The Blue Dog is underrated. That damn dog is awesome. We've got a blue dog painting in one of our bathrooms, and a coffee table book of blue dog. I LOVE THE BLUE DOG
Back to Edge - I agree, he is completely underrated, but I think he's bloody brilliant. Part of his brilliance, as others have mentioned, is his restraint... he plays one note, lets it ring out... so simple yet so elegant. Music isn't about the individual notes, it's about how they sound after one another. The Edge is a genius at build-up... and when he actually does rip into a solo, it's like heaven, and much, MUCH more powerful than it would have been had he been solo-ing wildly the whole song.
Does Edge have a distinct style? Of course he does, and that's one of the great things about him... but I don't think he's repetitive with it. He's actually very versitile (versitial? I can't spell for the life of me). He has techniques that he uses often, scales he likes, but they're not in every song. He's recorded over 200 songs - of course some are going to have similiar lines. I mean, the solo in Crumbs is almost the same as the one in Walk On, but it has its nuances and fits well in both songs. Frankly he's not too repetitive so I don't mind... I love the trademark Edge sounds. I don't think anyone has made a guitar sound so beautiful since Jimi Hendrix... their techniques are vastly different, and Hendrix is lightyears ahead of Edge in pure technical ability and such, but Edge can make some of the most beautiful, perfect sounds in the world (if you can't tell, music is VERY important to me). The end of Ground Beneath Her Feet, with the two guitar parts, floors me everytime I hear it. I could care less if it's hard or easy to play, to me it is perfection.
Anyone who doesn't think Edge is a good guitarist needs to go see U2 live. He brings EVERY song alive...erm, live
He embelishes every song, and you hear stuff you didn't hear on the albums (though often times it's just very quiet on the albums, which at times can be irritating...I'm not always so sure about U2's production.) Hell, just go watch a ZooTV show... Bullet the Blue Sky...The Fly...One...Love is Blindness...need I say more?
I don't understand how ANYONE could question Edge's ability after hearing these songs live.