Movies - The Edge

Home > Listing Index > Movies > The Edge

	Movies - The Edge

Dave Howell Evans (born August 8, 1961, Barking, East London, England) stage name The Edge, is the lead guitarist of the Irish rock band U2.

Biography

Dave Evans, who was known as a loner in high school, took piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an ad posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. seeking musicians to form a rock band. This band would go through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change).

The Edge married his high school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan. The couple had three daughters together: Hollie, Arun and Blue Angel. The Edge and O'Sullivan separated in 1991 but could not divorce due to Irish law. They were divorced in 1996, after divorce was legalized in 1995.

In October 1997, The Edge had a fourth daughter, Sian Beatrice Echo, with Morleigh Steinberg, a dancer from U2's early 1990s Zoo TV Tour. Their son Levi was born in September 1999. The couple married in June 2002.

People continue to speculate how Evans received his nickname "The Edge". While his bandmate Bono has joked that he got the name because of his sharp mind, most U2's biographers attribute the nickname to the sharp profile of his face and nose. However, the most widely accepted reason happens to be the "Edgy" sound he makes while playing guitar; this peculiar style sounds as if he were playing chords with the edge of a knife.

Music

As a guitar player, The Edge is recognised as having a trademark sound typified by understatement, extensive use of digital delay effects, 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 work. The album was recorded at the height of the 80's "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 4-note arpeggio, broadened by two different delays. Much like his contemporary, Tom Morello, 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 many of the band's 80's material made heavy use of echo. His influence as a guitarist can be seen on many bands still active such as Radiohead, Coldplay, and much of the indie/alternative scene.

The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for U2's singer Bono. As a vocalist, his contributions to the band's overall sound are certainly underappreciated. U2's 1985 live album and video release, Under a Blood Red Sky and Live At Red Rocks are good reference points for his singing. 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" (which U2 has recorded a cover version of). 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), The falsetto part in Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of from All That You Can't Leave Behind and a verse in the song "Miracle Drug" (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb). He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during the Popmart Tour).

Instruments: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Bass (on "40"), Lap Steel

Guitars Used; Gibson Explorer, Fender Stratocaster (with custom bridge pick-up), Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, Fender Telecaster, Rickenbacker 330-12, Gretsch Country Gentleman

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

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Edge ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article The Edge; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - The Edge

Biography

Music

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay