The Edge's talent as a guitarist

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Peter_The_Roman

The Fly
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Feb 7, 2014
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Hello,

Let me start off my post by saying that I know absolutely nothing about how to play guitar or any musical instrument for that matter. I know nothing about music theory and my appreciation for U2 is on a purely novice level. With that in mind I have a few questions that I hope someone with more experience than I can answer:

1. What is a delay pedal and why do the U2 haters criticize The Edge for relying on one rather heavily?

2. There are those who say that the Edge's ability as a guitarist is akin to a talented five year old. From a musical standpoint, why would they say this? What does he not do that other guitarists are doing that make people hate on him? I once saw on a YouTube video comment that the poster's guitar teacher said that Edge doesn't even play the guitar! (see video below) Why? :huh:

Thanks for your thoughts

 
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Some think effects are a crutch. That's like saying beautiful visuals in a film are a crutch in lieu of story. Ridiculous but...art and taste. Effects are essential to creating interesting music for the vast majority of listeners....VAST majority. Otherwise it's a question of snobbery regarding musicianship...a conversation I bored of when I was a teenager.

A delay pedal is an effect that repeats notes. This is the cascading sound. Different delays give different repeats. It's very difficult to master the timing of using lots of delay, beyond simplicity. Edge is IMO undoubtedly the greatest user of delay in rock history.

Some people think playing lots of notes = great playing. Particularly fans of blues based stuff and metal based stuff. They see Edge's use of delay as less dexterous and thus less impressive.

Jimmy Page and other greats don't agree. That's all you really need to know. But really, it's like anything else. It comes down to what is tasteful to a person. A matter of opinion.

Edge without delay is a good guitarist. But he's pretty unremarkable compared to the usual standard of those guitar snobs. That's just my opinion. I'm not better than he is (I'm still sloppy) and I've been playing for 20 years. But I can probably play faster...so if I were one of those morons, I might claim to be better.
 
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U2DMfan said:
Edge without delay is a good guitarist. But he's pretty unremarkable compared to the usual standard of those guitar snobs. That's just my opinion. I'm not better than he is (I'm still sloppy) and I've been playing for 20 years. But I can probably play faster...so if I were one of those morons, I might claim to be better.
Click to expand...

It always boils down to criteria and interpretation thereof, and even then it's all subjective.

As is most things.

I think there are enough people in the world that appreciate the Edge's unquestioned talent and see beyond the million-notes-a-second thing.

A friend of mine thinks that Richie Blackmore is god, but still, he appreciates the Edge, likes some U2: Vertigo, One, Pride.
 
I'd say Edge is more innovative than proficient. He's a good guitarist in terms of proficiency, but he's not a phenom. Then again, outside of Hendrix, SRV, Clapton, and a handful of others, technical proficiency does not always make for great musicianship. There's more to music than being the best instrumentalist. I find most of Steve Vai's music unlistenable.
 
Do not ever pay attention to YouTube comments. There's very few darker corners of the Internet than the comment section there.
 
Edge is very creative and innovative with his effects. But his chord phrasing and just the way he positions his fingers is so unorthodox, even going back to the Boy album. I recently took the time to learn "An Cat Dubh" on guitar. I'm that song alone, Even at 18-19 years old, he was doing shit on the guitar that I've NEVER seen anybody else do. Especially in his younger years, his thinking was so outside the box.

His playing is not based around basic chords or blues scales, therefore most guitarist can't wrap their heads around what he's doing. I've been playing guitar for over 20 years, I would rank my abilities at an 8/10. But I still learn something new from Edge's work all the time.

No, he's not the most proficient player. Neither is Keith Richards. But Edge is a wall of sound, and his unusual approach to guitar playing is part of what makes U2 so great, and such a popular band to this day.
 
The Edge is extremely talented. He just doesn't shred. Guitarists look down on guys who don't shred (play fast, calculated riffs and notes - think guys like Eddie Van Halen) but I think that's bullshit. The Edge is like a painter in a circle (guitarists) that values technical schematics.

Edge's usage of pedals, especially delay, inspired a whole generation of guitarists (whether they'll admit it or not)
 
The Edge is extremely talented. He just doesn't shred. Guitarists look down on guys who don't shred (play fast, calculated riffs and notes - think guys like Eddie Van Halen) but I think that's bullshit. The Edge is like a painter in a circle (guitarists) that values technical schematics.

