - Seattle II 2005 - he does this bluesy bit in the beginning that is reminiscent of the studio version and actually sounds cool
All I Want Is You - Dublin III 1989 - lovely little guitar coda in the end
Exit - Old Grey Whistle Test
One - Irving Plaza 2000
With or Without You - Croke Park 1987 - The acoustic guitar noodling he does here sounds great - probably an accident though.

That's all I can think of right now.
 
I don't understand your point though..are you saying that he contributes nothing to the song? It's quite clear that he is.. :shrug:

Half the time you can hardly hear what he's playing.

Half of the time he doesn't have to be the one playing it.
 
Since the irony is dead, the joke was that there were threads posted about Adam and Edge's guitar parts. Bono has basically no notable guitar parts, and it's also a running joke that most of his guitar playing isn't even audible. That was my motivation. Now the irony has a stake through its heart.


The lead guitar he does on the acoustic live version of SATS is certainly "notable". Nice little Spanish-sounding piece, however brief.
 

Well not sure how else to read your second sentence, it seems as if you are saying even it sounds like he's playing, who's to say he's playing it.

Anyways imo the rhythm guitar isn't supposed to stand out very much, it's probably not all that distinct from the bass line most of the time. If there's any doubt whether or not he's contributing, try playing a U2 song Bono plays on with a band, and have the lead guitarist do strictly whatever the Edge is doing. It doesn't sound the same...while Bono's guitar may not stand out, it fills out the sound to even a minor extent which contributes. :up:
 
Well not sure how else to read your second sentence, it seems as if you are saying even it sounds like he's playing, who's to say he's playing it.

Anyways imo the rhythm guitar isn't supposed to stand out very much, it's probably not all that distinct from the bass line most of the time. If there's any doubt whether or not he's contributing, try playing a U2 song Bono plays on with a band, and have the lead guitarist do strictly whatever the Edge is doing. It doesn't sound the same...while Bono's guitar may not stand out, it fills out the sound to even a minor extent which contributes. :up:

Nah, not suggesting that at all. I was just saying that it is literally hard to hear what Bono is playing on some occasions.

You're probably right. It's probably something you notice when it's not there as opposed to when it is. I'm just saying Bono doesn't need to have the guitar. It almost feels like he wants to be holding it. And when I said he doesn't need to be the one playing it, I know he is playing it. I'm just saying it's almost a piece of music that could be played as a track or whatever technical term there is for it, or literally have someone else perform it in the background.
 
The lead guitar he does on the acoustic live version of SATS is certainly "notable". Nice little Spanish-sounding piece, however brief.
Hence "basically." Isn't that the only thing he's done notable? That and the Gone solo, which he only does half of anyway?
Anyways imo the rhythm guitar isn't supposed to stand out very much, it's probably not all that distinct from the bass line most of the time. If there's any doubt whether or not he's contributing, try playing a U2 song Bono plays on with a band, and have the lead guitarist do strictly whatever the Edge is doing. It doesn't sound the same...while Bono's guitar may not stand out, it fills out the sound to even a minor extent which contributes. :up:
There's a difference between standing out and not being audible. And I disagree with your point there, I think most songs he plays on would sound the same without him: The Fly, With or Without You, One ... in fact, he's not played on them at times, and it's not at all different. The only songs I really hear him on are Gone, Last Night on Earth, and Walk On.

I can't think of another band where the rhythm guitarist is so far down in the mix so consistently.
 
There's a difference between standing out and not being audible.

Well then, there's something you and I actually agree on.

I really didn't think people would take this so seriously as I thought more people would agree with the idea that Bono's guitar is almost always inaudible.
 
So could you see what I'm saying when it almost seems as though Bono wants to hold a guitar for the sake of looking like a rockstar holding a guitar?
 
I wouldn't say that necessarily. I think he's much more comfortable without one because he loves to roam around so much. I think he's in the in between where he feels like these songs need it, but he's also self-conscious about it because he knows he's not a good guitarist. So he does play, but turns it down.
 
I guess I'm more referring to the Fender Lead II guitar videos I posted with Bono during the War Tour as opposed to most stuff with the Falcon where he kinda just stands there...
 

Dear God, being the guitar tech for Bono must be like fetching scarves for fat Elvis. He goes through one after one song.

:) Your mic is a little too high for you, Bono. Let me...

:bono: Fuck you, I want a guitar instead.

