Guitar Solo: U2, “New Year’s Day”

I happened to catch U2’s 1983 tune “New Year’s Day” on the radio this morning and was taken by the solo. I’d forgotten just how good it is.

I got to wondering, what makes it so good? I was able to identify four things:

1. The tone. From the first note, The Edge’s ringing guitar tone cuts through the song. It’s overdriven but clear, with a little delay, and calls immediate attention to itself.
2. The backing arrangement. Part of the reason the tone is so clear is that there isn’t much going on musically behind the guitar. It’s pretty much bass and drums, so there is plenty of space for The Edge to work in and make a statement.
3. The melody. And what a statement The Edge makes — a line that begins high and cascades downward in an overlapping pattern repeated twice, followed by opposite movement from a droning bass note upward to middle ground, where a third series emerges before giving way to piano.
4. The phrasing. The playing is uncluttered. There is no wasted effort. Everything belongs and is in its proper place. The Edge spaces his notes well, and he adds dynamics through the use of open strings and glissando (fancy word for sliding from one note to another).

There is no flash to this solo. In my heavy metal youth I would’ve found it boring and wrongly concluded that The Edge isn’t much of a guitarist.

But listen closely and you will find yourself humming the solo days later. It is beautifully constructed and flawlessly executed, a song within a song.

On this day…

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