Edge's usage of pedals, especially delay, inspired a whole generation of guitarists (whether they'll admit it or not)
 
I've also seen comments dissing Edge for using delays and didn't know what the big deal was, so I've often wondered about this, too. :up:
 
Edge uses delay almost as an instrument in itself -- it's most definitely not a crutch to his playing. As somebody once put it, he is a sonic architect, and creates worlds with his sound that perfectly match Bono's voice and mood.
 
I don't know about guitar playing, but as for effects consider Kirk Hammet gets a lot of flack for using wah wah so...
 
The Edge isn't a guitarist, and I mean that as a compliment.

Sure, he can play the guitar, and pretty well, but he really is just a pure musician. He creates sound, not sounds.
 
TinKnight said:
The Edge isn't a guitarist, and I mean that as a compliment.

Sure, he can play the guitar, and pretty well, but he really is just a pure musician. He creates sound, not sounds.
Click to expand...
This is a wonderful comment.

Though it does annoy me how underestimated his guitar playing ability is. Of course he isn't Tommy Emmanuel but The Edge can play.
The thing is, hitting all the notes he hits isn't that hard.
Hitting them the WAY he hits them is. His technique is unique and entirely built for tone, not speed. You start trying to replicate his tone you end up with a lot of big pick movement and hand movement, which makes speed tough.
But when he wants to be, he's plenty fast.
 
I've been meaning to comment on this for quite a while now but quite not get around to it.

The Edge is, in fact, a quite talented guitar player with tons of interesting ideas. he's not quite a soloist, he might not be able to play fast, remember all the quirky scales or anything, but his phrasings are effective and potent while not being too excessive. i mean, the intro to the Streets is basically some 4 note arpeggio patter with 2 delays/echos going simultaneously. but it's effective and create the mood of the song. same as the intro of Zooropa.
however he's not necessarily the most technical player. he can't play billions of notes per second like John McLaughlin or Allan Holdsworth. he can't play complicated chords (tho that open tuning on Unforgettable Fire is quite unconventional). but i dont think that makes him a bad musician. like, think about it; Miles Davis didn't play fast phrases. Jim Hall didn't necessarily care about speed. but these people are phenomenal musicians and their styles were appropriate for their music. also Edge explores musical landscape not a lot of people explore. lots of people in the 80s used delay but not in the way Edge did. that's why i personally think players like Kevin Shields and Lee Ranaldo are criminally underrated because they created new ways to play and compose with a guitar. so whoever calling Edge bad player or terrible dude is very narrow-minded.
 
also, if these freaking ignorant bastards think he's using too much effects, then wait until you see these guys:



 
Edge found a niche in guitar playing and created his own little distinct world that helped propel U2 to heights of popularity that most bands from their era did not match. Delay pedals were around for a while but he used it more creatively than other guitarists and that may have been due to the environment they were playing in which was the hair metal/ shred era. As a player, he isn't fast and in terms of his improvisational skills, he probably doesn't have the chops. He is a good songwriter and I think his own observation of himself as a sideman is self explanatory.
 
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U2DMfan said:
Some think effects are a crutch. That's like saying beautiful visuals in a film are a crutch in lieu of story. Ridiculous but...art and taste. Effects are essential to creating interesting music for the vast majority of listeners....VAST majority. Otherwise it's a question of snobbery regarding musicianship...a conversation I bored of when I was a teenager.

A delay pedal is an effect that repeats notes. This is the cascading sound. Different delays give different repeats. It's very difficult to master the timing of using lots of delay, beyond simplicity. Edge is IMO undoubtedly the greatest user of delay in rock history.

Some people think playing lots of notes = great playing. Particularly fans of blues based stuff and metal based stuff. They see Edge's use of delay as less dexterous and thus less impressive.

Jimmy Page and other greats don't agree. That's all you really need to know. But really, it's like anything else. It comes down to what is tasteful to a person. A matter of opinion.

Edge without delay is a good guitarist. But he's pretty unremarkable compared to the usual standard of those guitar snobs. That's just my opinion. I'm not better than he is (I'm still sloppy) and I've been playing for 20 years. But I can probably play faster...so if I were one of those morons, I might claim to be better.
Click to expand...

the tourist said:
The Edge is extremely talented. He just doesn't shred. Guitarists look down on guys who don't shred (play fast, calculated riffs and notes - think guys like Eddie Van Halen) but I think that's bullshit. The Edge is like a painter in a circle (guitarists) that values technical schematics.

