So, how good musicians are they? Also, Bono's voice question for singers

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GibsonGirl said:


:rolleyes:

So, just because people have something negative to say about U2's abilities as musicians, they "need to learn more about U2," then? Nice. I suppose owning every U2 album, many audio bootlegs, tonnes of books and live footage from almost every one of their tours makes me very uneducated about U2 as a band.

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep - she can go to Interference to find them.
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Sorry, if my last statement was misunderstood, I was not referring to GibsonGirl, or anybody who have different opinions than mine, really I was pointing towards people like Windmilllane , who only made that silly comment without give good arguments.

BTW, Windmillane, let me to know what bands you like, I can rip them too.
 
i know i'm not windmill lane but here are some bands i like that you can rip off -

Kaiser Chiefs
The Killers
Snow Patrol
Gelbison
Youth Group
The Living End
Fraz Ferdinand
Travis
The Flaming Lips
Secret Machines
The Beatles
Jeff Buckley
John Mayer
The Arcade Fire

yea you get the point but go ahead
 
Ok, thanks, you has been very fast to answer.



Kaiser Chiefs = Sucks
The Killers = Sucks
Snow Patrol = Sucks
Gelbison = Emmpfh ?
Youth Group = Eeer ?
The Living End = E ?
Fraz Ferdinand = Sucks , sometimes
Travis = Makes me sleep,, zzzzz
The Flaming Lips = Excellent, underrated
Secret Machines = Great band too
The Beatles = OVERRATED
Jeff Buckley = No , thanks
John Mayer = No thanks
The Arcade Fire = Overrated, bad histeric male vocals, however they got some good things.:wink:
 
DarkAcrobat said:
Ok, thanks, you has been very fast to answer.



Kaiser Chiefs = Sucks
The Killers = Sucks
Snow Patrol = Sucks
Gelbison = Emmpfh ?
Youth Group = Eeer ?
The Living End = E ?
Fraz Ferdinand = Sucks , sometimes
Travis = Makes me sleep,, zzzzz
The Flaming Lips = Excellent, underrated
Secret Machines = Great band too
The Beatles = OVERRATED
Jeff Buckley = No , thanks
John Mayer = No thanks
The Arcade Fire = Overrated, bad histeric male vocals, however they got some good things.:wink:
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You have terrible taste.
 
My favorite band is U2, no other band can to touch them.


If this is a good sample of my tastes, I 'm very proud of my terrible taste !


Anyway, thanks, you are so kind !!




Wait, .... you wrote terrific, or terrible ?, let me read again....



:eyebrow:
 
DarkAcrobat said:
My favorite band is U2, no other band can to touch them.
Click to expand...

Really? I didn't know it was a fact that U2 are the best band on earth. :hmm: I better go throw away all my other albums by other bands because, you know, they can't touch U2.
 
My thoughts on the original thread title...

Bono, spectacular voice, especially once it was 'tamed' (Post- war album)

Edge: Not the most talented guitarist in terms of speed, versatility , usage of the fret board etc... But arguably one of the most creative, his use of delays and reverbs still boggle my mind.

Now the rhythm section...

I would say larry and adam independently are not spectacular at any stretch of the mind. But combined they are among "the best rhythm section" in the world.. i cant remember where that was quoted...

Whatever it is they do is signature of the U2sound. I bet larry or adam could bust into amazing solo's... (look at gloria and THBAO) 25 years of playing will allow you to do that. but quite frankly it wouldn't blend with the edge and bono's techniques.

Flea is amazing cause the style of music they play caters to bass flexibility, likewise with Rush. If U2 decided to put an amazing drum/bass mix they could do it, but it would be uncharacteristic of the band.
 
Have you guys heard the rhythm section in any of the albums Echo and the Bunnymen have released from 1997 and upwards? Could be Larry and Adam in their current form. U2's rhythm section's style at the present isn't anything unique.
 
