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The Edge

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This article is about the U2 guitarist known as "The Edge". For other uses, see Edge.
For other people named David Evans, see David Evans (disambiguation).
The Edge

David Howell Evans (born August 8, 1961), more widely known by his moniker The Edge, is the guitarist, primary songwriter, and backing vocalist for the Irish rock band U2. His distinctive electric guitar timbre and percussive style of playing, along with his innovative use of digital sound processing — delay in particular — have helped define U2's unique sound.

Biography

Evans was born in Barking, East London, England, to Welsh parents.[1] When he was a year old, his family moved to Dublin, though he has retained his British citizenship. Evans received piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an advertisement posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. seeking musicians to form a band.[2] This band would go through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978. (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change.[3] )

In 1982, The Edge came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he was persuaded to stay.[2] Shortly afterwards, he wrote a piece of music that was to become "Sunday Bloody Sunday".[2]

The Edge married his secondary school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan on July 12, 1983.[4] The couple had three daughters together: Hollie, Arran and Blue Angel. The Edge and O'Sullivan separated in 1991 but could not divorce due to Irish law. Divorce was legalized in 1995 and the couple divorced in 1996.

In October 1997, The Edge had a fourth daughter, Sian Beatrice Echo, with Morleigh Steinberg, a dancer and choreographer from U2's 1990s Zoo TV Tour as well as the female dancer from U2's video "Mysterious Ways". Their son, Levi, was born in September 1999. The couple married on June 22, 2002.

The Edge's hair started thinning in his early twenties, and as a result, he has worn hats or caps on stage, in photo shoots, and on album covers since The Joshua Tree album and tour. From the period of The Joshua Tree up until Achtung Baby and early Zoo TV, he had very long hair. He now wears a wool cap at all times in public, and even wore one at his wedding to Steinberg in 2002. He has since made very few public appearances without a hat or cap, such as during the 1995 "Pavarotti and Friends" concert where he performed "Miss Sarajevo" and "One" with Bono. This cap has become part of his distinctive "look," as has wearing shirts with numbers on them during the Elevation Tour concerts. During the Pop era, however, The Edge was known for his cowboy hat and handlebar mustache.

The Edge's humanitarian work has been currently focused on the charity Music Rising. They give musical instruments to musicians who lost theirs in Hurricane Katrina.

The Edge first acquired his now legendary Electro Harmonix Memory Man Deluxe upon the suggestion of Bono. Bono allegedly asked him "Have you heard the start of Pink Floyd's Animals? (It is likely the song Bono was referring to was "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" as it is the first use of delay on the album. It is possible that he was talking about "Sheep", however) , you've got to get one of those echo units". The Edge now says that he usually set the tempo of the unit extremely high as he didn't have a clue how to use it.

Nickname

There is considerable speculation as to how Evans received his nickname "The Edge". While his bandmate Bono has joked that Evans received the name because of his sharp mind,[citation needed] most of U2's biographers attribute the nickname to the sharp profile of his face and nose.[citation needed] The most widely accepted reason attributes his nickname to the "edgy" sound he makes while playing guitar.[citation needed] As this peculiar style sounds as if he were playing chords with the edge of a knife. Bono also made reference to the name in the commentary track of the movie The Million Dollar Hotel, saying that the Edge tends to stand close to the edges of buildings because of his comfort with heights. In another, book-length interview with Michka Assayas, Bono validates both the sharp profile theory, and the "insane love he had for walking on the edges of very high walls, bridges, or buildings" (Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas, p. 47). As is stated in the book U2 by U2, the sobriquet originated from, in fact, his angular facial features.

Music

Performing in Pittsburgh on the band's Vertigo Tour in 2005

As a guitar player, The Edge is recognised as having a trademark sound typified by understatement, a chiming, shimmering sound that is achieved with extensive use of digital delay effects, reverb and a focus on texture and melody. 1987's The Joshua Tree is probably the best example of the 'U2 sound', with songs like "With or Without You" and "Where the Streets Have No Name" being amongst the band's most critically acclaimed and best loved works. The album was recorded at the height of the 1980s "shred-metal" era, but The Edge's guitar playing on it could not be further from the emphasis of the time on technique and speed (for example, Edge has suggested that "With or Without You" could easily have gone off into a huge guitar solo, a la "November Rain", but instead resolves after a brief drum interlude to a relaxed and "chilled out" strummed guitar part, which he cites as his favorite from the album). The album showcases The Edge's approach to the guitar: rather than trying to push his guitar to the front of the mix and make his contributions obvious, The Edge focuses on the song and the mood, often contributing just a few simple lead lines given depth and richness by an ever-present digital delay. The intro riff to "Where the Streets Have No Name" is simply a repeated six-note arpeggio, broadened by a modulated delay effect.

