Do you think Edge is a guitar "great"?

[LeafsNation]

Today as I was listening to live U2 from 1983, I was just amazed at the sounds that Edge can crank from that guitar.

It made me think of the guitarists that have traditionally been considered the guitar "gods"...Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Angus Young, David Gilmour etc.....and of course my absolute favourite, Jimmy Page.

Do you think that Edge belongs on those lists? Without a doubt, I do. While he may not be the fastest guitarist, may not be your traditional "blues-style" guitarist, and comes more out of punk mold, he is without doubt the most innovative guitarist since Hendrix. Certainly no one in 1983 sounded anything like him, and many since have been copy cats. It amazes me how his guitar sound is such an omnipresent force in their music, but doesn't overshadow the rest of the band (unlike Page in Zeppelin.)

Do you agree?

Cheers, Red

 

[namkcuR]

Yes. Edge is top 10 all time. He's created a style of guitar playing that an entire generation of guitarists has attempted/is attempting to emulate.

 

[bonosleftone]

No. Edge is definitely innovative and a very talented guitarist however the staccato/vibrato that he employs was started by Television's Tom Verlaine.

Top 10 all time:

1. Hendrix
2. Clapton
3. Page
4. Vaughan
5. Van Halen
6. Randy Rhoads
7. Carlos Santana
8. Les Paul
9. Chuck Berry
10. Robert Johnson

If I was ranking, I'd have Edge in the top 30 at best. He's good, but innovation that isnt completely his own and lack of pure technical ability drop him.

He is however the best backup singing guitarist ever.

 

[jick]

Guitar isn't just about innovation or finger acrobatics. It is also about writing the parts that will fit the lyrics, it is about passion, it is about creating the mood for the listener, it is about making an atmosphere - Edge excels in all parts. His music is always appropriate for the song, he plays what is asked for him and give more. He doesn't reduce guitar to a shwocase of finger acrobatics and licks, he make guitar his art. Guitar World Magazine once did a ranking of the top 30 most important guitarists or something like that, and Edge came in at #5. Edge is easily top ten material, but whether he is top 5 of all-time is what is debatable but I have strong arguments for that.

Cheers,

J

 

[U2Kitten]

Edge among other greats

 

[MrBrau1]

I love that picture. What makes Edge great is the fact he sounds nothing like the others in that picture. And I love them as well.

 

[MrBrau1]

1st to name all 9 in the picture gets a lollypop.

 

[namkcuR]

1st to name all 9 in the picture gets a lollypop.

B.B. King
Jimmy Page
Keith Richards
Carlos Santana
Mick Jagger(?)
Bob Seiger(?)
The Edge
?
?

 

[MrBrau1]

L to R:

Jeff Beck
Steve Cropper(Booker T. and the MGS, Otis Redding)
Robbie Robertson(The Band)
BB King
Jimmy Page
Keef
Carlos
Edge
John Fogerty(Creedence Clearwater Revival)

 

[Nube Gris]

The Edge is absolutely up there with the very best
No doubt
The arguments made by this fella are very, very true

Listen to HMTMKMKM, Streets, The Fly, Vertigo, Mysterious Ways, Gone, Discotheque, All Because of You, Acrobat, Desire, LAPOE is masterful also
Wow!
The guy is a genius, he is so great, and most important he has that desire and determination to be even better after all this years, he even wants to discover where his instrument can take him
Thats amazing, something never seen in rock before

Edge you are a master

 

[Tintin]

Ummm...The Edge?
And...oh forget it.
Stupid lollypop.

I am glad that while Edge has done much facial hair explorations he has never adopted the thing Santana has perched precariously on his upper lip. And the dude on the far left has the nastiest vest I have ever seen.

If you dressed like that in the eighties...I apologize. On your behalf.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Jeff Beck is awesome... one of the legends and still making relevant guitar music IMO. Wonder why Clapton isn't in that pic? Was that for the Hall of Fame? What was the theme of the pic?

