Edge's Solos......

[dal975]

Unknown Caller and Stand Up Comedy have fine solos, but I'm generally speaking about his overall tone and use of his guitar in a lot of these songs.

i hear alot of red hill mining town in edge's echo on this album.

 

[zwervers2]

Edge has been on a holiday since in a little while and beautifull day which was genius.

The rest of the band delivered BIG time with NLOTH. Edhe his guitarwork has been a suckfest since 2001. That is a shame because he alone was the one that got me into guitarplaying in the first place.

"Get of your boat, Edge"

should be the lyrics now I think about it

 

[JOFO]

Are we really sure that the MOS solo is even Edge?


That sounds 100% Lanois to me.

It probably is Edge playing it....but I'm not totally convinced.

That is a great point.

 

[BVS]

Last night I gave NLOTH a proper sit down listen with myself and some wine...

And I rather enjoyed the solos...

Especially MOS, Breathe, and Unknown Caller...

 

[God Part III]

I really enjoy the solos - nothing in there that beats Until The End Of The World or anything, but most of them are pretty amazing, Unknown Caller and Breathe specifically are amongst what I consider his best. But Edge have never been about the solos anyway. Take No Line On The Horizon (the song) - he really keeps the song together, the Ultraviolet-esque background playing in the verses and that wonderful 10-note thing he does during the chorus totally makes the song. I think Magnificent is one of the best things The Edge has ever done. While it's true that it's a giant step up for Bono, and that Larry hasn't been this prominet for years, I don't feel that Edge isn't "on top form" - NLOTH is the sound of a band in perfect harmony.

God, this is an awesome record.

 

[Acrobat1977]

Talking about Until the end of the world, the ending of the solo in Unknown Caller resembles UTEOFTW very much I think especially the later live versions.

 

[AtomicBono]

Ok I was afraid to admit it, but since someone else said it...I don't love Edge's solo in Breathe. It doesn't suck or anything, but it sounded better on the beach clip? Maybe I'm nuts. It's just sort of repetitive.

But Unknown Caller, holy shit, one of his best by far. So emotional.

I really like the simple catchy solos of Magnificent and Crazy Tonight too. And it's gonna get overlooked but his solo on Boots is badass, very Achtung.

Overall I'd agree that this isn't really an Edge album. It's more of a U2 feat. Eno and Lanois album (their production definitely plays a big part in the mood). It's about the songs as a whole, not the individual components, which I really think is what U2 is all about. If anything stands out, it's Bono, like his voice on Moment of Surrender So it's definitely more of a Bono album than an Edge album, but what IS an Edge album? Achtung I suppose? Not saying he's not great on other albums, I just don't know which ones he's the clear standout on. I think U2 has ALWAYS been more about the whole.

I am interested to see Edge's approach to the live songs ...

 

[bigjohn2441]

is it me or is there an abundance of slide guitar solos on this album?

 

[subnet]

didn't edge say he likes more subtle guitar solos on albums now? something about an anti-climatic moment

but I would imagine he will rip up some great extended solos on tour

 

[rjhbonovox]

Edge could have been better. He's rehashing stuff he's done. Unknown Caller is a cool solo but it's finale echoes old stuff which also echoes Hendrix.

I agree that it echoes hendrix's Axis Bold As love solo but christ that is no bad thing. Unknown Caller is his best solo since The Fly. Its downright perfect. In fact I think this album has Edges best guitar work since AB.

 

[rjhbonovox]

Eh? what the frick are you blabbering about? Hendrix is about one billion times the soloist that Edge is. Having said that I don't thing Edge spend two seconds pondering Hendrix when he soloed on NLOTH. He sounds great. if you like Hendrix go listen to Hendrix. Jeezus.

I love Hendrix(my all time favourite music artist) and if Edge wants to borrow stuff from Hendrix then thats fine by me. By the way Hendrix is not only on a different planet solo wise, he's on a different planet rhythm wise than The Edge but thats not putting The Edge down cos Hendrix was on a different planet to any guitarist thats ever been!!!!!

 

[wasilefsky]

While I wouldn't exactly consider it a "solo," to me one of the highlights of NLOTH is The Edge on "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight." Toward the end...right when you expect a huge solo, Edge busts in with the SIMPLEST guitar riff that speaks volumes!!

Kinda has the same impact as Bono's singing during the breakdown in "Walk-On" off ATYCLB. Simple, yet powerful.

Ya know...WOWOY doesn't have a solo and it's argueably U2's most famous song!

-Waz

 

[NotBono]

I don't know if I could comfortably compare a Hendrix solo with an Edge solo; their guitar solos are on two opposite ends of the spectrum. Hendrix's solos and guitaring WERE the song, where as Edge COMPLEMENTS the song.

