The Edge recently spoke with MOJO to explain that he believes a guitar renaissance is on its way and is looking for U2 to lead the way.
The Edge stated, “I’d like to be the vanguard of this resurgence of guitars! It’s such an incredibly expressive instrument… the few bands that are using it well, it’s still fresh, Don’t get me wrong — talking to people I know who work at Fender, they’re selling more guitars now than they’ve ever sold, But in terms of popular culture, there’s been a drift away from the instrument, it would be fair to say.”
He continued saying, “To not have any ear for what’s relevant within the culture is just being out of touch, You can do stuff that’s completely against the grain, but you still want to know where the grain is. I think about it in terms of the flow of a river — if you’re not in the flow, you’re part of an oxbow lake. And I want to be part of the flow.”
The Edge also spoke on Bono’s recent statement that their next effort will be a “noisy, uncompromising, unreasonable guitar album.” The Edge agreed and said, “We are turning the amps on. I certainly think the rock that we all grew up with as 16- and 17-year-olds, that rawness of those Patti Smith, Iggy Pop records… that kind of power is something we would love to connect back into.”
Meanwhile, U2 has just released Songs of Surrender, a 40 track project that is reimagining songs from their extensive catalog.
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