 

[david]

I think that was from the 1991 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions.

 

[JOFO]

No. Edge is definitely innovative and a very talented guitarist however the staccato/vibrato that he employs was started by Television's Tom Verlaine.

Top 10 all time:

1. Hendrix
2. Clapton
3. Page
4. Vaughan
5. Van Halen
6. Randy Rhoads
7. Carlos Santana
8. Les Paul
9. Chuck Berry
10. Robert Johnson

If I was ranking, I'd have Edge in the top 30 at best. He's good, but innovation that isnt completely his own and lack of pure technical ability drop him.

He is however the best backup singing guitarist ever.

why clapton is always ranked so high I'll never know; most over-rated guitarist ever.
maybe you should listen to:
pat metheny
john scofield
bill frisell
mike stern

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I would always think Clapton would be in the same class as the above guys in that pic or part of that group for the HOF considering he was always ranked pretty highly in the 60s and early 70s next to Hendrix.

I dunno about Clapton being overrated. I've started listening to Zeppelin these days and picked up 1, 2, and 4 and have to say Page is a little more overrated.

 

[discothequeLP]

why clapton is always ranked so high I'll never know; most over-rated guitarist ever.
maybe you should listen to:
pat metheny

pat metheny is spectacular

 

[RademR]

I've started listening to Zeppelin these days and picked up 1, 2, and 4 and have to say Page is a little more overrated.

wow. probably my favorite guitarist ever, i think he could have done the "dazed and confused" guitar solo, then quit and only had that one song and would still be great.

I think Edge is in my top 5, he is brilliant and I love the fact that you can hear a few seconds of a song and say "that's Edge." He has a signature sound and I think it's the most emotional guitar I've ever heard. Are there better guitarists? I think my answer would be definetly. But he's in my top 5.

 

[U2girl]

Personally - and I know nothing about technique of guitar playing - Edge is probably my favorite guitar player.
He seems to instinctively know what works best in the song, from playing straightforward rock (Bullet, Desire, All because of you), to ethereal sounds only he can create (With or without you, Hawkmoon 269, Stay), to sound unlike anything like himself (In a little while, Wild honey, A man and a woman).

I also really like Brian May and Johnny Marr.

 

[TheFlyOnTheWall]

I think Edge is in my top 5, he is brilliant and I love the fact that you can hear a few seconds of a song and say "that's Edge." He has a signature sound and I think it's the most emotional guitar I've ever heard.

Long time ago, when I was still a Bomb-virgin, i accidently heard the start of Miracle Drug and I knew right away that's a U2 song. Ant turned it off.
So yes, he's recognizable.

 

[zooroper]

yeah...edge's gutar is one of the best, but i still think he has a lot to learn from jhonny marr.

 

[ZeroDude]

My top 10 guitarists ever in all fields would probably look like this:

10. John Frusciante
9.Keith Richards
8.Joe Satriani
7. Johnny Marr
6. Pete Townshend
5. The Edge
4.Django Reinhardt
3. Stevie Ray Vaughn
2. "Johnny Ramone" (jk lol) seriously though this a place I'd have to give more thought
1. Jimi Hendrix ( cliched but yea on influence alone)

Ok back to Edge, he can make simple things sound beautiful ( WOWY) he can do some technically amazing things too ( Bullet live) he can do things what we not too sure what he's doing really ( An Cat Dubh on Boy and alot of his early stuff wtf is that chord moments) he can shred to a good level ( lovetown performances of desire) he can play the guitar as if it was a keyboard ( Lemon et al) probably the no.1 user of effects and delay ever, plays a mean acoustic set,

Of course what really matters is that he looks cool

P.S. best tone ever, I want tone like that

 

[cardosino]

I would always think Clapton would be in the same class as the above guys in that pic or part of that group for the HOF considering he was always ranked pretty highly in the 60s and early 70s next to Hendrix.