I don't see Edge as a "guitarist's guitarist" compared to many of the other musicians out there, and I am grateful for that. I think he has the ability(with his guitar parts and tone) to convey moods, tell stories, and paint sonic landscapes like no one else.
 
the people who hold u2 up on an all holy, do no wrong pedestal are just as silly and annoying as those who do nothing but tell you how they're not really good yet hang around a u2 message board..

is any of the four members of u2 the greatest at what they do? no... are any of them the worst? no. they are the best at doing what they do. they're the best at being u2. would any of them have had the same level of success in other bands? who knows... unanswerable question, because they aren't in other bands.

bono's voice from, oh, 1985 to 1995, was up there with anyone's... mercury, bowie, whomever else you wanna mention. it is not on that level... since then his voice has changed, due mostly to hard living i would imagine, and while it's still quite good, it doesn't rival the perfection of, oh i dunno, do they know it's christmas bono voice... which is absolute perfection.

the edge is the tom hanks of guitar players. he's not over the top like a pacino or deniro. he's just brilliant in how he fits in to his role. if he went off and started doing all these speed riffs and solos, well, u2 would not be u2 anymore. that's not them.

u2 is great because of their synergy as a group... the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. that's what makes them what they are.

:shrug: ultimately it's personal preference. i much prefer the sound of u2 to that of radiohead or pink floyd, which bores me into wanting to shove paper clips through my ear drums. to some, that would make me stupid. good for them.
 
I dunno, for me U2 will always be the best band in the history of mankind...

wait is this 400? crap...
 
I think it is all a matter of context whether someone is classed as good or not. Steve Vai is a very technically good player that I and many other people , manly musos,love .However this does not seem to give him the ability to write riffs like Edge has that have been commercially succesful to a wider audience.
The ability to refrain from over playing is a much documented struggle that many of the more technical guitarists and musicians have mentioned.
 
If Edge was able to play like Vai then we would never have gotten creative/ interesting songs such as With or Without You, Bad, or Streets... or an interesting solo such as The Fly or All I Want... A shredder's mentality of playing tends to be way different then what we see from a guy like Edge...
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
the people who hold u2 up on an all holy, do no wrong pedestal are just as silly and annoying as those who do nothing but tell you how they're not really good yet hang around a u2 message board..

is any of the four members of u2 the greatest at what they do? no... are any of them the worst? no. they are the best at doing what they do. they're the best at being u2. would any of them have had the same level of success in other bands? who knows... unanswerable question, because they aren't in other bands.

bono's voice from, oh, 1985 to 1995, was up there with anyone's... mercury, bowie, whomever else you wanna mention. it is not on that level... since then his voice has changed, due mostly to hard living i would imagine, and while it's still quite good, it doesn't rival the perfection of, oh i dunno, do they know it's christmas bono voice... which is absolute perfection.

the edge is the tom hanks of guitar players. he's not over the top like a pacino or deniro. he's just brilliant in how he fits in to his role. if he went off and started doing all these speed riffs and solos, well, u2 would not be u2 anymore. that's not them.

u2 is great because of their synergy as a group... the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. that's what makes them what they are.

:shrug: ultimately it's personal preference. i much prefer the sound of u2 to that of radiohead or pink floyd, which bores me into wanting to shove paper clips through my ear drums. to some, that would make me stupid. good for them.
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The most sensible post so far.

In my opinion, U2 peaked between JT and Achtung Baby, two of the greatest albums ever, and amazingly different considering they came from the same band.

And this, I think, is what makes the band great. They are versatile, but more than this, they write brilliant songs with a great sound and a unique personality. Possibly the unknown lead guitarist of any house band on late night TV could play edge's riffs, but could anyone else have written them?

Plus they know how to perform, or more to the point, Bono knows how to perform. Lots of people can sing a note, Australian Idol or American Idol or wherever you're from Idol is proof of this, but it comes down to a stage presence and eliciting a mood through voice that is important. And yet again, it's about WRITING a great lyric, and then performing it better than anyone else can. These are U2's strengths.
 
I'm not a musician but how capable, as far as drum filling, shredding in a technical sense is the Edge, Larry and Adam.
I'm not looking at comparisons with other musicians just them on there own abilities. I personally think that they could perform well.
It would be great to hear and see more of this style in their music.

Cheers.
 
pentax said:
I'm not a musician but how capable, as far as drum filling, shredding in a technical sense is the Edge, Larry and Adam.
I'm not looking at comparisons with other musicians just them on there own abilities. I personally think that they could perform well.
It would be great to hear and see more of this style in their music.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

From what I've read from Adam's bass teacher Patrick Pfieffer, (he actually participates on a bass player's forum...or someone's been impersonating him for about 4 years), Adam can play much more complicated material, it's just a matter of wanting to play complicated lines on U2 songs, not lack of ability. It's quite possible his own bandmates don't know everything he's capable of playing on a bass.

