Is it wrong to like The Edge?

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The Edge

  • Under rated guitar player

    Votes: 106 53.8%
  • not impressed

    Votes: 91 46.2%

  • Total voters
    197
Phyl said:
I put him in the same class as Pete Townsend and Curt Cobain. Neither of them are/were very technical players, yet they had the ability to write riffs that were extremely moving; well at least to me. That's really what it's all about isn't it?

There is no good or bad - music either moves you or it doesn't.


True for the most part, though Cobain was not even on the level of Townsend and people liked his stuff. I never thought much of his writing. Even a guy like Jimmy Page is no techincal wizard, he was a pretty sloppy player a good deal of the time but like you said, it's the riffs, the emotion and natural talent that makes a Page about a million times better than Steve Vai.
 
People who put down the Edge (I'm no big fan, but that's just me) for using effects aren't seeing the big picture. The electric guitar+amp is no different from using delay or reverb or what have you. The electric guitar+amp IS an EFFECT! Do people think Eddie Van Halen and Hendrix are going to sound the same or as impressive on an acoustic guitar? What about all these power chord "rock" bands out today, where would they be without distortion? Is Back in Black going to come across played on a Taylor? If Jimmy Page is jamming live and playing Communication Breakdown and he trips over his chord and unplugs it, guess what? the sound goes away, the EFFECT is no more. It's the AMP that makes the sound, There's nothing real about a distorted guitar sound, just like delay it's only an effect and all your fav rock guitar Gods and their playing would be unknown if not for it.
 
ocnor said:
He uses so much delay that you can still hear him playing even after the CD is over. He only wrote 1 song but it had so much delay that it lasted through 14 albums. :D

To throw out an internet cliche, that truly made me "laugh out loud"
 
U2 are what we in Ireland like to call a crowd of tossers.

Over here, artists and musicians were, until last year, exempt from any income tax. Despite the fact that Bono and the band were urging us all to make poverty history, had U2 paid income tax at the standard rate for even one year, the money would have been enough to settle the national debt of a small country, to say nothing of the benefit to the national economy.

Now, the Irish government, no longer content with giving the more creative types who got wealthy a free ride, decided to impose a cut-off point of 250,000 euro on their artist/musician taxation policy. That means you could earn around 350,000 dollars a year and not pay tax. U2 earn a lot more, so they bugger off to Amsterdam, where again they can avoid taxation.

And one more reason why I hate U2: As we all know, Bono is fond of his pretension. As you may not know, he has covered the gates to his house with poetry engraved upon copper panels. I was innocently walking home through Dalkey one day, along the public pavement, and out of curiousity stopped to read what was written. Suddenly, a security guard's voice could be heard, shouting at me to move away from the gates or I would be prosecuted. Naturally, I asked what kind of ridiculous prick would scrawl pseudo-intellectual rubbish in a prominent place if they did not want people to read it. Furthermore, I said, the pavement I was standing on was public land, installed and maintained by the taxes that I, unlike Bono, had to pay. Thus I did not move. They mumbled something incomprehensible, then left me alone. I like to think that i won a moral victory that day.

Incidentally, The Edge (what kind of fucking stupid name is that, anyway?) is a fine example of a synth player who accidentally took up the guitar. not content to play the instrument for what it is, he attempts to make it sound like something else. Which is all well and good, except for the fact that he makes it sound like shit. Heavily processed, chiming, spacious shit admittedly, but shit nonetheless.
 
Larry Mullen is the only level headed one in the whole band, he lives quite near me... walks around with his kids, drinks in the local, says hello to anyone who bothers to aknowledge him. He's well known in the area for being down to earth and not acting like a rock star. The rest of the band however are a shower of pompous pricks. The whole tax avoidance thing is a real sore thing here is Ireland, especially seeing as Bono is always moaning about the homeless and feeding the world. It's such a load of shite especially seeing as the fucker makes more than the GDP of most African nations and yet still buggars off abroad rather than pay the tax which helps keep his country afloat. I saw them live in Landsdown a few years back, I have to admit it was a great concert. As far as the Edge goes, yes he has a few very memorable riffs, mostly from the first couple of albums but as far as being a ground breaking player goes... he's about as original as fruitcake at Christmas
 
Codmate said:
I beg to differ - there are thousands of great guitarists in the world with their own very identifyable individual styles.

Edge isn't one of them.

It could be ANYBODY with a delay unit.

Also - I don't think that just because somebody has been playing 20 years, their technique is somehow automatically beyond reproach. I've been playing 15 years and mine certainly isn't anywhere near where I'd like it to be.

