Technically speaking

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boystupidboy

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just how good are the members of U2 ?

Bono's voice ? Bono's guitar playing ? Bono's harmonica ?
Edge's guitar ? Edge on keyboards ?
Adam on the big fat bass ?
Larry's banging and clattering ?

I dont know one end of a guitar from another so i just wanted peoples opinions on how talented technically they are as individuals.

:hmm:

BsB
 
Adam and Larry were completely boring, until NLOTH. They've had lessons, and now I finally get some respect for Larry.

Edge's playing is simple, but the effects make it really hard to recreate.

Bono's guitar playing. It's laughable, that's all.
 
Bono's voice is top-notch technically, especially for someone who has been using it and sending it on such a roller-coaster ride for the past thirty-five years.

Larry was pretty technically good in the first three albums, but, for the sake of adding to songs as a whole instead of just grabbing attention, he took a backseat from TUF on... I think his actual skills started to slowly diminish after Lovetown. However, he's made a very odd noticeable jump in this album... I did not expect the drumming on this album to be this amazing, both technically and otherwise, and, even more strangely, he's blowing all of the live performances away. He hasn't wanted to do this since 1983... much less really been able to.

Adam started out as a really technically bad bassist, but has improved a lot, especially since the mid 90s. I would say that OS1 and Pop are his best albums. Still, though, he's no Entswhistle... though he was really, really good on this album, too.

Edge can occasionally be technically brilliant, but he *hates* playing that way. His philosophy is that notes are expensive, and as few as possible should be used. But his ability to create sonic landscapes from very simple guitar parts is... really mind-blowing.

Bono's guitar playing... meh, no one really knows. He plays guitar in studio more than we realize, I think, but only plays really simple stuff live. Didn't he come up with the original chord progression for UTEOTW?
 
From my experience of playing with a lot of different drummers in bands - there is a difference between someone who is great at playing the drums and someone who is great at playing the drums in the context of great songwriting. A drummer who listens intently to the song and feel and mood of the music that is being created and then adopts whatever patterns necessary to compliment the song is a rare and precious thing to behold.

Larry Mullen is a great songwriter on the drums, my favourite example is Streets - how many drummers would pound out a predictable rock beat for that song, and yet he adopts a simple tom-tom rhythm that works tremendously well in the context of the song. That and the fact that how many times do you hear Larry fuck up live??? I have heard numerous bootlegs where the band fuck up and its Larry's rock solid dependability that keeps the performance together.

In short, I will always defend Larry against any detractors.
 
From my experience of playing with a lot of different drummers in bands - there is a difference between someone who is great at playing the drums and someone who is great at playing the drums in the context of great songwriting. A drummer who listens intently to the song and feel and mood of the music that is being created and then adopts whatever patterns necessary to compliment the song is a rare and precious thing to behold.

Larry Mullen is a great songwriter on the drums, my favourite example is Streets - how many drummers would pound out a predictable rock beat for that song, and yet he adopts a simple tom-tom rhythm that works tremendously well in the context of the song. That and the fact that how many times do you hear Larry fuck up live??? I have heard numerous bootlegs where the band fuck up and its Larry's rock solid dependability that keeps the performance together.

In short, I will always defend Larry against any detractors.



:up:
 
It's easy, you just sounds like a typical U2 hater...

Can you explain it ?

.. I do?

He asked a technical opinion about the band members as musicians. I gave him my opinion on that and a lot of musicians will agree with me on that.

Wether they're technical musicians or not has NOTHING to do with the music itself. It has NOTHING to do with wether it's great or awesome music. It's a TECHNICAL matter. Not a matter of liking the band or not. :|
 
Larry was pretty technically good in the first three albums, but, for the sake of adding to songs as a whole instead of just grabbing attention, he took a backseat from TUF on...

