He makes little sense. As expected.

So he wears that skullcap to cover up his missing ear?

Paul likes Dave!

Cool?

Bono is the single greatest musician in modern music.

A huge crowd has assembled to see U2. There's an electric feeling in the air. Finally, the band walks out on stage. The audience erupts into applause and cheering. But Bono just stands there, unmoving, until the cheers and clapping die down. Finally, he begins clapping his hands together, slowly, about one beat every two seconds. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. Everybody watches him. A few people join in, but he doesn't acknowledge them. He just keeps clapping his hands, right into the mike. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. Finally, he pauses and leans in and says, "Every time I clap me hands, another child in Africa dies." CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. There's a stunned silence in the arena. CLAP. CLAP. Nobody knows what to do or say. CLAP. CLAP. Finally, a bloke in the front row cups his hands around his mouth and yells to the stage: "Well stop bloody doing it, then!"


/thank you, thank you, I'll be here all night.

I don't think Van Gogh kept painting the same picture and used a mod pedal to warp them.

Valdes: Bono Eno is the single greatest musician in modern music.

Pocket Ninja:

*applause*

oh wait...sorry.

....avoiding all the obvious blues scales that blind every other guitar player that ever heard Led Zeppelin.

Right. Because Led Zeppelin invented all that shiat.

I came here for the "meaning he has no ear" jokes and was sorely disappointed.

/ just opening for pocket ninja, tips are appreciated.

The Edge stole the I Will Follow riff from Public Image, and a career was born. Just add delay pedal, and hire an accountant.

Glenechocreek: The Edge stole the I Will Follow riff from Public Image, and a career was born. Just add delay pedal, and hire an accountant.

Yeah, okay then.

I've been to a couple of U2 concerts and have a bunch of their live concert DVDs. Edge is the hardest working guy in that band when they are playing live by far; he's working far harder than that slacker no-talent Adam Clayton, that's for sure. And while there's a fark load of stuff coming out of the PA that by rights SHOULD be coming from Edge's side of the stage but is in fact being sequenced or being played by the support musician they have under the stage, he's still working pretty hard.

So, I like Edge for that reason, plus he had a very distinctive tone and style early on. Not many guitarists can say that.

/AND he has a better singing voice than Bono, too.

Wankers.

The Dynamite Monkey:
/ just opening for pocket ninja, tips are appreciated.

Well, he's telling it like a joke, but that incident is reported to actually have happened I believe. I'm sure it's on some urban legend site. I'm too lazy to look it up.

If only Bono wrote recent songs as interestingly as he wrote this article, they might have something.
/sighs
//puts on Zooropa

Any Edge is better than this one:

The Edge knows one riff, but uses some cool effects pedals to make it sound like he knows two or three.

I think The Edge has cemented his place in guitar-dom much like Fripp has: a distinctive, thoughtful tone and measured approach to crafting the song. I think he's brilliant, really, in his niche.

Bono is a blowhard and distracts folks from The Edge. And that rhythm section is merely mediocre.

Like Brian May was in Queen, I think that the discerning person recognizes how much of the band hinges on his creativity.

And Eno saved them from withering away.

dmax: I think The Edge has cemented his place in guitar-dom much like Fripp has: a distinctive, thoughtful tone and measured approach to crafting the song. I think he's brilliant, really, in his niche.

Bono is a blowhard and distracts folks from The Edge. And that rhythm section is merely mediocre.

Like Brian May was in Queen, I think that the discerning person recognizes how much of the band hinges on his creativity.

And Eno saved them from withering away.

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

Glenechocreek: The Edge stole the I Will Follow riff from Public Image, and a career was born. Just add delay pedal, and hire an accountant.

Damn, beat me to it.

Dmax: And that rhythm section is merely mediocre.

This x 1000. "Plodding" doesn't even begin to describe Clayton and Mullen's work.

And Bono is full of shiat, as usual. There were guitarists more concerned with sound than playing mixolydian scales in Bb in 12/8 long before U2 started recording, Syd Barrett among them.

/Never quite got the U2 fanaticism
//Saw them two tours ago, boring as all hell, going through the motions

T.M.S.: ....avoiding all the obvious blues scales that blind every other guitar player that ever heard Led Zeppelin.

Right. Because Led Zeppelin invented all that shiat.

Well rock and roll was invented by white people from in England. Don't you know anything?

This x 1000. "Plodding" doesn't even begin to describe Clayton and Mullen's work.

Disagree. Play 'Miami'.

/Achtung Baby, Zooropa, Pop were U2's crest period.

If I was ever sitting around with someone in my band and was like, "holy crap, reverb... on a guitar? that's insane. that's... to the EDGE of creativity. In fact, I am now going to call you THE EDGE because you are on it, man."

I would hope that I would have a second of clarity where my self awareness would give me time to eat the barrel of a luger before I ever said another word.

Wicked Mint
Eno is the single greatest musician in modern music.

That's funny/ironic that you say that, because i remember reading an interview with him from the 70's, in which he says he's a "Non-musician".

/ i lol'd. ya clever cheeky monkey, you.

for good or for awesome: T.M.S.: ....avoiding all the obvious blues scales that blind every other guitar player that ever heard Led Zeppelin.

Right. Because Led Zeppelin invented all that shiat.

Well rock and roll was invented by white people from in England. Don't you know anything?

The day Elvis wrote Blue Suede Shoes and recorded it with Clapton on bass and Dunn on drums was the day Rock was invented.

Musselwhite on keytar was just a bonus.

Abbey Road studios (in Clarksdale, London) would never be the same.

I recall The Edge saying in a Rolling Stone that U-2 was going to reinvent rock 'n roll.

/still waiting

Subby forgot the O?

