Edge vs David Gilmore

[Canadiens1131]

My personal opinion is that Edge plays for the song, and that's a huge, selfless thing to do for a guitar player. It's also necessary in a band setup like U2.

Gilmour plays for the song, Her Majesty, motherf*cking G.O.D. himself, and perhaps some aliens watching us from millions of lightyears away.

A more fair and interesting topic would have been 'Who has better compositional skills?'.

Edge has a fantastic ear for melody and sound, and the way Gilmour composes his solos (improvising and then cutting up the bars of music and rearranging them into something coherent) is very intriguing.

 

[gareth brown]

What the hell is wrong with 'Marooned'?! That's a fantastic instrumental. Division Bell's an awesome record too.

 

[ponkine]

I don't think that ponkine was suggesting that The Edge ripped off Gilmour (I thought I read somewhere that Edge doesn't like Pink Floyd anyway?) Just mentioning the fact that both Gilmour and The Edge have used the "minimalist delay" approach to some of their songs. The reason why I brought Echoes up earlier is because a lot of people who aren't familiar with Pink Floyd appear to think that the only thing Gilmour is good at is guitar solos, when he's good at quite a lot of guitar-related things.

That's what I'm talking about mate. What I'm trying to say it's both Gilmour and Edge have more common things that you could think at first

I love both musicians because both - as well other underrated guitar players as George Harrison - have proved to add something magical to the songs, not only fast guitar solos, quick fingers, fireworks, etc

 

[annie_vox]

I'm not a fan of guitar solos so I preffer The Edge. But I know that there are some great guitar players who can do unlimited things with the guitar... But it just doesn't get to me... I preffer the ones who are there for the songs.

 

[xaviMF22]

both are great guitarists but I prefer Gilmour

 

[MrBrau1]

Have you ever listened to that "Edge" guitar on Echoes (between 18:13 - 18:43? ... That's Gilmour doing "Edge" when MrEdge was just a 10 years old kid hehehe

The fact Gilmour plays on songs that are 18 minutes and 13 seconds long is fucking laughable. Give me a break. Wanky, overthought prog-rock is some of the worst music ever created, and though I like Floyd, they are overthought wanky prog rock.

"Hey, LOOK AT ME!" "I'm gonna play 4 different solos in this 14 minute long song!"

The fact Gilmour would choose to be involved in such circumstances makes Edge the better artist by default.

 

[ntalwar]

The fact Gilmour plays on songs that are 18 minutes and 13 seconds long is fucking laughable.

Actually, it's a 23 minute song I believe.
And I was thinking the same thing. If U2 had a 23 minute song, Edge would keep Dallas busy with 4 to 6 guitar changes during the song, and would come up with some amazing stuff too. But I don't care how good the song is - 23 minutes is too long for me.

 

[Irishteen]

Well here's another list that people will probably agree with more here, with Gilmour at 10 and Edge at 182:

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_newguitar.html

That's a great list

And my favourite guitarist is on it 25. Gary Moore - Thin Lizzy, Colosseum II, Skid Row, Solo he should be higher though

 

[annie_vox]

The only guitarrist who's solo I really love (I already said I'm not a solo person) is Jimmy Page. He's number 3... that's not bad

 

[xaviMF22]

I dont care what anybody else says Echoes is one of the best songs ever!

 

[ponkine]

The fact Gilmour plays on songs that are 18 minutes and 13 seconds long is fucking laughable. Give me a break. Wanky, overthought prog-rock is some of the worst music ever created, and though I like Floyd, they are overthought wanky prog rock.

"Hey, LOOK AT ME!" "I'm gonna play 4 different solos in this 14 minute long song!"

Have you ever heard the song Echoes or not? anyway, your post is out of context. I don't care if you like or hate Prog music, this topic is about Edge and David Gilmour...

 

[VintagePunk]

The fact Gilmour plays on songs that are 18 minutes and 13 seconds long is fucking laughable. Give me a break. Wanky, overthought prog-rock is some of the worst music ever created, and though I like Floyd, they are overthought wanky prog rock.

"Hey, LOOK AT ME!" "I'm gonna play 4 different solos in this 14 minute long song!"

The fact Gilmour would choose to be involved in such circumstances makes Edge the better artist by default.

Normally, I would agree with you. Guitar solos that are pointless, other than giving the guitarist the opportunity to show off their chops make me cringe. And 10 minute solos in concerts make me want to walk out, and come back when the guitarist is done wanking. However, I don't think that Gilmour falls under this category. There's a beautiful flow to Floyd's songs, and the solos fit, they're contextual. I'm not sure if I'm expressing myself adequately. Probably the best way to say it is that I don't so much hear Gilmour's solos, as I feel them. They cut through me. It's almost as though I have a deep, physical reaction to them.

 

[angelordevil]

The fact Gilmour plays on songs that are 18 minutes and 13 seconds long is fucking laughable. Give me a break. Wanky, overthought prog-rock is some of the worst music ever created, and though I like Floyd, they are overthought wanky prog rock.

Serious? Or....

