Edge's Vertigo guitar playing is Overrated...

[jick]

It's like a nice fancy Christmas present that is well-packaged. "Wow," you say to yourself. "With packaging this good, the inside must be good." But when you look inside, the gift doesn't meet up to the wrappings.

Bono has been hyping up the Edge as being "mad" and it refects in his guitar playing. Then when you hear the opening chords of Vertigo, you are quick to exclaim: "Whoa! The guitar rocks!"

But after a few listens, you realize that Edge is just playing regular "power" guitar chords with a riff any high school garage band could come up with. Nothing innovative or ground-breaking about his guitar playing. As a matter of fact, guitarists of this generation have tried and failed miserably to imitate Edge's repetetive, atmospheric, ringing, echoey, economical and expressive guitar style. Only Edge can play like the Edge. But on Vertigo, Edge decides to try to play like a pseudo-punk band like Green Day and Blink 182 rolled into one. And Edge fails miserably.

And upon closer listening, his guitar playing in Vertigo is actually uninspired. It just seem inspired and "mad" because of how loud and prominent the guitars are in the sound mix. Kudos should go to the sound technician, and not The Edge.

So while the song begs for your attention on first listen, in the long term the guitar playing is well below average and just seems "good" because it is loud. I am sure real musicians and guitar players in this forum will agree. Edge is at his best being the Edge and not trying to be someone else like the high school pseudo punk bands.

I'd give credit to the sound engineers and the producer in deciding to make the guitar loud in the mix. As for the Edge, little credit is his. At least for Vertigo his guitar playing was well-overrated. In the end, Vertigo will not be mentioned in the same sentence as Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pride, Bad, Where The Streets Have No Name, or One. All in all Vertigo is a good single and a good song, it's just that I feel Edge is given much more credit than he deserves for the guitar playing of this song which is way overrated.

Cheers,

J

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Cheers,

H

 

[Sonic]

 

[bsp77]

Hey Edge,

Come over to this post and defend yourself against this wanker!

 

[Anirban]

there's a huge difference between intricate guitar playing and good songwriting. some hardcore death metal bands have unbelievable guitarists due to the speed and original dissonant melodies ... but that doesn't mean the songs are always aesthetically pleasing to the ear.

 

[V Nura]

Cheers,

H

I second this

 

[mikal]

*sighs

you must understand that there are certain songs or parts of songs that actually happen to sound great when playing power chords. look at "Hold Me, Thrill Me....".

a power chord is basically an abbreviation of a bar chord. "Vertigo" would have sounded ugly and sloppy if The Edge would have playing bar chords up and down the scale.

the reason why your claim doesn't make sense though is that The Edge has never been known for his big "Slash-style" guitar solos. it's for his innovation. while "Vertigo" may not be Edge's greatest performance technique-wise, he sure as hell hit it right on the head.

 

[MadelynIris]

jick,

U R one retarded MOFO.

Do you even play guitar? WTF are you doing describing Edge's guitar playing like this? This is the worse piece of analytical guitar writing I have ever read.

I expect more from you. Totally uninspired.

Green day and Blink 182? Try the Who and the Ramones buddy. The riff is the song, and if you don't like the song, feck off.

Mark

 

[martha]

It appears that JOFO's dog farted again.

 

[Lo-Fi]

Why is it we expect U2 to always come back and re-invent the wheel for us from the first track on a new album? Are they not allowed just to release a good time song. I'm sure there will be innovative moments on the record, maybe just not this song.

Edge's guitar playing on Vertigo isn't the most ground breaking piece in the world, fair enough, but it's solid enough to make the song. I for one, am just glad the edge is plugged back into his amp and havin' a good time.

 

[VertiGone]

Agreed.

 

[elfyx]

The only complaint about Edge's guitar on Vertigo from me is that I usually don't like such power-chord heavy songs. But otherwise it is so fantastic. There is enough diversity and Edge's guitar alone isn't what makes the song, it's the band coming together in a way that is so good and sharp. I really haven't heard them play so well together like this. It's all pretty amazing actually.

 

[elfyx]

Oh and the Audio engineers need to be shot. Vertigo sounds like crap. Plain and simple.

The iTunes version is better than the Valencia version, but it still was brought far too close to the surface and a lot was sacraficed to do that.

I can hope and PRAY it's only the radio version that has done this, and that they haven't mangled the album.

 

[TheWho4Life]

How is it overrated? Who cares if it's everrated anyway, it's awsome sounding. Edge come in here and say somethin! I'm not good at debate... wasn't ever in debate... but... yea... i gtg cause im in school and there are people lookin at me Taking the computers... and they need this one
BYE!

 

[HelloAngel]

I love Edge's dirty guitar on this song - it's a type of playing that I'd love to see more of - dirty riffing.

 

[Anirban]

have all the complainers ever attempted to write a song? it's like when you write a story where each person writes one sentence and you keep passing the piece of paper around. almost always those kind of stories turn ridiculous and funny. that is how songwriting is ... different people in the band throw in a sentence here and there and somehow they need to create a quality piece out of 4 completely different sources. songwriting is not one person trying to steal the show and writing crazy songs that are one big solo accompanied by a drummer playing only 16th notes, a bassist playing scales, and a singer screaming at the top of his lungs for three minutes. you don't think edge could play hendrix's version of the star spangled banner, or the intro riff to sweet child o' mine, or the solos in stairway? the edge is helping to create a different story ... his style of guitar playing was the way he and everyone in the band wanted...and i think the vertigo story turned out pretty damn good.

