The Edge

[The_One1932]

Like who?

lets use... eddie van halen, joe satriani, stevie ray vaughn (sooo overated it makes me cringe) just to name a few. That G3 dvd that came out a lil while ago from satriani's tour... was just complete crap. wow, they play so fast... and thats about all it is. Someone else said edge doesn't have the ability to shred, which i completely disagree with. I think he has more than made this evident with bullet live. Thing is, he uses it rarely... which makes it more special.

 

[mkdominatr]

edge is a good u2 guitar player
however , his licks , guitar playing is not perfect , far from it

yes, my guitar teacher is not an Edge fan, but does say their live shows are top of the line. he also said some of the stuff he covers in his band is fun to play. so that made me a little happy.

 

[Phalanx]

Jimi Hendrix wrote crappy music. And played it even worse, he is incredibly sloppy.

Are you fucking serious? You can't be.

 

[MooMoo!]

theyre all jealous.

i know i am!

 

[jick]

Back in the mid to late 90s, one of the major guitar mags (Guitar World or Guitar Player, I forget) ranked their 100 greatest guitar players of all-time. First was Eddie Van Halen, second was Clapton. I don't remember anymore who the third was, but the fourth was Metallica. Fifth was The Edge. Their blurb about Edge had something like "often imitated but never duplicated" when referring to his economical way of playing.

I think Edge is getting enough credit for his guitar if he was ranked fifth best. I think that is a pretty fair ranking.

But you have to bear in mind that the magazine was published before POP was released. POP could have put Edge down a few notches, or a lot of notches if you guys don't see him anymore in the best guitarist rankings.

Cheers,

J

 

[IrishDawg]

I think he doesn't get much recognition because he's in a band. Solo guitarist like Eric Clapton and John Mayer along with people like Jimi Hendrix get all the attention. Because he's in a band, U2 is known as the best band in the world, yet he's not the best guitarist in the world, even though his guitar riffs power U2. That I don't get.

 

[Shade]

I think its ludicrous to say that edge doesn't have any technical ability. His live solos on bullet, love is blindness, the fly, even better than the real thing are out of this world. HERE's the difference. Edge's solos aren't what most other guitar players solos are; scales played really quickly. Edge's solos are technical in a completely different manner, with his bends and his use of effects and his playfullness with notes he ocassionaly plays a really really fast riff (like bullet), but makes it sound all the more incredible. I can play a LOT of guitar, and a lot of solos, but its ten times easier to play a jimmy page solo and make it sound like it does in the song, than it is to play an edge solo and make it sound like it does in the song. i think most people don't have the patience for edge, they just want to hear self indulgent, long, fast solos. They are more filler than they are music. When the edge actually plays a solo... you know its going to mean something, and its gonna sound pretty damn good.

I didn't say Edge didn't have any technical ability. But, I'm not about to rank him up there with the great technical guitarists, either. And, the truth is, neither would Edge. You are a very loyal Edge fan, and as a fellow Edge fan, I can appreciate your defensiveness. However, I suggest you sit down with a piece by The Edge and a piece by a classically trained guitarist like Andrés Segovia and tell me that Edge is a great technical player. I think you'll have a much harder time snobbishly dissing a classical guitar genius like Segovia than a rock guitar genius like Jimmy Page, and, still have the point driven home that, while The Edge is a genius, he is not the technical genius you're billing him as, based solely on the evidence of his admittedly brilliant guitar solos from a handful songs from the Zoo TV era. Hell, I'll even throw in his solo from Another Time Another Place and the live solos from One Tree Hill, All Along The Watchtower and God Part II from the Lovetown Tour. I love all those solos. But, as great as they are, he's still not a guitar virtuoso. I'm sure he busts his ass coming up with those very deliberately-written, and seldom strayed-from solos, when a more classicaly trained guitarist can inprovise a solo of equal brilliance in mid-song (and still have it "mean something"). What I said about The Edge is not the sleight that you seem to think it is. Edge creates and innovates in other ways that are equally as powerful as, or more powerful than, guitar virtuosity (depending on personal taste). That's something I think we all agree on. Right?

 

[Flying FuManchu]

lets use... eddie van halen, joe satriani, stevie ray vaughn (sooo overated it makes me cringe) just to name a few. That G3 dvd that came out a lil while ago from satriani's tour... was just complete crap. wow, they play so fast... and thats about all it is. Someone else said edge doesn't have the ability to shred, which i completely disagree with. I think he has more than made this evident with bullet live. Thing is, he uses it rarely... which makes it more special.

Wow if you think that, then I feel sorry for you. Of course its just taste but Vai, Satriani, and even Malmsteen's songs weren't just about playing fast or just scales. Midnight, Starry Night, I Know You're Here, and I'm the Hell Outta Here all exhibited more than that. Also to mention Eddie Van Halen and SRV the way you do...whoa now. Saying all these guys are just playing scales is the same as me saying Edge plays the same notes over and over again but really slowly or something as lame as Edge is just a delay fiend/ effects fiend so focused on guitar sounds/ tones and not focusing on songwriting.