I disagree, I think UF is one of Larry's best albums. He continued to have great moments until ATYCLB and Bomb those two albums he was just uninteresting, then all of a sudden he got interesting again...:shrug:
 
Wether they're technical musicians or not has NOTHING to do with the music itself. It has NOTHING to do with wether it's great or awesome music. It's a TECHNICAL matter. Not a matter of liking the band or not. :|

Yeah, exactly. There's thing called "songwriting" that the members of U2 and their producers occasionally partake in, something that wasn't asked to be dissected.
 
I disagree, I think UF is one of Larry's best albums. He continued to have great moments until ATYCLB and Bomb those two albums he was just uninteresting, then all of a sudden he got interesting again...:shrug:

I think he had some interesting drumming patterns on ATYCLB, but I don't think they really pushed the envelop of what he can do.

Having DL as a producer and fellow musician really helps Larry out. Lillywhite doesn't seem to focus too much on the drums or bass (He even said so in the JT making of DVD), so the last album really seemed to be lacking in any memorable drum or bass lines.

This album is probably Adam & Larry's strongest since Pop. It's just so nice to have Larry playing something besides the general Elevation drumming pattern.
 
I think he had some interesting drumming patterns on ATYCLB, but I don't think they really pushed the envelop of what he can do.

Having DL as a producer and fellow musician really helps Larry out. Lillywhite doesn't seem to focus too much on the drums or bass (He even said so in the JT making of DVD), so the last album really seemed to be lacking in any memorable drum or bass lines.

This album is probably Adam & Larry's strongest since Pop. It's just so nice to have Larry playing something besides the general Elevation drumming pattern.

:up: Yeah exactly, I'm not sure wether it's because of Lillywhite or not, but the last two albums were totally not focussed on bass nor drums. It's all the same basic stuff, and I totally didn't expect much from NLOTH to be honest.

On the first listen it blew my bloody mind! It's so different, so new. Almost experimental again.
Pop had some interesting bassparts, probably because Adam got lessons before passengers, from the author of Bassplaying for Dummies. That definately improved his play. It sounds like he got lessons again this album!
 
I don't think anyone is technically great, or maybe even good. (even if all 4 had lessons in their field) The sum of the four of them is what makes it great.
 
One of the reasons i asked the original question was because none of the band members seem to get a mention in those top guitarist/drummer etc lists that you see from time to time.
Edge rarely lets loose...is it because he has no confidence or he isn't that good ?!?? i really dont know :hmm:
I've heard from various sources that Adam isn't brilliant technically and Larry has been accused of just 'plodding along' on the drums.

Thanks for all the replies so far :wave:

BsB
 
So impressed with Larry and Adam this record. Especially Adam.

And I'm an Edge man from way back.
 
They're not the most amazing musicians technically, but they are technically VERY tight together. They're brilliant songwriters. And one other point---how often do you here people cover U2 songs? Have you ever heard a U2 cover that was better then U2's version? I'm sure they could be counted on a few fingers...
 
Honestly speaking, Edge is technically the best musician, Larry is probably doing his best stuff on NLOTH, Adam has come on in leaps and bounds since pop, though he has had good tunes thoughout U2's career, its only now you can really tell he has a good grasp on what hes doing, and he seems very comfortable with his playing now. He said NLOTH has been the most enjoyable album for him, so that shows it.

Bono...well hes good as a lyricist. When he wants to, he can sing like hell too. Hes obviously capable, but doesnt always deliver. Unfortunately inconsistancy cant always be helped, as the voice isnt in a constant condition. Hes a pretty good harmonica player. Edge says hes a good guitarist so Ill just take his word on it. :lol:
 
I'm not saying he's a virtuoso or anything but I think Bono's a better guitar player (rhythmic) than it sometimes appears in live performances...I think his problem is that it's difficult for him to sing and play at the same time!
 
Bono's voice is top-notch technically, especially for someone who has been using it and sending it on such a roller-coaster ride for the past thirty-five years.

