If Benjamin Franklin were alive today, he'd have to admit that there are actually three certainties in life: death, taxes and reunion tours. It has become as predictable as the sunrise that no matter how acrimonious a band's breakup, nostalgia and commerce will conspire to bring it out of retirement for one last curtain call. After all, it wasn't the implied cataclysm that launched the Eagles on their 1994 Hell Freezes Over Tour, and Frank Black's flaccid solo career had more than a little to do with the Pixies taking the stage again last year.

Times weren't always so cynical, though. In 1981, Simon and Garfunkel, perhaps the most contentious duo in pop history, put aside their differences to play a free concert in New York's Central Park for 500,000 fans. The duo performed with such warm camaraderie that a permanent reconciliation seemed imminent. But old grudges die hard, and, partway through the recording of a reunion album, Simon allegedly erased all Garfunkel's vocals, eventually releasing the work as his 1983 solo album, Hearts and Bones.

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