Customer Reviews

U2 / Rattle and Hum

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hi,
I bought the book based onthe reviews. One of which called the book a TAB book. There is no TAB is this book and the chords are too simplistic. So if you are buying it for playing the guitar ... take my advice ... forget it !!

If you play the guitar and want to sound like The Edge then do not by this book! It has only guitar chords, sheet music, and lyrics. For instance, if you want to know the guitar riff Edge uses on "God Part II" you will not find it here. I don't think there is a guitar tab book for this album. At least I haven't found one. Good luck finding a guitar tabs for these songs.

As a musician, I HATE guitar tab style books (I want it all!) I find them useful only for getting the gist of the chord structure and to carry the melody line. They just don't do justice for transcribing the original music. If you are the type that thinks "regular" music is just too many notes, then this is the version of music you need. The only thing positive to be said for tab books is that you can usually get the whole song on one two-page spread.

However, this one is okay and gives a few more hints about rhythm than most others.

Cute extras -- Jimi Hendrix version of Star-Spangled Banner with lead-in into Bullet in the Blue Sky. Which by the way, reminds me, not all of these songs are by U2, but included anyway, like -- Helter Skelter, Freedon for my People, All along the Watchtower. SO I guess you can say, everything included on the album, whether by U2 or not is included here.

Other than that, I give this 4 stars because there are a LOT of great pictures in this book (26 pages incl. title pages) AND if you are lucky for it to still be intact -- mine was used and did still have the poster -- it also comes with a fold-out poster of the band in the back (B&W). About half the photos are B&W and half are in gloss computer print quality color (described that way because the color isn't quite as good as photos, but much better than b&w). Also, a sizable portion of the pages have full page or 3/4 page pics of the band members and at least 1 pic of each member up close on a full page in B&W, several in color (especially of Bono). (Anyway, this is supposed to be a review of the a songbook, not a photo layout.)

Each song is prefaced with a lyric page separate from the music.

The book includes 86 pages and each page is bright white & near gloss making reading the music easy on the eyes.

SO, the 4 rating is really for all the extras and a tiny bit of rhythm help on the tabs. Other than that, it is about the same as any other tab-quality book. This book comes in standard songbook size so it will stack nicely with the rest of your collection.

I paid less than $7 for my book in very good condition and feel I got a great deal. I've found it very hard to get album songbooks by any band for less than about $8 if they are still in print. If the band stays popular (like U2, a most collectable band) and the songbook goes out of print, then you probably are looking at a collector's item. I know some of my Elton John and David Bowie songbooks are selling on eBay for 2-3 times what I paid for them new.

This is the guitar tab book of the songs of... Rattle and Hum (you've guessed it!). If you like the music and if you play guitar, this is for you. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The book is an accurate following of the making and completed album of U2's "Rattle and Hum." It contains comprehensive detail of U2's four members, along with co-musicians on the album like B.B. King and Sterling MaGee (writer and singer of "Freedom For My People"). Along with the movie, "Rattle and Hum" (1988), it is a great compendium for any true U2 fan.