If you want to ask him about it, you'd have to become a member of the forum. Not sure I can post the exact link, but the site is called activebass.com. From reading his posts, he sounds like a really nice guy too. He also has his own website, http://www.SourkrautMusic.com.

I'm pretty sure Edge could shred with the best of them, I've seen video clips of people much younger doing "guitar gymnastics" if they can do that, surely Edge who's been playing guitar as long as he has, can.

I don't know if Larry can still do much more complicated fills, as his tendonitis might prevent him from doing that nowadays. Well he was still wearing some sort of arm bandage when I saw him up close during "Love and Peace."

It would be cool to see them "shred" though.
 
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I agree with you thrillme. Surely if you've been in the biggest rock band...hell the BIGGEST BAND in the world longer than you havent been in a band then your probably pretty good. They started the band in their late teenage years and now they're in their mid to late forties. How can any of you really think that they arent that good of musicians.

Larry's tendonitus ofcourse probably prevents him from doing some more advanced drum type things but he's still a very solid drummer.

Everyone rips on Adam but seriously, his basslines are perfect for every song.

Edge....what can you say about the Edge? I would put him up against the best of them and he can play alot of different instruments.

And Bono...well ok Bono isnt exactly an amazing guitar player but he has one hell of a voice....mainly im just sick of hearing people rip on Adam. Listen to his fill on Sunday Bloody Sunday. The bassline on that song is simple until you get to the fill. THERE IS NOT A SINGLE TAB SITE THAT HAS THE EXACT NOTES FOR THAT FILL. Even the ones that say they are 100% correct are not right(i know because i tried them all until i decided to figure it out for myself). If one little fill gives people that much trouble then im sure the bassist is at least O.K.
 
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Take the chorus of "love you like mad" Larry’s drumming on that is :drool:. OTTS great drums from Larry and then there is Gone,
The Fly live and Mysterious Ways live. I also love the way he plays the drums on WITS. I honestly believe that U2 are far better atWhat they do but way back when they were young were put off
by what someone said and from that time on it has left a mental scar.

nwc333 and thrillme thank you.

:wink:
 
From a singer/musician's point of view... none of the members of U2 are stellar in their field (...wait for it :eyebrow: ) BUT together they make up one of the greatest bands in the history of recorded music. The Edge may not be Jimi but he IS a master of getting the right tones and notes where they belong. Bono may not hold sway over the range of say.. Robert Plant but he puts the emotion of the words on the correct course (directly from the ear to the heart) Larry and Adam have a lock on being one of the best rhythm sections since Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman. Even though Larry may not be Neal Peart and Adam is no Mark King (Level 42) , together they gel
As a band... nobody even comes close. ;)
 
Larry is underrated for many reasons, also fair to say he is held back by his own inhibitions and his health. He used to work a snare over like he was Mike Tyson and the drumhead was Gerry Cooney. He is not holding up his end currently.

Adam is average for his position, not unlike Ringo.
Good, if not real good but almost par for the course in most cases.
A servicable player who provides more in persona than musicianship.

Bono is terrible at instrumentation, before his voice took a shit, I'd say around the mid to late 90's, he was one of the finest singers in rock history. Now, he's just among the best of the day.

Edge is absolutely underrated, if it's guitar tones or his innovation he deserves a seat at the table of the great guitarists of the last few decades. He also writes 90 percent of the music in U2, which goes a long way. He's not Steve fucking Vai and thank God for that. Although, it's pretty badass to listen to a guitarist who owns the instrument like that, I grade tone and originality much higher. I do like a Petrucci sandwich now and then.

Overall, likely underrated as a whole from the hardcore musician community but overall overrated from the fan community you'd find here on Interference. For instance, if you could not clearly identify Edge as THE musical talent in U2, you'd probably have them vastly overrated. If you don't understand how incredible Edge is, you probably have your head up your own arse and I'd guess you are a little too young and just found out who Neal Peart, Lindsay Buckingham or Bootsy Collins or 'whothefuckevergreatplayer' was. Sorry for the generalization but I think it's quite true. There is an element of snobbery in both camps.
 