:scratch: Instead of what, exactly?

:bono: Instead of your FACE.

:uhoh: OK, so, you know how to use this, right?

:bono: I've been shredding steel since you were a fetus, asshole. Man, I had this cheese grater as a kid...

[song ends]

:bono: OK, I'm bored. Off with this. It's broken.

:crack: ...
 
There's a difference between standing out and not being audible. And I disagree with your point there, I think most songs he plays on would sound the same without him: The Fly, With or Without You, One ... in fact, he's not played on them at times, and it's not at all different.

What are you basing that on? Have you actually ever stood in right front of the band? You need to read what I said about the difference between what Joe allows over the PA and what comes out of his amp..I'm not makin that up ;)

I would agree with you on WOWY but when was the last time he had a guitar during WOWY? You're absolutely wrong on The Fly, however. Every single last time (and it numbers in the 20s) I've seen The Fly live he's been very audible. And One, well it varies.

PS - since when is Bono the "rhythm guitarist"? He's a singer that plays a little rhythm. There's alot of bands out there where the singer plays louder rhythm - yes. But then again there's even more where they have second guitarist playing rhythm...and he ain't singing much, if at all.
 
I'm just saying it's almost a piece of music that could be played as a track or whatever technical term there is for it, or literally have someone else perform it in the background.

True, but that's not very rock n roll for one, and then of course a million people would jump all over them with even more accusations of using excessive tracks. They way they are doing it is fine. You could say that about any band that has a second/rhythm guitarist then, why even bother having one, just use a track? :shrug:

You can make the same argument for alot of the sounds coming off the U2 stage...some of the elements of the background music, for instance, aren't all that audible at all once the band fires up. Why bother at all? (well, for one, they probably like hearing them in their IEMs, so that the song sounds like the song as they know it and wrote it). Why bother having Edge sing a backup that sounds like him + 100 voices (ie Beautiful Day) why not just have a track? etc etc

Why does a basketball player slam dunk the ball on a fast break when a layup would do the exact same thing ie 2 pts?


Have another theory about singers playing guitar even for just minor parts..here's an emotion I've felt fronting a band sometimes: Sometimes, after doing a number of songs and being out there interacting with the crowd and the band is interacting with each other..well it's almost like there's a disconnect where it's a singer + a band instead of one unit: a band. Not sure how to describe it but it's like..you want to be "part of the band" again..when you put the guitar on, you get grounded right back into the sound coming off the stage - well you're also fairly limited in where you can go on the stage too, once you put it on. I don't know if there's any other singers here that can identify with this but I know 2 or 3 others (non-U2 guys) and we've talked about this and they concur that they value the songs where they put on their guitar because it feels more whole as a band again. Maybe Bono gets that way too, who knows? We do know that he originally wanted to be more part of the music ie guitar player, than singer, so maybe he just has moments where he needs to be a part of the music again? Especially in songs where he maybe played in the studio or as part of the writing/practicing process, I can definitely see him feeling sortof naked or like something was missing on those songs without a guitar on stage if he always had one kicking around the studio/practice space. I dunno, just something that occurred to me after practice the other night..
 
Jaysus, you guys are brutal. It would be pretty ridiculous for the rhythm guitar to be any louder than it is in this band. It's just a supporting role. Are you forgetting who they've got on lead? Of COURSE he plays it down. He'd be a fool not to. But there are songs where if he weren't playing, you'd notice it.
 
True, but that's not very rock n roll for one, and then of course a million people would jump all over them with even more accusations of using excessive tracks. They way they are doing it is fine. You could say that about any band that has a second/rhythm guitarist then, why even bother having one, just use a track? :shrug:

You can make the same argument for alot of the sounds coming off the U2 stage...some of the elements of the background music, for instance, aren't all that audible at all once the band fires up. Why bother at all? (well, for one, they probably like hearing them in their IEMs, so that the song sounds like the song as they know it and wrote it). Why bother having Edge sing a backup that sounds like him + 100 voices (ie Beautiful Day) why not just have a track? etc etc

Why does a basketball player slam dunk the ball on a fast break when a layup would do the exact same thing ie 2 pts?


