The Edge - “Island”
A Brief History of Ambient, Volume 2: Imaginary Landscapes
Song released in 1986. Compilation released in 1993.
Ambient
Yes, that Edge. However you may feel about one of the world’s most annoyingly ubiquitous bands (they still have a lot of tunes that slap though), there’s no denying that their lead guitarist, The Edge, is one of the greatest guitar players of all time. His unique approach to the instrument had a huge role in helping U2 achieve its status as the world’s most popular “alternative” band in the 80s. But The Edge isn’t just a guitarist; he’s a multitalented musician. Besides the fact that he also plays keyboards on a bunch of U2 tracks, he’s the only member of the band who’s released a solo album, too.
That solo album is the soundtrack to a little-known 1986 Anglo-French film called Captive, which is loosely based on the events of Patty Hearst’s kidnapping. The Edge and a man named Michael Brook, who created one of The Edge’s favorite guitars, are responsible for just about every note on that album, which also features a largely unknown Sinéad O’Connor on its sole single. Also on the Captive soundtrack is a short, but captivating (no pun intended) instrumental called “Island,” which would be fished out by Virgin Records in 1993 for the second installment of their Brief History of Ambient series.
But before getting into “Island,” let’s talk about Michael Brook. Besides inventing a guitar that The Edge has sworn by, Brook has also had the fortune of working with other gods of ambient music, like Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, and David Sylvian. And he’s also worked with Daniel Lanois, who’s made ambient music with Brian Eno and produced U2′s Achtung Baby! and The Joshua Tree, too.
And since The Edge’s style of play tends to be reserved, minimal, and not all that showy, he really does have a natural knack for ambient music, despite not having been afforded too many opportunities to showcase it. But he did get that chance with the Captive soundtrack, and with Brooks by his side, they managed to churn out some pretty good stuff, like “The Island.”
The Captive soundtrack’s liner notes don’t say what instruments are played or who’s playing them, so we don’t know who’s responsible for each sound here. But regardless of that fact, this really is stunning, engrossingly rich music. With a trotting bit of light percussion and some chime melodies, The Edge and Brook construct a thick, pleasantly warm, nebulous haze of a backdrop, consisting of notes that strike softly and then wistfully linger and softly diffuse. The lead ins to each of those strikes also have a tropical-sounding upward inflection to them, which is probably how this song came to earn its title.
Just a really beautiful and short instrumental ambient track, courtesy of none other than U2′s lead guitarist and the inventor of one of his favorite guitars, Michael Brook.