 

[tkramer]

Jick,

Your credibility is starting to slip around here. (Or was it ever there?) Maybe I'm missing some of your other posts, but you NEVER seem to like what U2 is doing. I'm all for fair crit. but have you considered that you may just not like their music?

(Hey, I could be wrong.)

 

[Phalanx]

Yea, write a song then come back to us.

 

[U2_Neat]

i think this guy just tried to look rellevant
and maybe get edge to read his post, nothing more.

i don't think he knows what he's talking about.
if he likes to call U2-punk a pseudo punk, that's his problem,
why give it more attention than it deserves?

 

[BVS]

Jick you're always good for a laugh.

Although I find you're timing for the post very cowardly, why not while The Edge was still posting in here?

 

[radioskugga]

What's a power chord?

 

[mikal]

guys and gals, not to act like a mod, but can't we argue jick's point without insulting him?

insulting him only hurts our credibility.

 

[elfyx]

have all the complainers ever attempted to write a song? it's like when you write a story where each person writes one sentence and you keep passing the piece of paper around. almost always those kind of stories turn ridiculous and funny. that is how songwriting is ... different people in the band throw in a sentence here and there and somehow they need to create a quality piece out of 4 completely different sources. songwriting is not one person trying to steal the show and writing crazy songs that are one big solo accompanied by a drummer playing only 16th notes, a bassist playing scales, and a singer screaming at the top of his lungs for three minutes. you don't think edge could play hendrix's version of the star spangled banner, or the intro riff to sweet child o' mine, or the solos in stairway? the edge is helping to create a different story ... his style of guitar playing was the way he and everyone in the band wanted...and i think the vertigo story turned out pretty damn good.

Amen! And I'd also like to mention how awesome Edge is in Vertigo simply when he 'gets out of the way' so to speak during the main verses and just plays that scratchy guitar to the rhythm. THAT is a band, he's letting Adam shine for sure. And, I'm not entirely convinced that one of those riffs is Edge's. Maybe Edge himself could clear it up, but it sounds like Adam's riff that Edge is playing on top of, not the other way around.

 

[jick]

there's a huge difference between intricate guitar playing and good songwriting. some hardcore death metal bands have unbelievable guitarists due to the speed and original dissonant melodies ... but that doesn't mean the songs are always aesthetically pleasing to the ear.

I am not for intricate guitar playing. Edge being the Edge is just fine - and that isn't even intricate. But I admit I failed in my first post to mention shining moments of the Edge in Vertigo, the guitars in the second verse and the guitar solo - that sure is Edge being the Edge. Vertigo is aesthetically pleasing to hear and it is a good song. But I just feel that Edge's guitar playing in that song is getting much more credit that it really deserves.

Cheers,

J

 

[djerdap]

That middle short solo is pretty innovative to me...
Don't bullshit. Have you even heard Miracle Drug or Love and Peace or Else solos? Now that's guitar innovation!

 

[elfyx]

I respect your opinion if you feel that way, jick, even if I tend to disagree.

i'm sure though there are some tracks I feel are overrated that maybe you love.

peace

 

[jick]

*sighs

the reason why your claim doesn't make sense though is that The Edge has never been known for his big "Slash-style" guitar solos. it's for his innovation. while "Vertigo" may not be Edge's greatest performance technique-wise, he sure as hell hit it right on the head.

It's not technique from Edge I am after, it is innovation. No innovation in Vertigo. His signature technique is actually very lazy and economical but it creates an atmonsphere no other guitar player can provide. But his un-signature Vertigo technique is the opposite of lazy but it creates nothing. I never said I was begging for Slash-like guitar solos. Now that would be worse than anything else if Edge would be playing that.

Cheers,

J

 

[Se7en]

I am not for intricate guitar playing. Edge being the Edge is just fine - and that isn't even intricate. But I admit I failed in my first post to mention shining moments of the Edge in Vertigo, the guitars in the second verse and the guitar solo - that sure is Edge being the Edge. Vertigo is aesthetically pleasing to hear and it is a good song. But I just feel that Edge's guitar playing in that song is getting much more credit that it really deserves.

Cheers,

J

the reason i give it credit is not because of its virtuosity or it's innovativeness (is that a word?), but simply because it rocks and we don't get that from The Edge all that much. i don't think anyone would deny that this isn't the greatest guitar lick ever...but the song works.

 

[jick]

Why is it we expect U2 to always come back and re-invent the wheel for us from the first track on a new album? Are they not allowed just to release a good time song. I'm sure there will be innovative moments on the record, maybe just not this song.

Edge's guitar playing on Vertigo isn't the most ground breaking piece in the world, fair enough, but it's solid enough to make the song. I for one, am just glad the edge is plugged back into his amp and havin' a good time.

Yes, I agree. Vertigo is not innovative and it doesn't reinvent the wheel. And I do agree very very much that it is a good good time song.

The problem is that some people think the guitars in Vertigo reinvents the wheel and is innovative (NOT!). So I just wanted to point out that while Vertigo is a kick-ass song, the fans here tend to overrate the guitar playing of Edge.

Cheers,

J

 

[zooropean93]

after a few listens, you realize that Edge is just playing regular "power" guitar chords with a riff any high school garage band could come up with.

You mean it took you a few listens to realise that. Call yourself a guitar player! If you want ultra-fast guitar playing then there are plenty of acts out there that do it well. I prefer music that is pleasing on the ear.