U2 learned to use technology as creative tool. Through extensive exploration of delay and overdubs, The Edge's guitar work took on an ethereal quality. U2's explorations of sound and technology would reach new creative heights (Achtung Baby) and epitomize their excessive lows (1997's Pop).
David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961 in Barking, East London, UK), more widely known by his nickname and stage name The Edge, is a musician known best as the guitarist, keyboardist, and main backing vocalist for the Irish rock band U2. His distinctive electric guitar timbre and percussive style of playing, along with his innovative use of digital sound processing — delay in particular — have been instrumental in defining U2's unique sound. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named The Edge #24 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".