Music Blogs

So ends another year, and like every 12 months it's filled with things you hate to see go and memories you couldn’t bury soon enough. This year brought us an unusually large number of comebacks. From Tina Turner to Neil Diamond to the Police, nearly every forgotten musician came back from the abyss to remind us why we shouldn't forget them. Only problem? Some of them are worth forgetting. You can't always go home again. Or come back. Here are my most welcomed and unwelcomed returns in 2008.

WELCOMED COMEBACKS

LED ZEPPELIN
OK, technically, this is a 2007 comeback. Zep played a December 10 one-off gig at London's O2 Arena as a tribute to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. By all accounts it was magical. The best part? Zep had the good sense to walk away after the gig. No tour, no new album. The buzz lasted well into 2008 with rumors that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones might tour without Plant. Really? Zeppelin without Plant? REALLY!??!

AC/DC
They may have sold their soul to Wal-Mart, but Angus still looks good in that school boy outfit (he lost the backpack, though). These guys can play those three chords until death do us part. They're my favorite guilty pleasure, and I’m glad to see 'em back.

GLEN CAMPBELL
"Glen Campbell came back?" you ask. "Who the hell is Glen Campbell?" My friends, Glen Campbell is the man behind "Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Wichita Lineman" (OK, he didn't write them, but he recorded the only versions that matter) and one of the scariest mug shots in recent memory. It rivals that Nick Nolte one. Glen didn't tour arenas or make a big-budget video, but at age 73, he made one of the best albums of the year, covering Green Day, Travis, and Tom Petty, among others.

DONNA SUMMER
The disco queen returned with her first album of new material in 17 years. Admittedly, Crayons was not a return to the heights of her heady Casablanca recording days. Still, her voice is undeniable and her dignity is disarming. She's aged with class and style.

ABBA
This one ranks up there with the Zep reunion as the best way of coming back without coming back. Sweden's most popular export (besides Volvos and same-sex marriage) watched their stock rise without ever getting on a stage or doing an interview. The ABBA-inspired film Mamma Mia brought them back into the center of pop culture 27 years after their last recording session.

NOT-SO-WELCOMED COMEBACKS

SMASHING PUMPKINS
In my book, there are no comebacks when half the band isn't onstage. Call it Smashing Pumpkins, call it Zwan, call it the FutureEmbrace — it's all Billy Corgan, and he never goes away.

EAGLES
Another Wal-Mart exclusive. Unlike AC/DC, the Eagles just feel more shameless and bland every time they come around again.

GUNS N' ROSES
Maybe China wants Axl. I can't find anyone here who cares.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Apparently, there are legions of NKOTB fans who are so happy to have the boys back. I’m glad they don't live in my neighborhood. "Hey, you NKOTB fans, get off my lawn."

MOTLEY CRUE
I wanted to love this. I wanted to be psyched. It's the Crüe: how can you not love them, right? Wrong. They had one publicist too many, one stylist too many, one photo op too many. It was COMEBACK in all caps. It was too much of a hard sell that crossed the line when I turned on CNN and saw Nick Mars hand Larry King his guitar during a rehearsal. Come to think of it, Larry King in the Crüe isn't such a bad idea. Larry gets the ladies.

Check out more artists who returned to the spotlight in our 2008 Rock Comebacks FlipBook.