 

[MrBrau1]

SRV was the most emotional guitar player I've ever heard. He had BOTH, the techs, and the soul. The man was pure. Right up there in heaven jamming on acoustics with Hendrix.

 

[DaveC]

SRV was the most emotional guitar player I've ever heard. He had BOTH, the techs, and the soul. The man was pure. Right up there in heaven jamming on acoustics with Hendrix.

Exactly.

 

[RademR]

Exactly.

Texas Flood

I love the Edge, he's my favorite member of u2, and he's one of the main reasons I love u2 so much. His sound is so amazing and emotional to me. But Clapton did do "crossroads", Hendrix did go off in songs like "little wing", and of course, my man Jimmy page. I think "Over the hills and far away" has some of the most brilliant acoustic guitar playing I've ever heard.

Could I put Edge above these three and a few others, for example? It would be tough, but I do think he deserves more recognition, as he is one fucking brilliant guitar player. I saw a poll on the net a few months back that had him at #190. WHAT???

 

[Axver]

What I'd like to know is whether or not all these other brilliant guitarists are as talented at playing other instruments. I'd love to see them try New Year's Day or The Unforgettable Fire.

 

[TheFlyOnTheWall]

I was quoting from an review by some arse that was on Amazon, i'm an alrite player myself but no where near that sort of thing, I'm more Johnny Ramone or Noel Gallagher than coming close to that shit, lol

Sorry, i didn't get it...

 

[watsons]

Yeah, there's more to being a great artist than being great technically. You need to put a little heart and soul into it as well. There are plenty of good technical musicians who have no soul (in the musical sense). As my singing teacher says, better to have something to say and not sing it perfectly than to sing something perfectly and have no connection. Or as some guitarists say, taking a solo is often just excessive wanking.

Sorry to shift focus a little bit, but does anyone else find this discussion to be similar to comparing vocalists? I mean can anyone say Bono is on the "greatest" lists for vocals? I think not. But MissMoo's comments applies greatly there. Its more than technical skills......I like hearing his voice crack a little here and there because often it is the product of emotion, soul, or a crazy performance. I want that, not completely perfect vocal performance. Anyway, those are my thoughts and they apply to the Edge as well.

 

[eviltwin]

just happened to have a look through my 'Guitar World Archive' this morning and noticed the 100 most important issue (May 1994)

our man Edge edged out some greats to come in 5th, behind Neil Young, ' tallica (Hetfield&Hammett, Clapton and van Halen (#1), but mind you the people in the list had to be alive, and did'nt necessarily have to play, it also included manufaturers, producers etc. Nevertheless, Edge is a great guitarist, I don't really care how many ingwy wannabees (didn't know they still existed) or malmsteen himself, want to bash Edge, or if excellent guitarists like Vai and Satriani sing his praise, I just appreciate Edge for the guitar beauty he has given us.

He is somewhere up there with eddie van Halen and hendrix, hammett and page, petrucci and clapton, albert king and vernon reid, players with huge ability and artistry to match their originality.





Dimebag Darrell Abbott
1966 - 2004
R.I.P.

 

[Shade]

What I'd like to know is whether or not all these other brilliant guitarists are as talented at playing other instruments. I'd love to see them try New Year's Day or The Unforgettable Fire.

While Edge's piano melodies are beautiful and original, his piano playing is incredibly uncomplicated. I'd be shocked if a Jimmy Page or a Steve Vai couldn't figure out how to play the piano parts on New Year's Day or The Unforgettable Fire.

 

[The_One1932]

i can't believe some people here rate SRV as "emotional." I personaly, do not care for the blues that he plays. Emotion to me, is edge playing a note that could wake the dead at the beginning of the end of until the end of the world, or his slide solo perfectly matching the stretch of bono's hand to touch the dancers stomach on mysterious ways live. Little wing, a contrived piece of blues crap, does nothing for me (jimi's version is better anyway). When you hear acrobat and that solo at the end, that sounds like something falling, flipping thru the sky. Edge's solos tend to mean or symbolize something. SRV solos or Eddie solos don't mean crap, they mostly just sound like it. Improvisation is a great skill, but mostly... it stems from their lack of being able to write something that is really really good (ie live abilities of phish, dmb, grateful dead vs. studio abilities of dmb, phish, grateful dead). Edge writes his solos, and seldom strays from them... because they are great. SRV was jimi hendrix but painfully white and painfully clean, he picked notes that jimi strummed. Just my opinion in the end, but G3 still sucked my grundle.

 

[msbarb]

SRV was the most emotional guitar player I've ever heard. He had BOTH, the techs, and the soul. The man was pure. Right up there in heaven jamming on acoustics with Hendrix.

 

[Shade]

i can't believe some people here rate SRV as "emotional." I personaly, do not care for the blues that he plays.

