Edge's Prologue from U2 by U2:

Rock 'N' Roll is particular to this period of time. There was no precedent in musical history, because it is completely about electricity.

When you play an electric guitar through a Marshall amplifier in a studio with the volume turned up so loud it reaches the point whre it has stopped being able to accurately reproduce the sound, you create the effect of compression. It is as if the sound is too explosive to be contained by the speakers. You get a sense of everything caving in, which is actualy what happens to the eardrum when it is being assaulted by an incredibly loud sound - it has a natural tendency to close down. That sonic excitement is what people love about rock and roll. You don't get that with an acoustic guitar.

There is a certian strange magic in the sound of an electric guitar. Stratocastors, Telecasters, Les Pauls, Explorers: they are really just chunks of wood with a neck and strings and pick-ups, yet there is a remarkable amount of variation and they all react differently to effect units and amplifiers. I don't have a relationship with a particular guitar, I am not that sentimental. I just see the different pissibiliities they all present. I am absolutely fascinated with sound and how it can be sculpted using the technology of the day.

It seems impossible now to contemplate an existence outside of music but I honestly don't know if I would have even become a professional musician if U2 hadn't made me believe it was possible. We have been together all our adult lives, which demonstrates an incredible level of commitment and solidarity between four people who decided to form a band in 1975 . All the reasons why it was a great idea at the time still hold true. On our day we can still make great music toghether, come up with original ideas and perform emotional, exciting, spiritual shows bursting with the possibility that anything might happen.

On a certain level, U2 are a very dysfunctional band. We became the band we are because we weren't particularly capable musicians. We couldn't play other people's songs so we had to create our own. That musical dysfuntion can still crep up on us. Sometimes when we are getting ready to go out on the road, I listen again to our old records and I am left scratching my head , wondering, 'What did I play there? That's kind of weird, how did I do that?' Yet somehow we have managed to turn weakness into strength. We may not be the most musically accomplished band in the history of rock and roll but I think we are amongst the mos original.

The chemistry of the personalities is a big factor. Bono is chairman and founding-member of Over-Achievers Anonymous. He has an irrepressible drive to be great and a lust for life. He wants to experience it all, which actually makes him very vulnerable. I sometimes worry that the media has created a myth about who he is and what he stands for. I hope the hype doesn't stop people realizing that he is just a man who is trying to find himself. It's part of everyone's struggle to figure out what they're doing and where they want to go. U2 write songs about the struggle but we are just as confused as anyone else

I am driven in different ways to Bono. I have a curiosity which compels me to want to finds ways to make music that are fresh and new, and I have the focus to keep going until we realize our goals. If Bono should be attending Over-Achievers Anonymous, I might have to take the 12 steps at Workaholics Anonymous. The two of us together really feed off one another's determination and concentration and energy.

Adam and Larry are the counterpoints to Bono and myself. Adam has an incredible soul, the unlikely conscience of the band. During the early days, when the rest of us were at the height of our christian ferver, Adam was actually the most Chritian in his tolerance and humanity. In some ways, because he is the one who doesn't have to worry so much about the music or the lyrics, he has a freedom to contribute things you would never have thought of, to throw in something that is way outside of the discussion. He is our wild car, naturally avant-garde. Larry is the nuts and bolts of the band, a practical, solid and deeply cautious person who is always going to rein us in when we get too excited. He is always there to steady the ship when it is heading for the rocks and I have my telesope pointing the other direction, Bono is hanging off the rigging and Adam is pottering about in the engine room.

We grew up together, we learned how to play music together. In many respects the way we think is amost telepathic. When Bono is singing I will feel where he wants to go with the chords. Even if I'm writing on my own, I hear his voice as I'm going through ideas. But the really interesting thing is when those songs go to the next stage and Adam and Larry come in and play with us -- a whole other evolutionary thing takes place. I guess, in the end, that is the strength of the band, when you are able to take advantage of four different perspectives. It is something far greater than any of us could achieve on our own.

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