If you need a song from NLOTH and a famous to solo to compare, I'd definitely compare the MOS solo to Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd. It just has that same type of emotion and pureness, though not as complex. It doesn't beat Gilmours, but it's definitely the closest match in terms of comparison.

 

[digitize]

I actually consider Edge to be the weakest of the four (compared to their average standards) on this album, with Larry and Bono being the highest... but I really like Edge's guitar work on this album, so that says more about how awesome the album is than about Edge's guitar work.

 

[digitize]

While I wouldn't exactly consider it a "solo," to me one of the highlights of NLOTH is The Edge on "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight." Toward the end...right when you expect a huge solo, Edge busts in with the SIMPLEST guitar riff that speaks volumes!!

Kinda has the same impact as Bono's singing during the breakdown in "Walk-On" off ATYCLB. Simple, yet powerful.

Ya know...WOWOY doesn't have a solo and it's argueably U2's most famous song!

-Waz

But WOWY with a solo (see 1992) is simply magical... even though I'm very glad the solo and Shine Like Stars were left off of the album.

 

[wasilefsky]

100% agree...WOWOY w/ the Stars bit is AMAZING!! The fact that U2 doesn't do that very often is what makes them special. Kinda like One with the "Hear me coming lord," part. Both WOWOY & One EASILY could have had bigger endings! While we're on topic, "Please" live is another example!!

 

[U2girl]

I agree with those that say Edge is the least noticeable member of the band this time around. Larry and especially Adam are noticeable, and Bono is the one "on fire".

Take out the solos in Magnificent/Mos/UC and the guitars in SUC/Boots and outside of that the synths from Eno outshine him.

 

[edgeplaytheblue]

I'll start by saying what a great album.
Bono's best vocals in at least 12 years.
Adam: awesome.
Larry's best album since AB.
Songs: awesome.

Edge's solos:

??


What's with his choice of notes? I don't expect (or would ever want) Van Halen solos from him, but his melodic lines in the guitar solos (at least 4) are really not doing it for me.

Does anyone else feel the guitar solos should've been more thought out/ more melodic?

Nothing wrong with his solos! If you think the solos are not there or not that good. How would you rate Bomb en ATYCLB then?

 

[yenlard]

sometimes it seems as though his solos are buried in the mix. as for comparing this album's solos vs achtung baby's...........those on until the end of the world and the fly stood out more than those on horizon. however...he usually makes up for it in the live shows. perfect example being breathe. it sounds much better live than on the record.

 

[standrums]

sometimes it seems as though his solos are buried in the mix. as for comparing this album's solos vs achtung baby's...........those on until the end of the world and the fly stood out more than those on horizon. however...he usually makes up for it in the live shows. perfect example being breathe. it sounds much better live than on the record.

The guitar in the album version of until the end of the world never did it for me, still doesn't. Much better live, I agree. As is all of U2 I believe.

 

[IndyShade]

This is a very lazy album for Edge. He only has three guitar tones on the whole thing, and typical chimey arpeggios and digitally-neutered power chords make up the majority of what's there. Edge can do that stuff in his sleep. It's like he's finally divorced himself from trying to maximize the potential of the guitar.

There's a video on YouTube from some TV show where a guy interviews Edge while he visit's Rudy's guitar shop in NYC. Setting aside the seeming pomposity of having Dallas go to the store ahead of Edge and set everything up for him - the amp and effects are his trademark delay played through an AC30 - in the end, it really doesn't matter whether the Jazzmaster that Dallas gives him to try out has any uniqueness to its voice, because he's just going to use it to do the same shit he already does on every other guitar. And with the 40-50 guitars he already tours with, is that Jazzmaster really going to make a difference?

 

[dal975]

some of these comments make me scratch my head.

edge is edge, he has a completely different style than virtually any other major guitarist. criticizing him by comparing him to other guitarists is plain silly, it is like criticizing the ball if you try to play basketball with a baseball.

his sound, more than anything else that comes out of their studio, makes U2 sound like U2, and has been the one reliable constant for 33 years. How many other bands can you instantly recognize song-in, song-out, if the vocals were taken away? In that respect, NLOTH is no different. To say he sounds "lazy" on NLOTH, or what have you, not only sounds silly but completely underappreciates his style. I can understand being disappointed that there are not as many sweeping The Fly or UTEOTW-style solos, thats fine, but edge is the ESSENCE of most of these new songs, as he has been for U2's entire existence. Its just that his style is more subtle, something which he has stated many times that he is perfectly comfortable with.

And as far as edge solos go, i think the live versions have some tremendous potential.