I dunno about Clapton being overrated. I've started listening to Zeppelin these days and picked up 1, 2, and 4 and have to say Page is a little more overrated.

Like edge, Page's genius was nto in how fast he could play or how he could hit all the notes perfectly. His was more in composition and recording. He was actually a very very sloppy guitar player.

 

[ZeroDude]

Page ain't sloppy his just isn't supurbly technical but for that matter there is aload of great guitarists who aren't either

 

[cardosino]

Page ain't sloppy his just isn't supurbly technical but for that matter there is aload of great guitarists who aren't either

Live, he was incredibly sloppy.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I've heard about the sloppiness... I've only really started listening and acknowledge Zep's influences but from the studio albums I've heard so far... the overt bluesey-ness of the solos were a little surprising. Again, I just picked them up and of course I think Stairway is a classic.

 

[ZeroDude]

Live, he was incredibly sloppy.

I need to see and hear proof of this before I believe it, but anyway we I'll have to see it

 

[Yahweh]

I think Edge has shown great range of guitaring talents over the years, problem with guitarists like Clapton is that they tend to sound the same song after song, I like variety in my music, are there better technical guitarists without a doubt probably yes...are there guitarists that have used more of their range then Edge I doubt it.

They once had a special on guitar greats and showed the solo from bullet the blue sky from Sydney one of the very best Edge moments.

 

[cardosino]

I need to see and hear proof of this before I believe it, but anyway we I'll have to see it

I have many live recordings, somewhere........

Of course, I've cherry picked the better ones.

Zep were my U2 before U2, to some extent they still are, and at their best they could blow U2 away in a heartbeat, but at their average they were bad, and when they were bad they were truly awful.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

I think Edge has shown great range of guitaring talents over the years, problem with guitarists like Clapton is that they tend to sound the same song after song, I like variety in my music, are there better technical guitarists without a doubt probably yes...are there guitarists that have used more of their range then Edge I doubt it.

They once had a special on guitar greats and showed the solo from bullet the blue sky from Sydney one of the very best Edge moments.

I dunno... Jeff Beck is a guitarist like Clapton and he shows much more variety than Edge IMO. Page also shows variety (when he did the stuff he did). Clapton shows variety too but he's stuck with his reputation and fascination with the blues which probably hinders his appeal/ attempts at variety. Clapton did a much maligned techno album under a pseudonym. IMO I wouldn't be surprised if Clapton attempted to do jazz in the future.

Edge has to me, not shown a great range playing wise (of course I'm still learning and I could be wrong). However, the band has shown a wide range in styles with Edge generally being Edge. For example, POP is lauded as a great Edge show of variety but he's essentially doing/ playing the same stuff he's done in past albums but in a different context. The variety of tones are probably the truly different things that he does on POP.

 

[LeafsNation]

I dunno about Clapton being overrated. I've started listening to Zeppelin these days and picked up 1, 2, and 4 and have to say Page is a little more overrated. [/B]

That so-called "sloppiness" was part and parcel of what Zeppelin was best known for: improvising. Their live shows were legendary. Zeppelin and U2 are similar in that they were often better live than in the studio. If you want to hear Page at his best, get their # 1 live album "How the West Was Won"...it's pure magic, and I have never heard any guitarist play as spectacularly as Page - even Hendrix - then in these 1972 shows. (BTW, don't use Song Remains the Same as a yardstick...Plant's voice was beginning to decline by then)

As well, no one could construct a catchy memrable riff like Jimmy Page. Even the Edge in a Rolling Stone Interview about Zep in the late 80s acknowledged he practised Page riffs during rehearsals. In addition to many hard rock/metal guitarists, Page's guitar style influenced everyone from Pearl Jam, the Pumpkins, and STP, to the Stone Roses, Jane's Addiction, the Beastie Boys and numerous others.

Cheers

PS. Make sure you pick up Physical Grafiti...Stairway may be their most famous song, but Kasmir was the quintessential Zep song.