Larry was pretty technically good in the first three albums, but, for the sake of adding to songs as a whole instead of just grabbing attention, he took a backseat from TUF on... I think his actual skills started to slowly diminish after Lovetown. However, he's made a very odd noticeable jump in this album... I did not expect the drumming on this album to be this amazing, both technically and otherwise, and, even more strangely, he's blowing all of the live performances away. He hasn't wanted to do this since 1983... much less really been able to.

Adam started out as a really technically bad bassist, but has improved a lot, especially since the mid 90s. I would say that OS1 and Pop are his best albums. Still, though, he's no Entswhistle... though he was really, really good on this album, too.

Edge can occasionally be technically brilliant, but he *hates* playing that way. His philosophy is that notes are expensive, and as few as possible should be used. But his ability to create sonic landscapes from very simple guitar parts is... really mind-blowing.

Bono's guitar playing... meh, no one really knows. He plays guitar in studio more than we realize, I think, but only plays really simple stuff live. Didn't he come up with the original chord progression for UTEOTW?

:bow:

I wholeheartedly agree with this post. :up:

Bsb rulz! Ok!!

Yeah! He knows how to make a thread without it getting lock'd now! :wink:
 
I'm not saying he's a virtuoso or anything but I think Bono's a better guitar player (rhythmic) than it sometimes appears in live performances...I think his problem is that it's difficult for him to sing and play at the same time!

I'd rather prefer Bono running around on stage like a madman then just strumming the guitar and singing. :wink:
 
Bono: Singing = Really strong, Guitar playing = :lol:, Harmonica = Decent
Edge: Guitar = Can play really well, was always the best musician in U2 (Probably the only one who could play on Boy), doesn't let his skills show that much though, Piano: Decent(Not really sure on this one)
Adam: Lucky (Early albums), good (90s), meh (ATYCLB, Bomb), good (NLOTH)
Larry: Drums: Good->Great (Boy-War), Strong (TUF-Pop), Was he even in the studio? (ATYCLB and Bomb), Good (NLOTH). Keyboards: Makes Bono's guitar playing look good :wink:

That's just my opinion though
 
Bono: Great voice obviously! (especially Achtung/ Zooropa, when he sings in that deep voice he sounds like he is God talking.) I was dissapointed with his voice on bomb because I felt it was a little too whiney, but on NLOTH its fantastic.

Edge: absolutely incredible musician- the best in the band- a true artist

Adam: probably the worst technical player in the band, however, he does come up with some great really funky grooves. and I would say he is better than the average bassman

Larry: One of the best drummers out there. bar none. As someone who has dabbled in drums, I can say that he is excellent technically.

What I find so amazing however about the band is the philosphy each of the musicians take towards their instrument. Musically, U2 has the philosiphy that SIMPLE IS BETTER. It is something so many musicians forget because they get so caught up technically on who can play faster, etc... that they forget about the music as a WHOLE. and while each musician in U2 play with a simple framemind they all come together to make something complex, layered, and beautiful. Which becomes that the total is greater than the sum of its parts. the simplicity comes together and creates a soundscape no other band can replicate (even though some may try)
 
Bono: Singing = Really strong, Guitar playing = :lol:, Harmonica = Decent
Edge: Guitar = Can play really well, was always the best musician in U2 (Probably the only one who could play on Boy), doesn't let his skills show that much though, Piano: Decent(Not really sure on this one)
Adam: Lucky (Early albums), good (90s), meh (ATYCLB, Bomb), good (NLOTH)
Larry: Drums: Good->Great (Boy-War), Strong (TUF-Pop), Was he even in the studio? (ATYCLB and Bomb), Good (NLOTH). Keyboards: Makes Bono's guitar playing look good :wink:

That's just my opinion though

:up: That's a good summary. :lol: Well Edge on keys isn't bad, but we don't hear it often. Tinkling like COBL or so is pretty easy, but Miss Sarajevo sounded nice, and so does RTSS. Though ofcourse MS has been transcribed from guitar chords, but yeah. He's not a piano virtuoso, and that's a good thing to me. But I wouldn't mind seeing him play the piano more often(Or Bono for that matter). :)
 
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