Ask the Rock & Roll Zen Master: Is The Edge a Good Guitarist or Not?

The Rock & Roll Master Zen Master, aka SonicScoop’s “Smarter in Sixty Seconds” blogger Mark Hermann, is now available to answer your questions:

The Edge: Getting what he deserves?

Dear R&RZM,

Do people frequently say to you that U2’s The Edge “isn’t a very good guitarist”? I hear that all the time.

Teetering on The Edge

Dear TOTE,

I have heard that too about The Edge.

It’s classic musician bullshit really. Yes, if you wanted to tear him apart from a technical guitar prowess standpoint, one could say he’s not exactly a shredder. You might as well throw Keith Richards in there too. Let’s see, John Lennon, Bryan Adams, even Springsteen. All average-to-decent guitar players with a huge songwriting legacy they’ve left for us.

What The Edge is is a profound stylist. I believe he paints with a sonic palette of special effects, which leads him to riffs and song ideas born from the sounds he creates. Well documented in the movie, It Might Get Loud.

Gee, which would you rather suffer from — maybe not being able to out-duel Steve Lukather in a guitar solo war of hand-to-hand combat, or be sitting on top of a mountain of money and acclaim built from the amazing body of work you’ve created?

My dos pesos.

NYC-based producer/artist/engineer/more Mark Hermann spends his life in the professional service of music. He has toured the world with rock legends, produced hit artists, and licensed music for numerous TV/film placements. Hermann also owns a recording studio in a 100-year old Harlem Brownstone. Keep up with him at Rock & Roll Zen.  Ask him a question at info@sonicscoop.com.

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