The Edge has stated that many of his guitar parts are based around guitar effects. This is especially true from the Achtung Baby era onwards, although much of the band's '80s material made heavy use of echo. His influence as a guitarist can be seen on many popular rock bands still active such as Radiohead, Muse, Coldplay, Angels and Airwaves, progressive metal pioneers Dream Theater, and much of the indie/alternative scene, such as current act the Editors. His style has also been widely copied by Christian rock bands such as Switchfoot.

The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for U2's singer Bono. U2's 1983 live album and video release, Under a Blood Red Sky and Live At Red Rocks are good reference points for his singing. (So are the live DVDs from the Elevation Tour, U2: Go Home and U2 Live From Boston.) For example, he sings the chorus to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (Bono harmonizes on the final 'Sunday'). U2 used this tradeoff technique later in "Bullet the Blue Sky" as well. His backing vocals are often in the form of a repeated cry; this style was probably at least partially inspired by later Beatles recordings such as "Helter Skelter" (of which U2 has recorded a cover version). Examples of songs that use this approach include: "Beautiful Day" and "New Year's Day". The Edge sings the lead vocal on "Van Diemen's Land" (Rattle and Hum), "Numb" (Zooropa), the first half of the song "Seconds" from (War), and a verse in the song "Miracle Drug" (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb), among many others. His backing vocals are often in falsetto, such as "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", "The Wanderer", and "Window in the Skies". He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during the Popmart Tour).

He has played piano and keyboards on a myriad of the band's songs, including "I Fall Down," "October," "So Cruel", "New Year's Day," "Running To Stand Still," "Miss Sarajevo," "The Hands that Built America," and "Original of the Species" and others. In fact, in live versions of "New Year's Day", he plays both the piano and guitar parts simultaneously. After opening with the main piano melody, he plays the guitar and piano simultaneously on the first verse. This is true with "The Unforgettable Fire" too. In most live versions of "Original of the Species" (Two notable exceptions being the shows in Milan and Amsterdam), piano is the only instrument played during the song.

Although The Edge is the band's lead guitarist, he has played the bass guitar on at least one occasion. For the song "40" The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments on both the album and live versions with the exceptions of the performances of the song during the Popmart Tour where Edge played it with his guitar.

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named The Edge #24 on their list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". [1]

Solo recordings

In addition to his regular role within U2, The Edge has also recorded with artists like Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, and Ron Wood.

The Edge connected with Brian Eno and Lanois collaborator Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite guitar, which he regularly uses), working with him on the score to the film Captive (1986).

He also created the theme song for Season 1 of "The Batman".

Musical equipment

The Edge plays: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar (on "40" and "Race Against Time"), and lap steel guitar.

Compared to many lead guitarists, Edge is known for using many more guitars during a show. According to his guitar tech Dallas Schoo, a typical lead guitarist uses four or five different guitars in one night, whereas Edge takes 45 on the road, and uses 17 to 19 in one 2.5-hour concert. He is estimated to have more than 200 guitars in the studio.

Guitars, keyboards, and the songs they are typically used in (Songs are sometimes occasionally played with a different guitar)

When he plays Adam's bass for "40", He used the Ibanez Musician in The 1980's and the Lakland Daryll Jones Signiture for The Vertigo Tour

Amps:

  • Vox AC30- his 1964 AC30 has been used to record every single U2 album and has been used for every single concert. He has said in interviews that he owns over thirty AC30's.
  • Fender Deluxe Tweed
  • Fender Blues Jr
  • Roland JC120
  • It should be noted that to record several songs he has used amplifiers that are not officially mentioned like Marshall, Hiwatt and Orange amplifier brands. Refer to the music videos: Elevation, Walk On, and Stuck In A Moment.

Pedals and Rack:

  • "Floor board" - Boss TU-2, Digitech WH-1, Dunlop Wah, Skrydstrup SC-1 (foot controller)
  • "Rack" -Lexicon PCM, TC Electronics Delay, Line6 Pod Pro, Korg SDD 3000, AMS S-DMX, Korg A3, Line 6 CUSTOM Distion Pro, Rockton DVC
  • "Pedals" - Ibanez Tube Screamer, BOSS DD-3, BOSS GE-7 , BOSS CS-3, EHX Big Muff, Lovetone Meatball, Lovetone Doppelganger

Keyboards Used:

See also

References

  1. ^ U2 Limited (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 21. ISBN 0-00-719668-7. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c U2 (2006-09-26). U2 by U2. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. pp. 117–120. ISBN 0-06-077675-7. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ U2 Limited (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 117-120. ISBN 0-00-719668-7
  4. ^ U2 Limited (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 144. ISBN 0-00-719668-7. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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