The hardest U2 song to play?

[cobl04]

Just interested to know, and both in terms of actual technical hardness and songs that are relatively easy but all the effects makie it more difficult.

 

[ultraviolet92]

the fly and untill the end of the world are really hard to play how the edge plays it... ive got the sheet music best of 1990-2000 and gee some of the stuff is preety hard.

one is very hard to master

and also even better then the real thing and stuck in a moment

 

[The_Pac_Mule]

Wire, I've never tried it but it sounds hard

 

[phillyfan26]

I can play The Fly and UTEOTW with ease with little experience.

I've struggled a little bit with 11 O'Clock Tick Tock, especially the harmonics. Streets is hard to play because of the effects. The Bullet the Blue Sky - ZooTV solo is quite difficult, especially the end.

 

[Galeongirl]

same here on the fly and UTEOTW... but I still can't play Streets, and I figure the effects are complicated too..

 

[ultraviolet92]

hmm i dunno

 

[EdgeIsTooSexy]

i dunno
the fly is pretty simple for me although ive completely forgotten the solo.
uteotw i used to know.
i think stuck in a moment could be hard. i never tried learning it.

In a little while is difficult. theres alot of moving around.

 

[phillyfan26]

With or Without You, I struggle with the effects, like Streets. Mysterious Ways can be played without some of the effects, but the effects Edge has are tough to match.

I find Ultraviolet difficult to play in general, as Edge described it "unwieldy." That's probably the toughest non-effect related issue I have.

 

[discothequeLP]

Streets is the most simple song, once you get the delay time right! besides the infinite sustain parts in WoWY, those riffs are very simple too.


i'd say UTEOTW and the ZooTV Bullet solo are the toughest songs to play. Ultraviolet isn't so bad once you figure it out

 

[phillyfan26]

I found UTEOTW pretty easy. As long as you have a capo, you are fine.

ZooTV Bullet though ... that's still impossible for me.

 

[Mofo]

a lot of different answers...I don't have a problem with In A Little While or With Or Without You, I haven't played The Fly and Ultraviolet in a long time but after some practice they are not that hard

I've always struggled with Streets for some reason and The Electric Co.

 

[Muad'zin]

I've tried my hands at playing Yngwie J. Malmsteen songs. After that playing U2 is childsplay. The bitch is in getting the sound right. Once that happens it all falls into place.

 

[Pero]

i would say:
mofo, streets and mysterious ways - effects
stuck in a moment for random notes in verses
11 o clock tick tock also

 

[pat132]

Some songs from the 3 first albums (Two Hearts Beat As One, The Electric Co., Twilight, etc...) are the hardest technically because the tempo was faster in the earlier songs, but for the effects, generally it's a 225ms slapback echo.

One hard song is The Unforgettable Fire (album version) because I think there's differents delays on guitar through the song.

Zooropa (wah+2 delays), Mofo and Gone (whammy pedal), Numb, Please (a lot of changing in effects) are hard for the effects.

But playing U2 on guitar is relatively easy

 

[theFly51]

Dirty Day and Electrical Storm are hard for me.

I just mastered The Fly and Please

 

[Pero]

how is dirty day hard?

my latest choice would be when i look at the world

 

[MOU]

I think that the more difficult u2 song is pride, you have to a perfect strum with the tempo. Other song so difficul in some parts are sunday bloody sunday in heavy riff and the mute part after the solo. The rhythm in this two songs is so difficult in some parts.

 

[phillyfan26]

I find Sunday Bloody Sunday easy, and I can't see the mute part being hard at all.

I'd say, for actually playing the notes:

1. Bullet the Blue Sky - Zoo TV
2. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
3. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
4. The Electric Co.
5. The Fly

If you include effects, it's a whole different ballgame.

 

[gman]

The most difficult thing about replicating edge is his timing.

 

[The_Pac_Mule]

@Pero, Dirty Day is fairly easy i found

 

[EdgeIsTooSexy]

yeah it is

 

[Pero]

@Pero, Dirty Day is fairly easy i found

it was a retorical question to a previous post.

 

[The_Pac_Mule]

huh, sorry I didnt read it right

 

[christoh]

I think that none of the U2 songs are hard to play - insofar as notes, etc are concerned. The Edge tends to be pretty melodic and he is also of the less is more school of thot.
That said, the most difficult thing about playing U2 is getting the sound (effects, EQ) right. Short of using the same effects that Edge uses (and in some cases, the same guitar type) you're going to fine that it's a bit impossible to recreate the sounds on record.
There are some good enuf substitutes: for example, I use an E-Bow for the sustain notes in With Or Without You (in addition to Boss DD-3 Delay, Ibanez TS7 Tubescreamer and Boss CH-1 Chorus) which comes pretty close when played with a Stratocaster.
For Mysterious Ways, I use a Rickenbacker fed thru a Chorus, Boss PH-2 Phaser and Boss OD-2 Overdrive to get that rough crunchy sound in the intro/chorus. For the Zoo TV solo at the end, I add the delay but take out the phaser (using a slide as well).
The trick is playing EXACTLY to what The Edge is doing, because his timing isn't conventional at all. It's mostly done out of "feel" than technicality (e.g. Sunday Bloody Sunday chugga part after the solo; or even the verses for Vertigo).
That's what I find the hardest. But I also agree possibly the solo for the Zoo TV Bullet The Blue Sky is the hardest solo from U2, probably followed by New Year's Day playing BOTH the piano and guitar (like what Edge does live). The rest are pretty easy I find, even the early stuff like Gloria.

 

[DaveC]

the fly and untill the end of the world are really hard to play how the edge plays it... ive got the sheet music best of 1990-2000 and gee some of the stuff is preety hard.

one is very hard to master

and also even better then the real thing and stuck in a moment

One is tough but once you get the riff memorized it's not too difficult to adapt to your playing style.

The Fly is effin' simple. The hardest part about Until the End of the World (for me) is getting my pinky to hit the sus note on the riff.

EBTTRT is effectively impossible to play without an octaver, but if you've got one it's not too hard.

Never tried Stuck, I can see how it could be complex.

The only songs I've tried that are really tough to play are Bullet the Blue Sky (live versions) and Two Hearts Beat as One.

 

[LemonMelon]

Please is pretty hard. Pop is an easy record in the area of effects, but there are some tricky songs on that one.

 

[phillyfan26]

I wish I had some effects, because then I could actually try some real U2 sound.

 

[EdgeIsTooSexy]

I wish I had some effects, because then I could actually try some real U2 sound.

same here. mine dont sound very close to it because the only effects i have are on my amp or my delay pedal.

and yeah i learned in a little while=easy

i still think Pride is hard though, i havent really mastered it.

 

[Alisaura]

I looked at the bass tab for Stateless and nearly cried. But that's probably just cos I suck

 

[theFly51]

the solo ending from ZooTV is what i meant