Prince Does The Greatest SuperBowl Halftime Show Ever

That halftime show was absolutely incredible. It was like one of my dreams, except I knew that somewhere in the world, it was actually happening.

He also has given the best SNL performance ever-

http://www.buzznet.com/tags/twins/video/1622/

I agree Josiah, Prince has given the best halftime show ever. The incorporation of the marching band worked brilliantly. Not that he isn't freaking awesome but his competition hasn't been that stiff. Halftime shows usually suck no matter how formerly great (The Stones) the artist has been. Or currently great (Justin Timberlake).

janet jackson's boob is pretty tough to beat.

good, but u2 was better... more emotion in u2...

I prince's guitar work is amazing though it was like jimi hendrix or something.

I was quite impressed. A virtuoso guitarist is indeed a welcome change, and major props for doing the whole thing in the rain.

I must admit though, my first thought was "Prince? This is Queen!"

I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to disagree pretty strongly with you guys except for David- yes, Janet Jackson's boob was pretty hard to beat. But it doesn't wail ass on the guitar. Maybe, I don't know.

U2 is widely recognized as the new Rolling Stones in terms of washed up-iness. Bono handles his aging with the grace of a fifty year old tone deaf divorcee at a karaoke bar. And they sound bad. Most people I work with hated them even before they came out with this new DVD of singles and we started playing it on the TV in the background at my job all day long, I swear I've never wanted to put a bullet in my brain so much. Saying U2 has more emotion than Prince is like saying the Matrix has more Jesus than the Bible.

And Queen sounds nothing like Prince. Queen sounds more like a retarded boys choir while Prince is Sly Stone mixed up with a little Jimi mixed up with a little James Brown. Unless you mean "This is Queen" as in this is gay, yes he is a little effeminite. But he still put on the best half time show ever.

Ryan,

now I see you were talking about how they were playing Queen in the background right before he started. My bad. I guess I wasn't paying too much attention to that because I was too scared my brain was about to be melted by Prince.

While I don't agree with John's overall vitriol towards U2, gotta say that Bono's 2K2 Halftime performance was off-key or tone-deaf or whatever you want to call it. You can listen to it here, if you'd like.

In U2's defense, everyone, and I do mean everyone, really wants to write a rock/pop anthem that sustains. Whether it's The Arcade Fire w/ Lies or Modest Mouse w/ Float On or Band of Horses w/ The Funeral or Deerhof or CHYSY or !!! or The Blow or whomever: everyone wants to write a universally beloved song that is sung unironically by people driving alone in their cars.

Still, U2 did have the er, fortune, of playing the halftime show of the first SuperBowl after 9-11. So, I'll call it a tie.

Yet, in terms of current musical relevance, Prince is way beyond U2. The success of U2 is maintained by reputation and fan loyalty alone. They do not stand on the musical merits of their last 2 albums. I know this because I'm smarter than you about music. I'm holding the gun, kittens.

I think Prince & U2 represent the two ways in which one may be a complete wanker in rock n' roll: the first is with some type of global morality complex, the other with over-the-top sexuality; though there are a few (like Holton) who really want to sleep with Bono (though Choltie once told me he'd settle for Larry Mullen).

I find this gross because I'll settle for nothing less than lead guitar with one exception: the bassist of The Quiet Ones, but that's only because he's a fellow Mensch.

All I know is Bono is even better than the real thing....

Look, I don't know much bout music but U2's was good & Princ's was good. Way better than most wankers out there could do. Give me the 80s/90s rockers anyday

Prince way beyond U2? C'mon.

When was the last time any of us listened to Musicology? I don't doubt his musical abilities; he's as legit as they come, but more relevant than U2? I find that hard to believe.

Outside of 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign of the Times, I can name very few songs he's written. Compare that to his hefty catalog of double albums followed by peakingdouble albums - he's written and released a lot of garbage. Arguably, most of his "classic songs" were written for other artists b/c he chooses to indulge in musician fodder for his own releases.

I love early Prince, but he lost me after the name change. During his performance I wondered out loud, how many people in the audience even recognize "Purple Rain"?

I'm also disappointed that no one besides John has thrown Janet Jackson into the fray as best Super Bowl performance.

Speaking of singers being off-pitch at the Super Bowl, how bout that Billy Joel?

I realize that I can't expect everyone to buy into my whole Bono-sucks-more-than-William-Hung-perspective on music tastes, but I'm still an idealist.

Josiah, I agree about Prince's over the top sexuality- even when he's being out right Jehovah's witness! Like the lyric off 3121- "Lolita, you're sweetah, but you'll neva make a cheater outta me." He's talking about being faithful and we still wanna do him.

All I can say is- with a gun to my head, I think I would.

remember the video that u2 shot for with or without you and bono - for reasons still unknown had a guitar slung over his torso throughout never once making any attempt to even pretend that he knew how to play it...from that moment on - even though i liked war and loved the unforgettable fire - i knew that bono would be my sworn enemy.

and i thought the u2 halftime show was just bono at his most pompous on hands and knees begging for that elusive nobel prize.

you would never see prince pull a stunt like that...and now off the top of my head songs written by prince that kick the ass of any and every song ever written or recorded by aging lounge act u2:

kiss. when doves cry. 7. purple rain. nothing compares 2 u. sign 'o the times. let's go crazy...um raspberry beret

let's see - how many songs is that?
uno...dos...tres...14...