Edge's usage of pedals, especially delay, inspired a whole generation of guitarists (whether they'll admit it or not)
Click to expand...

I agree.

If you can shred at a million miles an hour or bend strings whichever way is possible to make fancy noises, then yeah, some people will automatically hold you up to be a "great" guitar player and nothing else. imo, you can't be playing an instrument for 40+ years and not be considered a decent guitar player at minimum. After that, it's just a matter of how you play and whether someone likes or not. That opinion is always going to differ among who you ask.
 
Ed O Brien understands the quality and importance of guitarists like the Edge (citing him, Andy Summer and Johnny Marr in the video below) were in influencing him in picking up a guitar and his own playing style.

 
I consider this similar to asking how good is Ringo Starr. Technically, his patterns aren't too difficult. But he's also a genius, in so much as he listens and contributes a memorable, catchy, creative drum lick, that also fits the song perfectly. It's the difference between "can you play that" vs. "can you come up with that" and perfect it? Edge is unquestionably a guitar and songwriting genius.

One of my all-time favorite performances is New Year's Day from Sydney ZooTV. I think it's the best one. In NYD, he demonstrates all the fundamentals that define his repertoire. 1. Playing piano 2. Arpeggiation on the guitar for texture 3. Strong chords for punch 4. Purely rhythmic, muted strumming 5. A memorable solo 6. Little background sounds for additional texture.

Notice that he smoothly glides between these elements seamlessly, weaving into and out of textural vs. chords vs. rhythm. That is pure genius. He comes to the foreground and recedes to the background in a matter of seconds, effortlessly. I can't think of anyone else who does that so well.
 
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Edge is one of the most creative guitarists. His ability to layer parts and effects is astounding. He's also an excellent soloist, though his solos are more like composed parts of the song than improvised explorations. I'd love to hear him take us on a musical journey on his guitar again.

He is not a good straight-up rock guitarist though: he doesn't have the chops, improvisational skill, or ability to make riffs swing that Page, Frusciante, Corgan and so on have, and it's unfortunate that seems to be on of his late career crutches. Maybe it's because it's the one thing he hasn't done to his satisfaction? Boy is filled with masterful solos, TUF has the ethereal stuff, Pop the effects drenched layers...
 
Hollow Island said:
Edge is one of the most creative guitarists. His ability to layer parts and effects is astounding. He's also an excellent soloist, though his solos are more like composed parts of the song than improvised explorations. I'd love to hear him take us on a musical journey on his guitar again.

He is not a good straight-up rock guitarist though: he doesn't have the chops, improvisational skill, or ability to make riffs swing that Page, Frusciante, Corgan and so on have, and it's unfortunate that seems to be on of his late career crutches. Maybe it's because it's the one thing he hasn't done to his satisfaction? Boy is filled with masterful solos, TUF has the ethereal stuff, Pop the effects drenched layers...
Click to expand...
Yeah I think you're probably hitting the nail on the head here. He seems to be wanting to either feel self satisfied that he's added to the Page-style lexicon, or else he's trying to gain Page et al's respect (which he already had).

I said it a few pages back, but Edge is a very percussive player, big movements with his right hand. That creates texture and dynamics but reduces speed. I'd rather he stick to that creative, inventive, unique percussive style.
 
I'd love for Edge to try his hand at a movie score again. Some of the music for Captive is really gorgeous. Just go into it solo, or at least with no one from U2. No need to worry about making hits in that setting. He can just see where the music takes him.
 
Edge is a talented, creative guitarist. But none of the guys in U2, as individuals, are among the elite in terms of playing their respective instruments. They're just not (though Edge would come closest of the three of them).

The exception to this is Bono....he's one of the strongest, most dynamic front men of all time. He's definitely up there with the best. Not necessarily in terms of his voice, but in sheer stage presence, charisma and overall performance.

And of course as a unit U2 belong with the elite and have put out some of the best music in rock history.
 
Nick66 said:
Edge is a talented, creative guitarist. But none of the guys in U2, as individuals, are among the elite in terms of playing their respective instruments. They're just not (though Edge would come closest of the three of them).

The exception to this is Bono....he's one of the strongest, most dynamic front men of all time. He's definitely up there with the best. Not necessarily in terms of his voice, but in sheer stage presence, charisma and overall performance.

And of course as a unit U2 belong with the elite and have put out some of the best music in rock history.
Click to expand...

From 1984 to 1993, Bono's voice was one of the all-time best in music history.
 
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