Best and Worst of Classic Rock in 2009

Bad Company
Surviving original Bad Company members (Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs) reunited for 10 U.S. shows in the summer of 2009, with eight U.K. dates set for spring of 2010. They can still deliver songs like "Can't Get Enough," "Shooting Star" and "Bad Company" as well as they did 35 years ago.

Faces
It's really fantastic that Ian McLagan, Ronnie Wood and Kenney Jones will be touring in 2010, but it's just too bad that Rod Stewart declined to participate (after stringing the rest of the band along for many months before deciding.) No doubt an able vocalist will be found, but it won't be the Faces reunion "event" that it could have been.

David Byrne
The lead vocalist says he isn't interested in a Talking Heads reunion because, "I don’t need the money badly enough." Disbanded in 1991, the band last performed together at their Rock Hall induction ceremony in 2002. I guess Byrne should get points for honesty, even if it means alienating fans.

Paul McCartney
There was Neil Young, on stage performing one of the scheduled gigs on his European tour in London's Hyde Park. Suddenly, as if by magic, Paul McCartney appears on the stage for a surprise Young-McCartney duet on "A Day In The Life." Pretty heady stuff. A fan's camera caught it for the rest of us to enjoy.

Steven Tyler
After hiding from everyone including his band mates for weeks while rumors ran rampant that he was leaving Aerosmith, Steven Tyler mysteriously materialized, uninvited, during a performance by band mate Joe Perry's other band (Joe Perry Project.) After a brief chat with Perry, Tyler performed one song, announced he was not leaving Aerosmith, then quickly left the stage and went back into hiding. The stunt did nothing to break the impasse between Tyler (who wants to take some time off for solo projects) and the rest of the band (who aren't interested in a vacation.)

It Might Get Loud
With a cast of characters headed by Yardbirds / Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge and Raconteurs' / White Stripes' Jack White, this film could win the award for being "Most Aptly Named." It brought together three generations of rock guitar gods to tell their musical life stories through interviews and performance footage. Concept and execution were right on target. Watch the It Might Get Loud trailer.

Suck
Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper and Moby portrayed "rock 'n' roll wannabes in search of immortality and a record deal" who are pursued by a vampire hunter. It was hard to tell whether it was supposed to be campy sendup of vampire films, a road trip movie, or a commentary on the music industry. The best thing I can say about it is that the title was very well chosen. Watch the Suck trailer.

Pirate Radio
Probably the people for whom this movie was most attractive overall were those who worked in and around radio in the late '60s and early '70s. But the nearly non-stop soundtrack appealed to anybody who is attracted to classic rock. All those great bands whose names start with "The" (Who, Kinks, Turtles, Hollies, Troggs, Box Tops) plus Hendrix, Cream, Moody Blues, Rolling Stones, Small Faces ... the list is nearly as long as the movie. It was worth the ticket price just to hear the music via a theater sound system and acoustics.

Chickenfoot
Say what you will about the name, Chickenfoot have no trouble qualifying as a hard rock supergroup, with a lineup consisting of Van Halen alumni Sammy Hagar and Mike Anthony, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and guitar guru Joe Satriani. Their self-titled debut album and summer tour were bona fide hits.

Bob Dylan
Bless her heart, the 24-year-old police officer just didn't recognize the old geezer wandering through a residential neighborhood in the rain, and didn't believe him when he said he was Bob Dylan. According to an ABC News report, she also didn't believe that he was on tour with John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson, until she drove him to the hotel where she saw a large contingent of tour buses, and an ID in the form of Dylan's passport. Oh, snap!