“There were only two or three of those guitars created. Edge brought back what he had been working on and they smushed it all together”: How The Edge's guitar parts – and an ultra-rare modded Fender – helped save one of U2’s biggest hits

The Edge.

Time and time again, hindsight proves to be a funny old thing. Today, U2's With or Without You and Where the Streets Have No Name are two of the biggest rock songs in the world – the former’s one billion Spotify streams will attest to that – but both songs were due to be left on the cutting room floor, if it weren’t for The Edge’s electric guitar parts.

The revelation has come from a recent interview with author and U2 superfan Aaron J. Sams, who has penned the book U2: Song by Song, detailing the backstories of the band’s discography.