Have another theory about singers playing guitar even for just minor parts..here's an emotion I've felt fronting a band sometimes: Sometimes, after doing a number of songs and being out there interacting with the crowd and the band is interacting with each other..well it's almost like there's a disconnect where it's a singer + a band instead of one unit: a band. Not sure how to describe it but it's like..you want to be "part of the band" again..when you put the guitar on, you get grounded right back into the sound coming off the stage - well you're also fairly limited in where you can go on the stage too, once you put it on. I don't know if there's any other singers here that can identify with this but I know 2 or 3 others (non-U2 guys) and we've talked about this and they concur that they value the songs where they put on their guitar because it feels more whole as a band again. Maybe Bono gets that way too, who knows? We do know that he originally wanted to be more part of the music ie guitar player, than singer, so maybe he just has moments where he needs to be a part of the music again? Especially in songs where he maybe played in the studio or as part of the writing/practicing process, I can definitely see him feeling sortof naked or like something was missing on those songs without a guitar on stage if he always had one kicking around the studio/practice space. I dunno, just something that occurred to me after practice the other night..

I think U2 has enough rock n roll in them to make up for that. Plenty of U2 material has tracks/backs during live performances (such as Bad and Beautiful Day, if I'm not mistaken). I think the most important point is the product. What is the best arrangement?

And for the record, most bands with a rhythm guitar also have 5 band members (of course there are the fair share with 4).

I honestly can't comment on the musical aspect of a band because I've never been in one, or been around one for that matter.
 
Well I'm not even a singer or in a band but what gvox said makes sense to me! I can easily see that as part of the reason he plays. And the why does he even bother because those parts can be played by someone else type comments make no sense at all. :huh: Because he's a member of the band, that's why!
 
Well I'm not even a singer or in a band but what gvox said makes sense to me! I can easily see that as part of the reason he plays. And the why does he even bother because those parts can be played by someone else type comments make no sense at all. :huh: Because he's a member of the band, that's why!

So then why doesn't someone sit on the keyboard/string synth/whatever it is for the intro to Beautiful Day? Same goes to City of Blinding Lights.
 
So then why doesn't someone sit on the keyboard/string synth/whatever it is for the intro to Beautiful Day? Same goes to City of Blinding Lights.

Possibly for the very reason gvox just wrote about in the last paragraph. I'm sure Bono likes that connection with the music and his band. His style is very much so that he is quite at home with just the mic, but on some songs he might just really like getting that connection back with the guitar. It doesn't really seem that hard to believe or figure out!

Sorry, reading your question again I don't think I answered exactly what you asked. Do you mean why doesn't Bono play all those other parts? Sorry now I'm not exactly sure what you mean.
 
Possibly for the very reason gvox just wrote about in the last paragraph. I'm sure Bono likes that connection with the music and his band. His style is very much so that he is quite at home with just the mic, but on some songs he might just really like getting that connection back with the guitar. It doesn't really seem that hard to believe or figure out!

Sorry, reading your question again I don't think I answered exactly what you asked. Do you mean why doesn't Bono play all those other parts? Sorry now I'm not exactly sure what you mean.

No no, I'm saying that you're commenting on how Bono is a part of the band and therefore that piece of music shouldn't be tracked/backed. But it's not like U2's music isn't tracked/backed often live...

I'm not getting in the mind of Bono, or whether or not he wants to feel a part of the music or any of that. It's just that on several posts people have commented that having the rhythm guitar backed/tracked wouldn't be genuine... but my point is that it's not like they don't have tracked music as a part of their show. They obviously play the majority of the music, but there's only so much 4 musicians can play at once.
 
No no, I'm saying that you're commenting on how Bono is a part of the band and therefore that piece of music shouldn't be tracked/backed. But it's not like U2's music isn't tracked/backed often live...

I'm not getting in the mind of Bono, or whether or not he wants to feel a part of the music or any of that. It's just that on several posts people have commented that having the rhythm guitar backed/tracked wouldn't be genuine... but my point is that it's not like they don't have tracked music as a part of their show. They obviously play the majority of the music, but there's only so much 4 musicians can play at once.

Ok, no I wasn't saying that because he's a part of the band that piece of music shouldn't be recorded or whatever, that's not what I was saying at all. I was saying there's no reason he shouldn't play it if he WANTS to. It seemed to me you were saying that he shouldn't play it because they could just as easily have someone else do it better than him, and I didn't agree with that.
 
What are you basing that on? Have you actually ever stood in right front of the band? You need to read what I said about the difference between what Joe allows over the PA and what comes out of his amp..I'm not makin that up ;)

I would agree with you on WOWY but when was the last time he had a guitar during WOWY? You're absolutely wrong on The Fly, however. Every single last time (and it numbers in the 20s) I've seen The Fly live he's been very audible. And One, well it varies.

