Edge invented "The edge" sound???

[Acrobat_Al]

Edge is a genius of composition, but I think that "the edge" sound (the one we hear and love in songs like Streets, Crumble, etc) was invented by David Gilmour.

You can hear it clearly in songs like The Wall part 2, Echoes, and Run like Hell...

What are your thoughts about this?

BTW, I absolutely love U2

 

[sallycinnamon78]

I love U2 and Pink Floyd - they've been my two favourite bands for many years - and it was listening to the great David Gilmour that influenced me to start playing guitar myself.

I can hear some vague stylistic similarities, in certain songs, but I've never thought Gilmour and the Edge sound particularly alike. I could certainly never confuse the two. The only time I thought "hang on... this sounds a bit like..." is during Pink Floyd's Take It Back, at which point Gilmour sounds more like The Edge than vice versa!!!

 

[Acrobat_Al]

I love U2 and Pink Floyd - they've been my two favourite bands for many years - and it was listening to the great David Gilmour that influenced me to start playing guitar myself.

I can hear some vague stylistic similarities, in certain songs, but I've never thought Gilmour and the Edge sound particularly alike. I could certainly never confuse the two. The only time I thought "hang on... this sounds a bit like..." is during Pink Floyd's Take It Back, at which point Gilmour sounds more like The Edge than vice versa!!!

Yeah, totally right.

The sound similar, not identical; and David Gilmour has never played fast (like steve vai, or some others) He plays slow, like Edge, more with the feeling, thats what i love about them (both edge and gilmour)

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

television and tom verlaine

 

[JOFO]

well, I think you're basing that comparison on the delay sound.
but edge had more going than just the effect; it was the way he combined high chords and ringing harmonics with the delay as well as an absence of blues that created an original voice.
he also had some punk influence.

 

[u2popmofo]

television and tom verlaine

That's exactly what I was thinking.

 

[financeguy]

Yes Edge always cites Tom Verlaine in interviews. I'm not aware of him mentioning Dave Gilmour, great though he is, as a major influence.

 

[pax]

:: waits for DaveC to weigh in ::

 

[typhoon]

Gilmour is way too much of a straight blues player compared to Edge. Both kick ass, but they're not that similar.

 

[Jack In The Box]

television and tom verlaine

 

[starsgoblue]

I have to agree with the point about Gilmour, my fave guitarist besides Edge. See what I think makes them different is that Gilmour uses the bends and whatnot more selectively than Edge does...Edge seems to use those sounds as often as he can, which isn't bad but I believe that Gilmour gave him the foundation for that sound.

 

[sallycinnamon78]

I have to agree with the point about Gilmour, my fave guitarist besides Edge. See what I think makes them different is that Gilmour uses the bends and whatnot more selectively than Edge does...Edge seems to use those sounds as often as he can, which isn't bad but I believe that Gilmour gave him the foundation for that sound.

That makes a lot of sense.

 

[babyman]

yeah, there are actually similitudes between gilmour's sound and edge's sound, but the way of playing is completely different, edge has an absolute style of his own, you recognise a u2 song after the first 2 seconds!

 

[ZeroDude]

Truthfully Edge has one of the most distinctive guitar sounds imo Gilmour and Edge although not being fast players most of the time, tend to install more dare I say feeling and thought into what they play than speed demons like Satriani et al

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Satriani plays with feeling... playing slow pentatonics does not = feeling.

 

[sallycinnamon78]

... playing slow pentatonics does not = feeling.

er... have you heard Comfortably Numb?

 

[u2popmofo]

I like Satriani, but that's neither here nor there.

I have to admit, sometimes I think U2 fans give Edge a little more credit than he deserves for being "original". I think a lot of what he's done had been done before, he just 'perfected' it and made it popular. That being said, yes, his playing is quite distinctive and he's definitely one of my favorite guitarists (if not THE favorite).

 

[Flying FuManchu]

er... have you heard Comfortably Numb?

I wasn't referring to Gilmour or anyone specifically... its just the term "feeling" in terms of guitar playing is so subjective or seems so subjective and to use it as a standard to puff up Edge and downgrade other accomplished guitarists seems so lame to me. A lot of Edge fans or "minimalist" fans seem so threatened by a person with fast hands and awesome technique that they have to say a virtuoso player has no feeling in his playing just b/c some guys can shred. Satriani's name is constantly mentioned which to me is lame considering Satriani balances speed with great licks, catchy melodies, and interesting effects (whammy bar antics and wah moments). I listen to a song like Satriani's "Friends" and get a feeling of excitement. Just an awesome tune. It makes me think this has to be a song that people refer to as having "feeling" even though it always seems unclear to me what feeling means. He doesn't really shred in this song to boot. Another song he wrote was "You Saved My Life" which has the sweetest wah solo that I've heard (very emotional to me). These songs are examples of Satriani the songwriter and not the shredder, yet people act like Satriani is some kind of robot who always writes Michael Angelo-esque songs that only have shredding in them.

Sorry... rant off.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Also I don't think Edge invented the Edge sound.... people mention Verlaine, Gilmour, etc... however IMO he perfected and made into his own style. Sort of like how Hendrix took what he knew and elements of Townsend and Jeff Beck as well as some blues guitarists and made it into his own. Same as Edge IMO. IMO Edge's use of distortion/ style of play in songs such as Bullet, Until the End of the World (actually several Achtung songs), etc... show a strong Hendrix influence yet people probably don't think much of it b/c of his use of delay and clean sounds. That's my opinion.

