“The most creatively satisfying”: The Edge on the best era for U2
It’s a double-edged sword whenever an artist decides to look back on some of their most celebrated work. It could be nice to see the moments that still resonate with people years later, but if there are a few errors in the mix, it’s impossible to go back and change the signs that have been considered classics by legions of fans. Although Bono has had a problem returning to virtually any of U2’s greatest albums, The Edge knew that there were a few sweet spots if everyone knew where to look.
But looking back on their career, the Irish legends didn’t seem destined for the big leagues on the first few offerings. Although the band had formed as a reaction to the post-punk scene happening around the same time, none of their tunes were breaking new ground at first outside of the breakout single ‘I Will Follow’. There was a lot of work to be done, and The Edge had only begun to scratch the surface of what he could do with the guitar.
Although a lot of their greatest moments would come when they defied people’s expectations with The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, they couldn’t have reached that place without knowing the pitfalls of their occupation, too. October may have been the best they could have done at the time, but making an album all about religion was bound to turn some people off before they even heard, leading to them doubling down and getting even angrier when working on War.
When they started working with people like Brian Eno, though, they got a great understanding of what they could do with sound. The Edge already had built different textures with harmonics on tunes like ‘Drowning Man’, but hearing his strumming come storming in on a song like ‘Pride’ gave the song that kind of infectious energy before Bono even started talking about Martin Luther King Jr.
Beyond being a producer, Eno also helped them to dream of more adventurous ways to look at their music. The Joshua Tree was a far cry from what Boy had to offer, and yet they had the same amount of soul in their music when tearing through those tunes, whether it was their attempt at making a gospel song on ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ or the cry of anger on ‘Bullet the Blue Sky’.
While Achtung Baby saw them restructure their entire approach, the guitar wizard maintained that their time with Eno would never be matched in his mind, saying, “I’m very proud of the whole collection, but if I were to single out any one era, I’d have to say [that] The Unforgettable Fire through The Joshua Tree was the most creatively satisfying for us. We really had set our sights on achieving certain goals as a band, creatively in terms of songwriting, in terms of production and sonic experimentation, and took quite a few risks.”
And looking purely from a guitar perspective, it’s easy to see why The Edge picked this era rather than the textures on Achtung Baby. A song like ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ may have been a nightmare for them to get down on paper, but once they had the basic sketch of the tune, they created one of the most complicated symphonies of guitars ever created, which makes the first few seconds of the album feel like stepping into the future.
There might continue to be people who think that this version of the band was far too self-righteous for their own good, but they would have never made tunes like ‘One’ had this era not come first. The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree were them discovering their strengths, and once they had everything down, they could take their music pretty much anywhere else.
