Same old, same old

Unless your head was under a rock, you know that "Change" was the big theme of 2008. So why was popular music so rooted in the past?

Rock had a big resurgence, with the unexpected release of Guns N' Roses' 13-years-in-the-making "Chinese Democracy," the blockbuster success of AC/DC's Wal-Mart exclusive "Black Ice," the return to thrashing guitar heroics of Metallica's "Death Magnetic," Bon Jovi staging the year's biggest concert tour and Kid Rock enjoying his biggest year ever. Old bands ruled again via video games "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band." This year's "American Idol" was even a rocker dude, David Cook.

Of course, Barack Obama was the changemaster in 2008 and a lot of big names -- from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to Jay-Z and Dave Matthews -- threw him their support. But only a few, including John Mellencamp, TV on the Radio and Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas, made music to address the times that are a-changing.

Britney Spears continued to make headlines more for her personal life than her music. The same could be said of her role model, Madonna.

If you wanted musical change, there was Kanye West, the rap megalomaniac who became an R&B singer this year with an assist from the computer program Auto-Tune. Another rapper who mixed hip-hop with Auto-Tune singing, Lil Wayne, created the year's biggest-selling album, "Tha Carter III."

New faces from the Old World

After Amy Winehouse's Grammy-grabbing success in 2007, we looked again to England for new female pop voices as a quartet of young thrushes -- Leona Lewis, Duffy, Estelle and Adele -- made big splashes in the States.

The Jonas Brothers took a more traditional route to stardom. After opening for Miley Cyrus on her 2007 tour, they captured tween fans with their own concerts, Disney Channel movie and album. The Jonases are just the latest in a long line of heartthrobs who may parlay a teenage crush into lifelong affection -- just look at 2008's big reunion tour by New Kids on the Block, who packed arenas with 20- and 30-somethings trying to revisit their tween-dom.

The year's big reunion didn't happen: Robert Plant, after doing a one-shot charity concert with Led Zeppelin last December, said he'd rather record a second album with bluegrass queen Alison Krauss than tour stadiums with Zep.

Also missing from action: Prince, Minnesota's usually hyper-prolific musicmaker, who neither toured nor released a new album this year -- although he did publish his first book of lyrics, poetry and photography ("21 Nights") and created some controversy by dissing gay marriage in an interview with the New Yorker magazine.

Another short music veteran had his fingerprints all over the music business. Irving Azoff, best known as manager of the Eagles and Van Halen, not only engineered the overdue release of "Chinese Democracy," but delivered the Guns N' Roses CD as an exclusive to Best Buy. Long one of the music industry's most powerful and maverick managers, Azoff saw his status grow this year when he became CEO of the much-dreaded Ticketmaster. He promptly dropped "handling fees" for tickets to see the Eagles and some other top-priced acts. But Azoff also was responsible for raising prices for his new client Neil Diamond, from $85 in 2005 to $125 in 2008.

No wonder North American concert grosses were up 8 percent after a 10 percent decline last year. Despite a recession, Azoff proved he can make big money off the same ol' names. Some things never change.