Edge 80-94 Vs Edge 94 - Present

[gman]

Just intrested in ppls opinions on which edge they preffered? For me, the edge sound up until 94 really stood out. No one else could produce what he was doing, albeit simple, but it was the way it was done.
I feel from POP onwards the edge sound that i grew up with has gone (no pun intended!!) and to be honest, i feel that almost any gutarist could take his place now and you wouldnt notice ( i dont mean visually)

 

[BANZAI]

You can still hear the "old" The Edge sound in songs like City of Blinding Lights and Original of the Species.

 

[RademR]

gotta go with the old Edge because his work on Acthung Baby and Zooropa are his best to me.

But that doesnt take away from the new Edge, he's still the man.

 

[Zoots]

Achtung was probably Edge's peak and that falls in the old period.

 

[ejfan007]

I prefer the 80-94 Edge - he certainly did have the "edge" then, of course that's not to say he still doesn't now.

 

[gareth brown]

Old Edge definitely. Listening to all the albums from Boy - Zooropa is great when you hear how much his sound evolved into that trademark Edge sound of his up until Achtung Baby/Zooropa when he more or less threw it out yet somehow managed to make it sound like him! Make any sense??

 

[Yahweh]

I dont think you could take away Edge and still have U2, there is a lot more copying of the Edge 80s sound going on now....but if you want to hear what id consider to be an older Edge sound listen to the Batman cartoon theme that he did, he still has the old sound in him its just not used as much because hes probably board of using it all the time.

 

[gareth brown]

If we got more 'Zooropa' and 'Hold Me Thrill Me...' style stuff out of him he'd be even better than he is now

 

[JCOSTER]

94 - present I was floored when I heard his riff in End of the World it was amazing and the best I have ever heard him.

 

[u2thewho]

Ummmm.... Until the End of the World Came out in 1991. I'd have to say Old Edge, because that's when all of the amazing, legendary riffs and such came out; I Will Follow, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Streets, WOWY, In God's Country, Even Better Than the Real Thing, One, UTEOTW, etc. New Edge is certainly quite good, and he still has some great parts, like COBL and Vertigo, but it's not quite the same.

 

[cobl04]

Just a question to the poster...no offence but isn't obvious what the vast majority of answers are going to be? U2 have only released three albums since 94, not including Passangers. A better question might have been 76-90, 90-00, 00 - Now.

I haven't heard Pop so I won't comment.

 

[vaz02]

edge has developed a lot on those great pre 94 tunes though , they sound a lot better now than when they did back in the day.

The Discotheque riff beats anything edge did prior i think. Its even up there with keef richards satisfaction i think.

 

[david]

He's only progressed as a guitar player. It's kind of weird to compare a man's old guitar skills to the skills he's developed during the past ten years. He's the same person and can still play the same songs, but technically better than he used to.

 

[namkcuR]

Edge's peak was 91-98....On Achtung and Zooropa he was bloody amazing, and on Pop, as with Zooropa, he was still trying to do things with his guitar that have you saying, 'that sound isn't supposed to come out of a guitar'.

He has three great moments on ATYCLB - the BD riff, the NY riff, and far and away his brightest moment of the decade thus far, the WILATW solo AND riff(I fucking love those wah-wah-wah, wah-wah-wah's). There was nothing on Bomb, guitar-wise, that I hadn't, in some way or another, heard before.

But Edge on AB-Zooropa-Pop...

 

[J_NP]

He's only progressed as a guitar player. It's kind of weird to compare a man's old guitar skills to the skills he's developed during the past ten years. He's the same person and can still play the same songs, but technically better than he used to.

Thank you , finally a good and coherent opinion here I can agree , and actually read

Just one thing to compare a musician's past with it's present , it's so bloody ridiculous ....... oh Jeeesus ...... it's so ridiculous it hurts ....... It's worse than compare an athlete training up , compare how he was in january , and how is in august .....

That was definitely THE week of bullshits threads

 

[AtomicBono]

He's only progressed as a guitar player. It's kind of weird to compare a man's old guitar skills to the skills he's developed during the past ten years. He's the same person and can still play the same songs, but technically better than he used to.

very good point. COBL has a good point too - comparing three albums to eight is a bit ridiculous, especially when U2's two "classic" albums fall under those eight (JT and AB).

But yeah, what david said - he's still Edge he's probably BETTER now than he was in the 80's. in fact, I'm certain that he's technically better. better creatively? maybe not. we'll see what the next album brings.

but I agree with vaz....Discotheque is Edge's best riff, period.

 

[U2girl]

Can't really pick, I liked the vintage chimey sound from the 80's, I liked his sound on AB, and I liked some of the stuff on ATYCLB and Bomb. (BD, In a little while, Kite, LAPOE, Vertigo, ABOY, OOTS)

 

[gman]

it not a daft question at all. the two periods in question were completley different in sound, style and creativity. If its fair game to compare U2 from one album to the next, whats wrong wi this? And J_NP if its that ridiculous a thread, whats it say about you that you lower yourself to add to it.

 

[J_NP]

Sorry for the outburst yesterday .

Kinda excited with some alcohol I was , saturday night and all ....

No Offense , if anyone took ...... The thing is I may have used nasty or wrong words , but in a nutshell that was what I tried to say .

