Take our video tour of some of 2008's headlines, highlights and low points!
January
Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson unveiled his veteran U.K. metal band’s new mode of transport for their upcoming tour: a leased, specially decorated Astraeus Airlines Boeing 757, dubbed “Ed Force One” after the band’s ghoulish mascot. What’s unusual about the arrangement is the pilot of the 113-ton airliner ― none other than Dickinson himself. (See That’s Captain Dickinson to You; Iron Maiden Singer to Pilot Tour Plane.)
February
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played one of the hardest-rocking sets in Super Bowl halftime show history at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., a fitting highlight of the 42nd annual pro football championship game that saw the underdog New York Giants upset the previously undefeated New England Patriots. (See Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to Headline Superbowl XLII Halftime Show.)
March
We can sympathize with those who find the emo movement self-indulgent and more than a trifle annoying. But irritating enough to gather similarly offended rock fans by the hundreds to go emo-kid-hunting? That’s what happened in the central Mexican city of Santiago de Queretaro when hundreds of punk rockers and rockabilly fans used online resources to organize attacks on the area’s emo acolytes. The incidents, which recall the mods vs. rockers battles of ’60s England, followed similar anti-emo bashing in Chile and spurred a silent anti-violence march through the city’s center. (See 10 Essential Emo Albums.)
April
With showcase sets by newcomers and veterans alike, the 2008 Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival in California was one of the premiere live music events of the year. But for pure old-school rock spectacle, Roger Waters’ set was hard to beat ― especially when the tethers holding the familiar, gargantuan inflatable pig from Pink Floyd’s Animals era malfunctioned, causing the helium-filled plastic porker to drift off aimlessly into the night skies. It was later found some 2.5 miles from the concert site, crumpled in two pieces at the Hideaway Golf Club in La Quinta. (See the Hits, Misses and Head Scratchers of This Year’s Coachella.)
May
Reclusive Spinal Tap ax god Nigel Tufnel helped promote a new National Geographic channel documentary on the origins of Stonehenge ― even if his own peculiar, er, “scientific” research led him to disagree sharply with its conclusions.
June
Coldplay’s Viva La Vida quickly became an international chart-topper and one of the year’s most successful rock albums. Just days after the album’s release, the U.K. band celebrated with a live concert in front of the BBC’s London Broadcast Center. (See Coldplay’s New Dueling “Viva La Vida” Vids.)
(Here are parts three, four, and five of the show.)
Helping fuel speculation about a possible replacement for singer Robert Plant in a potential Led Zeppelin “reunion” tour ― which easily ends up Non-Story of the Year ― Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones jam with Foo Fighters at London’s Wembley Stadium, playing spirited versions of “Ramble On” and “Rock and Roll.” (See Foo Fighters Wembley Show with Led Zeppelin Set For DVD Release.)
July
2008’s Life-Imitating-Art-Imitating-Life Award goes to Rush, whose first television performance in 33 years came on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report. The legendary Canadian prog-rockers celebrated the occasion backstage in a decidedly loopy way ― playing their 1981 hit “Tom Sawyer” on the popular interactive video game Rock Band. (See Rush’s Return to American Television After 33 Years.)
We’re not sure who had the best album of the year, or even the biggest tour. But we definitely know who had the most guitars in their “band” ― Woodstock veteran Country Joe McDonald, who gathered a world record attempt 2,052 pickers to play Pete Seeger’s classic American folk song “This Land is Your Land” along with him at a Northern California music event dubbed Concordstock. (See 2,052 California Guitarists Set New World Record for Playing in Unison.)
August
While rumors of a possible Led Zeppelin reunion tour were never far from the headlines throughout the year, Jimmy Page’s highest profile appearance would come in a spectacularly choreographed duet with nouveau U.K. pop diva Leona Lewis at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Here the duet tear up Zep’s “Whole Lotta Love” atop a London double-decker bus that converts into a stage, heralding the English capitol’s hosting the 2012 summer games. (See Jimmy Page, Leona Lewis Team Up For Olympic Collaboration.)
September
Metallica became the first band in history of the Billboard charts to have five consecutive albums debut at No. 1 when Death Magnetic sold nearly a half-million copies during its first week of release. First single from the album ― and the band’s 40th overall ― was the compelling, war-themed ballad “The Day That Never Comes.” (See How to Capture James Hetfield’s Metallica Guitar Tone.)
October
Aussie hard rock/metal pioneers AC/DC roared back into action with Black Ice, their first collection of new material in eight years. Anchored by the potent lead-off single “Rock and Roll Train,” the album sold 1.7 million copies in its first week of release, then went on to top the charts in 29 countries. (See AC/DC Announce U.S. Dates on Black Ice World Tour.)
November
Costing a reported $13 million to produce, Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy, the band’s fifth album, debuted a mere 17 years after GN’R’s previous Use Your Illusion volumes. Ironically, the record ― something of a commercial disappointment domestically ― was promptly banned in mainland China, spurring a significant black market demand. (See Chinese Democracy Syndrome: Five Other Long-Awaited Projects.)
December
‘Tis the season when enterprising pop stars stuff their stockings with a little extra year-end green via a holiday-themed release. But none did it with more gusto and self-deprecating glee this year than Toby Keith – who also offered pop music’s most unlikely Obama endorsement to boot. Debuted on Stephen Colbert’s holiday special, Keith’s merrily tongue-in-cheek “Have I Got a Present For You” pokes good-natured fun at redneck attitudes in general – and the Oklahoma country star’s perpetually flag-waving persona in particular.