 

[shart1780]

Gilmour is obviously technically better, but even he isn't nearly one of the best around.

 

[shart1780]

The fact Gilmour plays on songs that are 18 minutes and 13 seconds long is fucking laughable. Give me a break. Wanky, overthought prog-rock is some of the worst music ever created, and though I like Floyd, they are overthought wanky prog rock.

"Hey, LOOK AT ME!" "I'm gonna play 4 different solos in this 14 minute long song!"

The fact Gilmour would choose to be involved in such circumstances makes Edge the better artist by default.

Oh brother. Prog rock is filled with some of the most talented musicians in rock ever. The length of songs has nothing to do with it. There ARE great 20+ minute songs that have interesting musical ideas strung throughout. Guitarists such as Steve Howe (Yes) Mike Mclaughlin (Mahavishnu), Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Steve Hackett (Genesis)... the list goes on all of these bands are spectacular and have great short AND long songs that are truly epic. All of the guitar players I listed are miles ahead of Gilmour and especially the Edge talent-wise.

 

[Axver]

The fact Gilmour plays on songs that are 18 minutes and 13 seconds long is fucking laughable. Give me a break. Wanky, overthought prog-rock is some of the worst music ever created, and though I like Floyd, they are overthought wanky prog rock.

"Hey, LOOK AT ME!" "I'm gonna play 4 different solos in this 14 minute long song!"

The fact Gilmour would choose to be involved in such circumstances makes Edge the better artist by default.

I expected a better contribution from you, Brau.

I absolutely hate this attitude against extended instrumental passages, solos, and lengthy songs as it basically reeks of being anti-talent and anti-proficiency. I don't understand why some people seem to think there is actually merit to a guitarist essentially hiding his ability and playing as little as possible. If a guitarist has talent, I want to hear it. There's nothing worse than an unskilled guitarist waffling on for ages, but a guitarist with the talent of David Gilmour or John Petrucci or Steven Wilson shouldn't be boxed in and told they can't demonstrate their skills.

I have no time for opinions that state guitarists need to stand in the shadows, solos should be short or non-existent, songs can't be more than six minutes long, et cetera. I want to hear talented people play good music, and if that means four different solos in 14 minutes, then I want to hear it. I'd rather listen to a talented person using their talent than listen to a talented person containing and hiding their talent, leaving me to wonder just what they'd be capable of if they weren't playing to people who can't imagine the idea of a song being 23:08 long.

 

[MrBrau1]

Perhaps this should have been discussed first.

what is "better"?

Because everyone here went gaga over so and so's solo in some tune. And the "solo" became the measuring stick for "better."

 

[GibsonGirl]

Because everyone here went gaga over so and so's solo in some tune. And the "solo" became the measuring stick for "better."

This thread isn't solely about solos at all. Read through it, we've discussed a number of aspects of Gilmour's playing and skills as a musician, not just the solos.

Sure, I also think that some guitarists can get a bit wankery when they take the centre of the stage and play a solo for 10+ minutes, but I really don't think David Gilmour is one of those people. As I said in my first post, I think Gilmour's a well-rounded guitarist and musician. He has written some amazing riffs, chord progressions, synth lines, bass lines (Pigs, Three Different Ones), and even played drums on Ummagumma. And, of course, he's written some brilliant solos. Gilmour doesn't even wank it out when he plays live. He just stands there and does his job. Probably one of the most down-to-earth, least wankery guitar gods out there.

Well, the stuff he says about The Rolling Stones is pretty wankerish, but that has nothing to do with his playing.

 

[gherman]

David

 

[gherman]

All I have to say is "Comfortably Numb"

 

[angelordevil]

The fact Gilmour plays on songs that are 18 minutes and 13 seconds long is fucking laughable. Give me a break. Wanky, overthought prog-rock is some of the worst music ever created, and though I like Floyd, they are overthought wanky prog rock.

I kind of like "over-thought" music. It suits my "over-thinking everything" personality quite well.

In terms of the lengths of some Pink Floyd compositions, I appreciate them for the meandering, mind-bending, avant-garde pieces of art that they are. It's also rather gutsy for a musician to work outside the parameters of commercial constructs and not really concern themselves with "hits" in the traditional structure. (Actually, Edge and Gilmour are rather comparable in that sense, if you leave out the last two U2 albums, and maybe "Learning to Fly" from Gilmour.)

Ultimately, what some consider to be long and bloated, others will praise as incredible musical journeys and epic soundscapes (I guess the very same could be said of Beethoven and Mozart...damn fine company).

Moving on...I was listening to "Your Blue Room" today, and thinking how Edge's work is reminiscent of Gilmour's towards the very end, when that shimmering, drawn-out part comes in.

I could be completely deranged and wrong, however

 

[MumblingBono]

*Insert name of shitty new David Gilmour album here*

 

[xaviMF22]

*Insert name of shitty new David Gilmour album here*

 

[VintagePunk]

*Insert name of shitty new David Gilmour album here*

That's a matter of opinion. I like it a lot, and so do a lot of other people, given the response at his shows.