The thing is , you just can't compare 2 periods , like past and present of a musician . You can compare anything , the way he was or is playing ..... I myself consider a humble learning musician , if someone came at said that I was better at 2 years ago , that would be like an insult or something . Or like a cousin of mine , he started playin guitar at 12 , today he's 26 and pretty good one if you ask me , that's the thing you come and say he was better when 18 , that's harsh .

In One line : If you say Edge was better in 94 , you throw everything he has done in the trash all these years . Everything the guy has done , tried , experienced , learned , everythin is like throw in nowhere .......

So People can come here and say they prefer his work on Achtung Baby for example than Pop , but say , he was a better guitarrist in 92 than today , it's complete non-sense

 

[salty72]

The Edge simply f*#&ing rocks IMO. Past or present.

 

[LemonMelon]

He hasn't changed much quality-wise to me. He's as brilliant as ever. He was misused on ATYCLB, and on Pop I could see why some might think he sounded like everyone else...but he was still brilliant. HTDAAB Edge is like the Edge of old.

 

[gman]

Can i just say that, i didnt think so much about splitting it down to the amount of albums, more that i split the career into two halfs. In my opinion, edge may well have developed as a guitarist as career progressed but for me he was far more of a standout, pioneering, risk taker when he was a "novice" making him more pleasing to my ear.

 

[JCOSTER]

Ummmm.... Until the End of the World Came out in 1991. I'd have to say Old Edge, because that's when all of the amazing, legendary riffs and such came out; I Will Follow, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Streets, WOWY, In God's Country, Even Better Than the Real Thing, One, UTEOTW, etc. New Edge is certainly quite good, and he still has some great parts, like COBL and Vertigo, but it's not quite the same.

No, when I heard Edges riff on the Vertigo tour back in Oct and Nov during Until the End of the World, it was simply unbelieveable.

This is from the 11/22 show I was at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gbFAv3vaZo&search=u2/msg

This was so amazing it was right infront of me b/c I was right behind Larry 1st row. There are just no words to describe it, it still gives me chills.

 

[silvrlvr]

This is a really interesting debate. It reminds me of the line from The Natural -- "I believe we have two lives, the one we learn with and the life we live after that." The early phase was the life Edge learned with and now we're all seeing (hearing) the life he's lived since then.

But I'm willing to bet the next Edge will be even better than what we've heard already, because of New Orleans. When you spend time around those folks, you just come at music in a different way -- less cerebral and much more from instinct and emotion. That's going to make his sound even richer, if that's possible.

 

[Oskar]

He's only progressed as a guitar player. It's kind of weird to compare a man's old guitar skills to the skills he's developed during the past ten years. He's the same person and can still play the same songs, but technically better than he used to.

Absolutely not! His technical skills may have developed, but he can still be a different guitarist with less creativity and inspiration to come up with good songs now compared to earlier. Playing guitar is not just technical! And with that in mind, there's no problem in saying that Edge might have been better at making good riffs and songs earlier. Which by the way, is the case. I only have to mention one song, and you all will agree with me: Where the Streets Have No Name Ergo, old-Edge.

Other examples: WOWY, Still haven't found, Bad, Promenade, The Unforgettable Fire...

 

[mackemlad]

Strange thread this one.

As mentioned earlier 8 albums to three is an unfair comparison.
Strange also that the last two albums U2 have been accused of doing U2 by numbers.

Some of the material on the last two albums has the most generic sounding u2 guitar sounds since the 80's U2 period.

91-95 there was a different sound. The odd track here and there on recent albums, All because of you Vertigo etc. But on the whole
Bar a four year period I think Edge's sound has bee pretty constant.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Edge has still got it.
U2 couldn't exist without him, I think he's the most essential member. I just wish he'd get more involved with production. He did great work on Zooropa, I wouldnt mind him taking lead production responsibility.
He has always been the greatest in my opinion and all his carious eras have been magical in some way. Just listen to the period between boy and war, his playing is just breathtaking. Listen to the combo of I threw a brick/day without me on under a blood red sky, its thrilling!! The same can be said for 11 oclock tick tock, gloria and countess others.
He is just as thrilling today, watch the vertigo dvd, he is doing everything, electric co, COBL, aboy are fantastic, and in my opinion its all down to the genius we call the edge!

 

[Pero]

Edge 80-94
I think that you asked the wrong question.
I think Edge(80-90) vs. Edge(90-present) is better.

 

[schnumi]

Edge 80-94
I think that you asked the wrong question.
I think Edge(80-90) vs. Edge(90-present) is better.

Indeed i think 90 - present is a better choice. That would be my choice.

 

[dazzledbylight]

........all I can say is what he did on tour in 05 [maY10, OCT8, NOV22 for me in nyc ]was ...just....STUNNING......

esp imho the 11/22 SHOW.......

where for instance when Bono was not just snippeting but really weaving "Johnny..marching...home" in out out of ? SBS and Edge and the whole band just tore it up[I/] and ESP EVEN more SO with Bullet and
"Rock The Casbash"......

AS for HTDAAB.......COBL, Miracle Drug, Vertigo, LAPOE, Crumbs...are just wonderful in Edgeness both on CD and L!VE !

and i was so to hear the ZooTV section again !!!