Does anyone know if the edge has ever sang an entire song by himself other than numb. He always sings backing vocals in a high and low voice and am just wondering what his voice is realy like when he sings normally, he seems a good singer.
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]