Cream, The Most Beautiful Girl, Little Red Corvette, If I Was Your Girlfriend

I mean c'mon!

I'm the complete opposite of davidm regarding Prince. Being a johnny-come-lately, as well as a child of the 90s and not 80s, I find it hard to listen to Prince's older stuff. Give me "The Word" over "Darling Nikki".

It's sometimes hard to hear the great song that's buried under tinny synths and that 80s drum machine snare sound.

I own Purple Rain and Controversy, but prefer to listen to Musicology and 3121. Same unevenness, but I find the differences in annoyances more palatable.

That being said, Purple Rain during rain made purple on a purple stage with a freaking marching band glowing purple around him...dude made love to the guitar, mic stand, vaguely androgenus backup dancers, the unsuspecting Super Bowl crowd, and you, the viewer at home. Bono does inspiring, but Prince just does. He's just populating his future homeworld.

David, you have with the boob, then you lost me.

I have been shown over and over throughout my life that I don't know the names of songs of the greatest artists ever. Sometime I don't even know who they are until they die. Like John Fahey, one of the most important folk guitarists ever. I'm turning 25 this year and I didn't own my first Gram Parsons, Neu!, Yo La Tengo, Jim O'Rourke, The Band, etc. CD's until the last year.

So just because you can't name the songs doesn't mean they are better than the songs of U2 cause U2 sucks.

I hate being in Canada. I missed it all. I have no opinion. This sucks.

...so I scrolled upwards and lo and behold: a video that I swear was NOT there before. But my life is suddenly worth living again.

Random thoughts:

Prince is a superior musician.
U2 is a band full of musicians of limited ability who have, periodically, struck gold with some of their albums/singles. Mostly because white teenagers are gullible.

Prince's albums are extremely inconsistent.
U2's albums are extremely overrated.

I can't believe Prince didn't get electrocuted.
Bono pretty much needs to stop with the sunglasses.

Yep, that's pretty much all I've got.

I agree, U2 could never have played CCR and Foo Fighters the way Prince did.

Don't get me wrong, I love Prince, and I'm with David on mostly liking the 80's stuff. "Purple Rain" in the rain was pretty awesome. I just wanted to hear "Pussy Control".

How surreal.

I agree that it was one of the best "halftime shows" I have seen, but this is discussion is one of the Worst. Ever. Lamest.

Watch him tear it up on While My Guitar Gently Weeps-George Harrison Tribute on YouTube. I'm still reeling from watching that one!! Never seen anyone like this man--think I'm going to become a Jehovah's Witness, too!! Ha!

Bill, it's not teenagers that are U2 fans. You can tell if you're a U2 fan by asking yourself the following questions:

1. Are you white?
2. Are you mildly conservative?
3. Do you consider yourself a "religious" or "spiritual" person?
4. Do you live in suburbia?
5. Do you drive a compact or mid-sized sedan made in the US or Japan?
6. Do you think you'll make middle-management one day?
7. Did you think Riverdance was kind-of cool?

If you can answer yes to call of these questions, congratulations, you're a U2 fan.

Josiah's here's my answers.
Are you white? Y
2. Are you mildly conservative? Y
3. Do you consider yourself a "religious" or "spiritual" person? Y
4. Do you live in suburbia? In 3 Weeks
5. Do you drive a compact or mid-sized sedan made in the US or Japan? Y FIT
6. Do you think you'll make middle-management one day? Sure it'd be nice
7. Did you think Riverdance was kind-of cool? You know on some levels it WAS kind of cool. I mean that dude could move his feet.

Bill, go to u2 concert, everyone is in there late 20s to late 40s... its like the 60s generation going to rolling stones concerts.

Totten's on crack, but I guess you have to be these days to make it in the music business. So thus, crack on Totten, crack on.

Ive kind of always believed that the best halftime show ever was when Michael Jackson did "Heal the World" with all the little kiddies.

i would add an item to this list. if you blindly believe despite all evidence to the contrary - that achtung baby was/is a great album - and you can sing along with a straight face to whose gonna ride your wild horses then you are first and foremost a hopeless u2 fan and second - you probably also enjoy the music of dave matthews who i think has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that songs do not always sound better with a fiddle...i'm just saying.

speaking of wild horses i'm also saying you must familiarize yourself with gram parsons. i promise you won't be disappointed. you will also gain instant credibility - like when people used to drop nick drake's name before anyone really knew who he was.

I think Gram Parsons is a little more familiar than you would think. The guy was in the freaking Byrds for crying out loud. Granted, his name is not as notable as John Lennon's but he's not necessarily obscure.

what about Alan Parsons? Didn't he have a project or something?

Wrong decade and/or century. Alan Parsons performed with Up with People during the 82 Super Bowl.