 

[Pero]

Edge has some tunes from Run Like Hell-great song

 

[shaun vox]

ITS all about S L A S H!!!!!!!!!!!

but when it comes to shreding,, have you all heard of Yngui malstine this guy plays the hell out of his guitar and his tone is so sweet .
i saw buckethead twice last month and he is amazing!!!!

now there are alot of metal guitar players out there but their tone is shit!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh any ways SLASH
oh jimmy page is also my guitar hero i love playing led zeppelin , gnr,vh,pink floyd,acdc, and alot of classic rock on my les paul it fucking rocks!!!!!!!!!!! man i love GUITAR!!!!

 

[IrishDawg]

Some people believe Edge got his sound after attending a few A Flock of Seagulls Concerts.

I'm not one of those people

 

[ZeroDude]

I wasn't saying Satriani doesn't play with feeling at all, it just seems to me that he could be even a more so melodic guitarist than he is imo, I'd agree that Edge does have a very noticable Hendrix infleunce in Bullet obviously and some of Achtung, but does Acrobat sound like anyone else, especially the solo with the notes getting dirty and weaving in and out of eachother, I think it may buts it's some of favorite bits of playing ever.

Hey Fu Manchu would you rate Slash as highly as Shaun does esp. putting him up there with Page.

 

[sallycinnamon78]

... playing slow pentatonics does not = feeling.


Originally posted by sallycinnamon78
er... have you heard Comfortably Numb?

Yeah, sorry Flying FuManchu - think I got a bit defensive there. Your rant made a good point.

but when it comes to shreding,, have you all heard of Yngui malstine this guy plays the hell out of his guitar and his tone is so sweet .

Heheheh! This reminds me of when I first started playing guitar back in 1997. One of the guitar mags I bought used to take the piss out of Yngwie every month, for no apparent reason. Of course the following month people would write in to defend him, and the whole cycle would repeat itself ad infinitum.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I wasn't saying Satriani doesn't play with feeling at all, it just seems to me that he could be even a more so melodic guitarist than he is imo, I'd agree that Edge does have a very noticable Hendrix infleunce in Bullet obviously and some of Achtung, but does Acrobat sound like anyone else, especially the solo with the notes getting dirty and weaving in and out of eachother, I think it may buts it's some of favorite bits of playing ever.

Hey Fu Manchu would you rate Slash as highly as Shaun does esp. putting him up there with Page.

Personally... naw I wouldn't b/c I'm an Edge guy. But Slash is loved by many and he always gets put on lists and is probably almost as loved as a Page is. The funny thing is that Slash is considered by some people as a "fast/ technical player" but he is not. Like I sued to. He is also considered a "feel" guy.

Satriani does play melodically and he plays fast... it's his style. Just as Edge's use of delay and use of droning of strings is his style. That's they way they like to play guitar. Satriani could play differently and try to play like the Edge or someone like Stevie Ray Vaughn but what's the point?

I'm not a big fan of Malmtsteen but awed by his skill shown in his songs (he does have some cool songs though) but they start to sound like me pissing in the toilet b/c of all his shredding.

 

[dsmith2904]

television and tom verlaine

Exactly, the first time I played "Marquee Moon" I felt like I got The Edge and his sound more than I ever had before.

 

[ZeroDude]

Anyway there's people who just don't get other guitarist's other than their favorites par example I was talking to a dude I know last night whose played guitar for 11 years and the only guitarists he respects are Kirk Hammet, Malmstein and Eddie Van Halen, all great guitarists mind although Eddie is out of place in my mind due to his sheer ridiculousness imo, as the conversdation moved on I mentioned Edge, Clapton, Keith Richards and Pete Townshend, he said he hated Clapton and Edge with a passion, Clapton for being slow ( yea slow hands being slow wtf is your point) and Edge for never soloing, obviously this dude needs a copy of Achtung baby or to hear Bullet live, other than that dudes should get a better variety of music into their systems

 

[mysticchild]

My personal opinion I like Eddie, he has created his own sound. Especially finger picking. I just saw Van Halen in August and I just loved the concert. When I here Edge, It is deffiently his sound. I like Pink Floyd and I don't here the same sound as Edge.Maybe i am not listening clear enough. But U2 are an amazing band, no doubt.

 

[discothequeLP]

Eddie Van Halen and Angus Young are really good guitar players, but I'm not a fan of those super-fast, :30 second, total-shredding-no-tone-or-harmony kind of solos. They're super cool and fun, but they seem to cliche.


I'm a huge fan of Edge (of course), Gilmour, and Jimmy Paige. I love Paige's 2 minute, super guitar solos with just enough harmony and shredding to make him a rock 'n roll god. Gilmour and Edge don't shred as much as other guitarists do, but I think they go for a more controlled sound, which is as difficult as shredding in it's own right.

 

[sallycinnamon78]

Anyway there's people who just don't get other guitarist's other than their favorites par example I was talking to a dude I know last night whose played guitar for 11 years and the only guitarists he respects are Kirk Hammet, Malmstein and Eddie Van Halen, all great guitarists mind although Eddie is out of place in my mind due to his sheer ridiculousness imo, as the conversdation moved on I mentioned Edge, Clapton, Keith Richards and Pete Townshend, he said he hated Clapton and Edge with a passion, Clapton for being slow ( yea slow hands being slow wtf is your point) and Edge for never soloing, obviously this dude needs a copy of Achtung baby or to hear Bullet live, other than that dudes should get a better variety of music into their systems

That sort of attitude drives me round the bloody bend and back again. As a guitarist I reckon there's something to be had from all kinds of music, regardless of whether or not I like it.

I used to live with a friend who was very into Led Zep. Not that there's anything wrong with that whatsoever - Page is amazing. My mate irritated the hell out of me, by refusing to give any other sort of music a chance. He was pemanently complaining that bands like U2 were too "pop", and wouldn't give anything else a chance. I did attempt to explain that just because a tune is catchy, does not mean it is shit, but he was having none of it. I can't BEAR musical snobs!