Well, there you go. If you "do not care for the blues that he plays", then it only stands to reason that the emotional content of his work would be completely lost on you as a listener. That doesn't mean it isn't there - it just means that you, personally, cannot see it. You obviously feel that The Edge is the greatest guitarist who ever lived, that nobody has or ever will approach his level of talent and skill, and that's your right. It's also your right to piss all over every other influential rock guitarist in history and decry their emotional emptiness in order to rocket Edge to the top of the list in the opinions of others. You're a die-hard Edge fan, and that kind of thing is to be expected amongs the ranks of any player's audience. But, you're certainly not doing The Edge any favors by trashing everybody else who ever picked up a guitar in the process. It just makes you sound like an obsessed fan wearing a pair of officially-licensed U2 blinders. Is that what you're trying for? If not, rattle off some other guitarists you actually admire instead of just bashing everybody who isn't The Edge.

 

[The_One1932]

nope, just dissing on SRV... i don't consider him a legend. I love hendrix, i love page, clapton, santana just to name a few. SRV though is simply overrated. He's hendrix light, listen to his cover of vodoo chile, whereas hendrix was dirty and took you through the mud with that song, srv makes it light and easier to take... it lacks all punch.

 

[ZeroDude]

Do all of us atleast feel Edge is up there with the greats?

 

[Shade]

nope, just dissing on SRV... i don't consider him a legend.

Actually, you were also ripping on Van Halen, Malmsteen, Vai, and Satriani. And you also stated that Edge's guitar work is more complicated than Jimmy Page, whose work you've apparently mastered.

 

[Shade]

Do all of us atleast feel Edge is up there with the greats?

As an artist and innovator, absolutely. You still aren't forgiven for the Hendix comments, though.

 

[GibsonGirl]

The thing I like about The Edge is that he doesn't do all that technical shit that most guitarists seem to adore. Just because you can move your fingers up and down the fretboard very quickly doesn't mean you're superior to a guitarist like Edge. I respect guys like Hendrix, Satrini, Santana, etc. for what they can do. But Edge will always be the best guitarist to me. I couldn't care less about the fact that he doesn't do five minute long solos. The music that he does make moves me a heck of a lot more than anything Hendrix has ever done.

 

[The_One1932]

I said that page's solos are easier to make them sound the way they do on the record. Edge's solos are technicaly easier to play, but impossible to replicate. Page's solos are typical, he works out of a blues chromatic, but they sound wonderful, no arguement there. Easy to replicate with some chorus, dist, overdrive and a les paul (i have a 74 gib LP ftr). Edge rarely works inside of a straight scale up the frets, down the frets... he's more up the neck, down the neck, playing the notes that he deems worthy. I find the fact that he strays from the blues driven rock guitar evidence of his higher abilities. He is much more musical and melodic compared to a SRV or eddie van halen. On that note... SRV and eddie can halen were always talked about for their abilities on technical guitar alone... no one is ever going to argue they took part in some of the greatest songs of all time (at least that they wrote). Edge on the other hand is the master behind one, wowy, wtshnn, bd, just to name a few. I'll take "soundscapes" over cheap trick solos any day of the week. You can keep your opinions... im done arguing this. There is edge, there is jimi and there is everyone else. No one else is imitated as often as these two guys.

 

[ZeroDude]

As an artist and innovator, absolutely. You still aren't forgiven for the Hendix comments, though.

Man it wasnt me I was quoting from a review on Amazon check the original post.............

 

[patrickU217]

The thing I like about The Edge is that he doesn't do all that technical shit that most guitarists seem to adore. Just because you can move your fingers up and down the fretboard very quickly doesn't mean you're superior to a guitarist like Edge. I respect guys like Hendrix, Satrini, Santana, etc. for what they can do. But Edge will always be the best guitarist to me. I couldn't care less about the fact that he doesn't do five minute long solos. The music that he does make moves me a heck of a lot more than anything Hendrix has ever done.

Well said GibsonGirl, my point exactly. It's the emotion that counts. 3 notes can be more effective than a solo that goes on and on and on and on.........and where the guitarist tries to play as much notes in a minute as possible.

 

[eviltwin]

... no one is ever going to argue they took part in some of the greatest songs of all time (at least that they wrote).

Well..I *am* going to argue, in fact I *must* argue...EvH has written an incredible number of good songs, some great and a few brilliant songs. The band is callen van Halen, after all. It is *his* band (and his brothger Alex')

Like edge EvH has always said that there is no need for an EvH solo album because is would sound exactly like a van Halen record anyway, without lyrics.

I am not going to list all of EvH's great songs, or take them apart to prove my point, I just hope you are open minded enough to listen to just one, and take notice;

have a listen to "Don't tell me (what love can do...)
It features one of the most haunting, chilling, dropped-D riffs ever, a solo in three parts, quoting, among others, Hendrix' all along the watchtower solo, and should be quite palatable for those U2 fans without great interest in hard rock. Especially those who love Achtung baby.

 

[The_One1932]

SRV or eddie van halen were never part of songs like one, wowy, BD, wtshnn. even page only has one truly great song (stairway) which i think is overrated compared to my fav zep stuff. Clapton has tear is heaven which really... isn't that great (don't say layla either though), he won sympathy grammys. Jimi was god, but his songs weren't good enough to be in the upper echelon of rock history. Only three guitarists; keith, edge and george, have been a part of multiple great great songs. SRV and EVH are nowhere to be found in the greatest songs of all time.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

Yeah Zeppelin only had one great song...



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