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One thing that always struck me about the Edge, being a guitarist myself, is that he is remarkably <i>consistant</i>. Listen to a bootleg and you will scarely find a single mishit or even slightly off note in a whole show. Because he uses delay as such a tool, it would be especially noticable if he even accidentally muted a note instead of hitting it. But Edge's riffs and playing seem to be pretty solid in that respect, and IMO, that is a good trait in itself at least. I won't go into a further discussion on the Edge because it's already been said but suffice it to say that SPEED ISN'T EVERYTHING. I respect Satriani/Vai et al but I would never listen to their music for pleasure. On the other hand, Edge's riffs/playing may be simplistic, but they provide a hell of a lot more audible pleasure.

As for Adam and Larry, from what I've heard they are quite average in that musically they don't do anything extraordinary. But both have provided examples where they can be technical (Larry's drumming during Zoo TV "The Fly" and Adam's bass line for "Mofo"). They function perfectly, however, to augment Edge and Bono, who are commonly (and probably correctly) regarded as the core of the band.
 
a big reason why U2 is the greatest artistic creation ever is because of what goes on in their heads, not necessarily their playing ability...whether or not you think Adam's baselines are boring or repetitive, or whether you think Larry's drumming is basic (which it definitely is NOT, especially live), etc., it comes down to the melodies and creative, one of a kind sounds that are thought of in their minds...they are GENIUSES

one thing I'd like to add regarding Adam..it is foolish to examine his bass playing individually...The "Adam plays like a 12 year old after a couple lessons" line is silly..and totally unimportant....it isn't the actual bassline that we should be paying attention to as much as it is how it fits into the music....often, when you don't notice the bass, that means it is blending in perfectly and the music without it would be seriously lacking...

and lastly...Bono's voice...all I can say is..from 1980-2007 (2008? :wink:), Bono's voice has never bored me, and it is the most interesting, dynamic voice today...he makes me rewind the song and start it over 50 times in one sitting...and now add his lyrical genius...and you have....Bono Vox!!!!
:yes: :yes: :yes: :yes:
 
I liked U2DMfan's post, but I have to nitpick a few things:

U2DMfan said:
Adam is average for his position, not unlike Ringo.
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There's this persistent popular myth that Ringo was a poor, or average, drummer. He was not. Liverpool was the mecca of rock 'n' roll in the early 60s, and Ringo was the best drummer in Liverpool. That is, in 1961 to 1966, he was probably the best rock drummer in the world. He's written some famous songs (including a #1 hit), and he's played with Bob Dylan, the Band, and Stephen Stills. Your point is correct, however, that Ringo and Adam are great by other measurements than virtuosity.



U2DMfan said:
[Edge] also writes 90 percent of the music in U2, which goes a long way.
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While I agree that Edge is the most important member of U2 (certainly instrumentally), I would hesitate to attribute "90%" of the music to him. Bono seems to have the greater gift for melody, and as one example we know that Bono even developed the chords for 'With or Without You' independent of the others. What I would say is that Edge is the most essential member of the U2 quartet (maybe not in the very early days when Bono had to sell the show, but certainly since about 1984). Edge is certainly the lynchpin -- on some level, the others all know they can depend on him to come up with the goods when the chips are down.
 
I feel that Edge is the best musician in the group. He has a vast knowledge of music, and incorporates that with his music. Very few today, and not a lot back then, knew how to read music, or any of that.

I don't know how good Bono is as a musician, all I know is he has a great voice, and I honestly can't think of a better singer.

Adam just recently got bass lessons, but I still find his stuff kinda boring.

I like Larry, he's certainly not my favorite drummer, those would have to be Travis Barker and Lars Ulrich :D , but I really think Larry's style matches the band more so than say, Travis Barker. haha
 
I feel that Adam went from good in the early days, to boring in the late 80's, to good in the 90's again.

Listening to early stuff, he has a lot of good ideas, same for a lot of other years. I think theres a problem with not getting the opportunity to shine though songs, eg on HTDAAB, I could only hear him on Vertigo and Love and Peace. :angry:

But yeah, since pop-ish and his bass lessons he certainly seems more confident in his abilities, which is evident from him saying he enjoyed making this new album, as he didnt feel he struggled like he normally does. :up:

I dunno about larry, I dont know much about drumming, although Id quite like some.

Bono can be great or crap. I guess you can say that about all of them, but hes a lot more circumstantial than the other 3. Bad days and good days I spose. He knows how to work his voice, and I appriciate that a lot.

The Edge is just a downright bastard, cos I cant play 99% of U2 songs on the guitar. :mad:
Hes obviously ace though. I love him cos I hate guitar music. :D And I play the guitar. :lol:
 
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