Just out of interest - why did you choose to make this personal.
I pride myself on having quite an individual style, which many people have commented on, and actually take some offence at what you have said - not even having ever heard me play?

I think he meant on a international scale. Which doesn't matter; if you sound like you, then you sound like you and you should be proud of it!

That said, you can make something sound great and be a great guitarist and not have to sound completely original. If that were the case, than no one would be "allowed" to use blues cliches!

I think you are both right. Anyone could create the sounds Edge does. But he discovered them, and by that I mean he made songs and riffs that were unique in relation to what had been done previously. He didn't invent the delay, but i would argue that he was one of the first (if not the first) to use it as a true tool, not an effect. There is a difference.

Listen to the intro to Welcome to the Jungle. That has a similar use of delay, it sounds epic, and you can use it to make the argument that anyone can sound like the edge (with gain, in this case). But I think it is more of an effect versus an integral part of the song, in this case.

You could argue this stuff all day, but what it comes down to is whether or not you like something. Not how "good" it is. I like the edge, he has an epic, beautiful sound.
 
Superhuman said:
The whole tax avoidance thing is a real sore thing here is Ireland, especially seeing as Bono is always moaning about the homeless and feeding the world. It's such a load of shite especially seeing as the fucker makes more than the GDP of most African nations and yet still buggars off abroad rather than pay the tax which helps keep his country afloat.

That seems to be a recurring theme with most "activists" these days, no?
 
Superhuman said:
Far from an activist pal, I earn a fuck load in the property business but I pay my taxes like everyone else. No taxes = no raods, no medical service, no education system etc. It's a big deal in Ireland where the rate is 45% so when you have one of the top 10 earners in Ireland lecturing everyone else about feeding the poor when he contributes fuck all to the country it tends to piss people off.

Yeah that makes sense, he does tend to go a bit far with that. I mean, he's trying to help people which you can't fault, but if that's the case with his own country.... :confused:

By the way, good tunes man :D
 
the edge and U2 are total and utter shite, lets leave it at that...

but... if you wanna talk about a GREAT irish band (probably the best) then look no further than Thin Lizzy...
 
raven46 said:
the edge and U2 are total and utter shite, lets leave it at that...

but... if you wanna talk about a GREAT irish band (probably the best) then look no further than Thin Lizzy...

My brother and I have had this argument many times. Best Irish band.....he always goes for Lizzy, and I always shout for Horslips. Lizzy are certainly more influential, but there's just something about Horslips that is so seventies and decadent but beautifully and respectfully traditional at the same time.
 
gsrules said:
There are millions of people that can sit down for five minutes and figure out any guitar part. Congratulations. The trick is actually creating it, not replicating it.

Fuckin A exactly. The guitarists who care so much about technique are usually boring as hell. I'd rather hear a simple part that is creative and cool then some wank fest. I have played with so many tech gtr guys that can't write worth a damn. To me, they are useless unless I want to form an Atheist cover band (great band, BTW....creative and tech..rare).
 
stash98 said:
Fuckin A exactly. The guitarists who care so much about technique are usually boring as hell. I'd rather hear a simple part that is creative and cool then some wank fest. I have played with so many tech gtr guys that can't write worth a damn. To me, they are useless unless I want to form an Atheist cover band (great band, BTW....creative and tech..rare).

Yeah, but anyone can sit with a bunch of delay and write parts that sound original. My little brother, who doesn't play guitar, sounds great if I set it up for him with a ton of delay and just plays with the repeats.
 
So you are saying your little brother is writing parts on par with the Edge? I seriously doubt this. Original is one thing..GREAT is another.

I am not a massive Edge fan, but he writes great parts.
 
stash98 said:
So you are saying your little brother is writing parts on par with the Edge? I seriously doubt this. Original is one thing..GREAT is another.

I am not a massive Edge fan, but he writes great parts.

I'm not saying he's on a par with the Edge, seeing as he's not a guitarist. I'm just saying, anyone can play simple parts and use a ton of effects to make them sound good.
 
30-20 blues
i agree the horslips are/were A1, clannad are cool so were planxty when moore was with them and the dubliners when luke the legend was alive and there are many more but thats why i said probably the greatest irsh band but Lizzy will always be one step ahead of the rest...

but U2 suck ASS...
 
I like the Pogues :)

I bet Shane wouldn't hang with 'Edge'.
He'd kick him off the 'Edge' of the stage :D
 
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