I happen to like "Wild Horses" and some of Dave Matthews music. Do you wanna fight me?

David, if you start telling me you like Jack Johnson and want to come over to play X-Box, I'm gonna hafta stay way

Holy shit this is awesome,

Holton- I'm not on crack- I tried a little pot once and ended up sweating all night thinking that my Jim O'Rourke record was demons arguing in my room. Five hours later and six albums later I found that Iron & Wine was the only thing that could calm me down. I haven't tried drugs since.

Josiah-
I really hate movies, or music, or anything that aren't that good that get tied up with Christianity or the gospel. OMG! THe way to dismantle the atomic bomb is JESUS!!!! That's what Bono is TRYING TO SAY!?!?!?!?!? I'm pretty sure that if Bono could have talked to Jesus when they recorded that one Jesus would have told Bono to keep his shitty lyrics to himself.

That's why I hate U2-

Their music sucks and you don't have to be on crack to agree and they are just like Amy Grant.

And Holton- I am a low level cashier in an independent record store. I spend my days scanning Shins CD's into a cash register. If that's what you call making it in the music industry than all you really need is a working knowledge of a computer keyboard.

Alan Parsons...

-Engineered "Abbey Road" and "Dark Side of the Moon."
-Recorded the song that the Chicago Bulls (and a billion other teams) use to enter the arena.
-Had a few decent albums and singles.
-Is playing Riverbend this year.
-Opened for Yes in Nashville when I saw them in, like, 1998.

wow man you're like really old

yes - gram parsons was with the byrds. for one album. he made quite a bit of music before and after that. also, his dead body was also stolen from lax and burned at the joshua tree. so...that should make him instantly relatable to u2 fans.

and david - i don't want to fight you. but i will definitely pray for your salvation. because if you continue on this path you will no doubt find yourself in a mall someday humming along to josh groban feeling edgy because you just purchased a sweet t-shirt from aeropostale. and that's just no way to live.

I'm a little sad that Up With People has only gotten a passing mention. I saw them live during the 1996 Olympics and spent a solid three minutes later that night thinking about joining their wacky cult of music and love. What might have been.

Oh yeah, more importantly, while U2 has put out some decent music in their time, much (read: almost all) of it really isn't very good at all. It's made worse by lead singer Bono, who is only a half-step ahead of Scott Stapp in his full blown savior complex. In fact, I think if U2 is beginning to sound like any other band, it's probably Creed. Now, I don't doubt that Bono's faith is sincere, the kingdom of heaven is a big place, but his faith doesn't make his lyrics infallible, or even very good. Seriously, Vertigo was ridiculous.

This feels like its becoming a Gram Parsons trivia contest. Should I add that he discovered Emmylou Harris, was on not one but two Byrds albums ("Sweetheart of the Rodeo" and "Ballad of Easy Rider"), that he belonged to the Flying Burritto Brothers between the Byrds and his solo career, and that he died at the age of 26? Oh yeah, he recorded "Love Hurts" way before Cher and Im pretty sure he never performed at a Super Bowl halftime show.

Unos, dos, tres, catorce!!!

Yeah. That's right. One, two, three, fourteen.

With all of this disagreement, I'm glad Prince, Jimi Hendrix, the Edge, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Duane Allman, Robert Johnson, Slash, Chuck Berry, and Eric Clapton all agree on one thing: Phil Keaggy is the best guitarist in the whole world.

Shit...I'll be at the mall laughing my ass off at your supposed "cred." Drake and Parsons. Please.

actually it's a myth that gram discovered emmylou. he was introduced to her by his flying burrito brothers band mate chris hillman - but they did make some beautiful music together. he also recorded wild horses - before it appeared on the stones stickyfingers album...i don't think they had superbowls pre-1973 so gram would not have been involved.

also david - i've already absorbed all of the drake/parsons music i can handle in one lifetime and have since moved on to even more important music. namely snow patrol. see you at the food court.

'Hello hello hola hola,' I've never heard wiser words spoken... I mean its like saying, "Hi,Hi' and then "buenos dias, buenos dias" as if to say I can speak english... AAAND Spanish. Almost to say, "hey we're globally awesome and have the power to change the world....and we'll prove it by changing the entire number structure. We're going to go from 1.2.3...4.... to 1.2.3.14... because its just cooler."

Bono wise sage of the world teach us more of your ways.

Wow. From Prince to Gram Parsons. This might be my favorite discussion ever on IJ.

My first exposure to Prince was Batman, and I've never been fully able to disassociate him from Jack Nicholson/the Joker vandalizing the museum. Remember that? I love Prince.

You cannot have this big of a Prince discussion without mentioning The Time. That was and is still a good band. It may be considered more of a project. Prince started it. Morris Day is the frontman. He's out there. Probably not as much as Prince though.

Well, it looks like his show is stirring up some controversy. It looks to me like some one was looking pretty hard to find some - this is what they came up with:

CNN.com article

Can we direct this conversation towards Billy Joel? Fight the real enemy!

lol Prince stands for more musically than U2? Please he won't even do half the stuff he's written since he's gone all Jehovah.