Glenechocreek: I recall The Edge saying in a Rolling Stone that U-2 was going to reinvent rock 'n roll.

/still waiting

Spiderman as a Broadway musical.

Perhaps that is what he meant?

So far the meetings have gone well.

Valdes: Bono is the single greatest musician in modern music.

No, he isn't. His music is shiat, and all of it sounds alike. He's as one dimensional as a slice of college ruled paper. In addition, he wears the dumbest sunglasses ever made.

The Edge avoids blues scales?

I call bullshiat on that one. The Edge LIVES in pentatonic...he just uses it a bit non-traditionally and has developed a nice sound.

/I like their stuff...just sayin....

Imagine owning the colour yellow, like Van Gogh.

So he's saying The Edge is the son of a club-footed prostitute named Chloe?

Mega_Doof: he's working far harder than that slacker no-talent Adam Clayton, that's for sure.

Adam Clayton is my bass hero, but only because I have very limited ability too.

The Edge's urine can cure blindness.
His tears can cure orphanism.
If one were to posess a single eyelash from the Edge's left eye, they would be able to levitate.
His underarm odor has been know to reverse the effects of Rickets.
He is of average height.

Bono lavishes praise on The Edge Roland, BOSS, DigiTech, Line6, etc., compares them to Van Gogh

spacemanjones: The Edge's urine can cure blindness.
His tears can cure orphanism.

Unfortunately, The Edge has never cried.

/except once during a Chuck Norris movie

Mega_Doof: ... but is in fact being sequenced or being played by the support musician they have under the stage, he's still working pretty hard.


A truly good guitarist wouldn't need a farking support musician.

A truly good guitarist could hold his own.

Perhaps Bono should listen to John McGeoch who the Edge stole everything he ever played from.

You've just got to love the vitriol that U2 inspire in the haters. Something has to be really impacting to inspire that much emotion, whether positive or negative, so obviously they're doing their job right.

If by "doing a good job" you mean "release the same shiat for two decades" then yes, they are a true inspiration.

JamMasterJamie: You've just got to love the vitriol that U2 inspire in the haters. Something has to be really impacting to inspire that much emotion, whether positive or negative, so obviously they're doing their job right.

I think it's more like "But they don't DESERVE all these accolades! *My favorite band* is so much better."

Bono gets face time with heads of state and religious leaders? I bet I could name a handful of other artists who deserve it more. Thoughtful, clear-spoken, ethical...wait a minute. I can't. Bt he still doesn't deserve it.

Already Disturbed: If only Bono wrote recent songs as interestingly as he wrote this article, they might have something.
/sighs
//puts on Zooropa

WORD!

/listening to Babyface right now

good point of comparison by dmax re: Queen v. U2.
- both bass players are solid if unspectacular
- both drummers are slightly both average; Roger Taylor having the technical advantage, plus has a freaky voice.
- both guitar players have a unique sound that has inspired and influenced so many. Brian May has technical advantage, but Edge has greater influence (see Alex Lifeson). This is a toss-up.
- both singers are outstanding. If you were in the room with either of them and they unleashed their full voice, you'd be that dude in the famous Maxell ad. Freddie's a little more versatile, Bono's got a little Van Morrison that his counterpart lacks. But the tiebreaker: Freddie can spank the keys. He's no Liberace, but more than good enough for rock and roll.
- I think U2 is the more influential of the two, primarily because Queen was another great band from the 70s and early 80s, whereas U2 is pretty much the best of their generation. Other bands could have been better if they had endured (Police, Talking Heads are two that come to mind), but alas it was not to be. And to their credit, U2's music since 1998 (year 20 or thereabouts) is better than the Who or the Stones at the same part of their careers.

Since comparing different generations (of half-generations) is a little unfair, I like to compare U2 to a band that debuted a few years later and is still around: REM. Here, U2 is wildly superior. Mike Mills (above average rock bassist and decent harmonist on vocals) is the only area where REM has an advantage
- think the Edge is a minimalist amateur? Ladies and gentlemen, here's Peter Buck...
- never heard a more boring drummer than Larry Mullins? Then you haven't heard Bill Berry
- think U2's lyrics are vague and puffy? Meet vague and inscrutable
- Bono grates on your nerves because he blathers about politically-correct, socially-conscious causes like a pompous, self-righteous ass? At least he's upfront about it, unlike Mike Stipe's passive-aggressive angst.

The Edge as van Gogh is hyperbole on Bono's part, but understandable because it's his playing that makes U2's distinctive sound and is a large part of their appeal. While not the first guitarist whose style is more atmospheric and textural in nature, he is the most successful.

Glenechocreek: The Edge stole the I Will Follow riff from Public Image, and a career was born. Just add delay pedal, and hire an accountant.

Eh? What song?

huchipapa: /Achtung Baby, Zooropa, Pop were U2's crest period.

TFTFY

But yea, for the most part I agree. Achtung Baby and Zooropa are in heavy rotation for me.

prefer joshua tree. one of those albums i like to listen to from beginning to end instead of a song here and a song there.

dmax: JamMasterJamie: You've just got to love the vitriol that U2 inspire in the haters. Something has to be really impacting to inspire that much emotion, whether positive or negative, so obviously they're doing their job right.

I think it's more like "But they don't DESERVE all these accolades! *My favorite band* is so much better."

Bono gets face time with heads of state and religious leaders? I bet I could name a handful of other artists who deserve it more. Thoughtful, clear-spoken, ethical...wait a minute. I can't. Bt he still doesn't deserve it.

Thanks for making me laugh. And still, better Bono meeting heads of state than, say, Britney Spears, right? Though, when I consider it, she's probably a lot closer to Bush's level of competence...