PS - since when is Bono the "rhythm guitarist"? He's a singer that plays a little rhythm. There's alot of bands out there where the singer plays louder rhythm - yes. But then again there's even more where they have second guitarist playing rhythm...and he ain't singing much, if at all.
I'm basing it on everything I've ever seen, video and audio-wise, in their concert mixes. Officially released video and audio, as well. And him having actually said in concert, "Turn my guitar down, I don't like to hear myself."

I'm not wrong on The Fly, at least as far as ZooTV is concerned. Literally the only part of that song where he adds anything is in the intro before the bass comes in. The Vertigo version I'd say he actually added some to, though not much. My point is that song could do just fine without him playing.

And you're reading too much into me saying "rhythm guitarist." There are singers that play rhythm, rhythm guitarists, whatever. I can hear their guitars when they're playing. There's a surprisingly large amount of time where I don't hear Bono at all.

I'm not saying he's never played guitar or someone else is playing guitar. I'm just saying rarely can you even hear him, let alone is he adding anything to the songs.
 
I'm basing it on everything I've ever seen, video and audio-wise, in their concert mixes. Officially released video and audio, as well. And him having actually said in concert, "Turn my guitar down, I don't like to hear myself."

I'm not wrong on The Fly, at least as far as ZooTV is concerned. Literally the only part of that song where he adds anything is in the intro before the bass comes in. The Vertigo version I'd say he actually added some to, though not much. My point is that song could do just fine without him playing.

And you're reading too much into me saying "rhythm guitarist." There are singers that play rhythm, rhythm guitarists, whatever. I can hear their guitars when they're playing. There's a surprisingly large amount of time where I don't hear Bono at all.

I'm not saying he's never played guitar or someone else is playing guitar. I'm just saying rarely can you even hear him, let alone is he adding anything to the songs.

We're comparing apples to oranges. You're talking about what they've put on the official DVD or what you hear over the PA. I'm talking about live in person.

I should have clarified: the 20+ times I saw him playing The Fly was on Vertigo. He was very audible at those shows, and I think it adds to the song, the Vertigo version really does kick ass. The rhythm guitar is a part of that. :up:

I can't speak to ZOO Tv shows but Vertigo is the tour where I found it kinda funny that he's actually playing but we don't really hear that on the official DVDs on alot of songs. :shrug:
 
I think U2 has enough rock n roll in them to make up for that. Plenty of U2 material has tracks/backs during live performances (such as Bad and Beautiful Day, if I'm not mistaken). I think the most important point is the product. What is the best arrangement?

And for the record, most bands with a rhythm guitar also have 5 band members (of course there are the fair share with 4).

I honestly can't comment on the musical aspect of a band because I've never been in one, or been around one for that matter.

Well I do think that of course they want the best sound off the stage. I think that's why he's turned down over the house, even if it's still happening on stage. At least he's humble about it (or the band is keeping him humble lol) But I can fully believe that he wants to be part of that where he can manage it. You mention not wanting to get inside his head but really that's part of the equation. Maybe he needs to have it on some songs. Who knows?

For all we know Joe/someone else gauges how he's feeling on a given song/night, and tweaks accordingly. Noone is really analyzing bootlegs from show to show to see what nights he's louder than others. Maybe sometimes he's just not up to it. And for official DVDs, well everything gets retouched on the DVDs, the audio is remixed so hell no we're not gonna hear alot of mistakes ;)
 
So then why doesn't someone sit on the keyboard/string synth/whatever it is for the intro to Beautiful Day? Same goes to City of Blinding Lights.

Just for the record, not everything that comes off the stage that's not played by the 4 of them is pre-recorded tracks, you know that right? There is a fifth band member, so to speak. From what I understand they only use pre-recorded tracks for repetitive loops and whatnot that occur all the way through the song. Strings, synth, keys, etc..that's all live from under the stage afaik.
 
Just for the record, not everything that comes off the stage that's not played by the 4 of them is pre-recorded tracks, you know that right? There is a fifth band member, so to speak. From what I understand they only use pre-recorded tracks for repetitive loops and whatnot that occur all the way through the song. Strings, synth, keys, etc..that's all live from under the stage afaik.

Note I've been saying 'tracked/backed' the entire time.
 
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