The Army trained young men as killers, exposed them to brutal combat situations that made them mentally unstable, and then set them loose on the civilian population of Colorado Springs with little or no treatment.

The White Stripes rose above the scrap heap of early 2000s garage bands to become the biggest rock ’n’ roll band of the aughts for two main reasons. First, Jack and Meg White’s take on the delta blues is dirtier, heavier and more emotionally raw than any band since Led Zeppelin. Second, the duo effortlessly mixes their bombastic blues-rock swagger with achingly sweet, unselfconsciously twee little folk ditties that provide balance and depth to albums that would otherwise run the risk of sounding hollow amidst all of Jack White’s tongue-in-cheek guitar god posturing. When Boulder’s Rose Hill Drive announced they were performing the Stripes’ Elephant front to back for two New Year’s shows at the Fox Theater, there was little doubt that the band would crush murky rockers like “Black Math” and “Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine.”

To quote John Lennon, "Another year is over and a new one just begun," which means we meet again for Boulder Weekly's annual Best Albums of the Year.

The Denver Broncos - a franchise most remembered for winning the Super Bowl twice with John Elway at quarterback and fielding more than a dozen playoff teams from the '80s through the mid-'00s - are now in shambles.

"Trying to do your own promotion and things like that definitely takes a lot of time and energy," Preston says, "and I definitely think that was part of my downfall before. I wasn't really supporting my heart and my music, and I was always wrapped up in the computer and phone calls and kind of stressed out all the time."

Very few banjo players possess enough talent to influence a music scene so powerfully as the late Leftover Salmon banjoist Mark Vann.

No, the echoes of Coltranes soul-baring masterpiece resonate now through contemporary musicians as faint but unmistakable calls to higher spiritual channeling, and genuine technical expertise in the service of challenging convention. In this regard, one might suggest McLaughlin has been channeling Coltrane for much of nearly 50 years in music.

I love that about peoples life journeys, he adds in his pleasant voice. Somebody like Nelson Mandela is in prison for 28 years and comes out and says, We want to build a nation thats inclusive of all people. Those are the types of changes in life that get me inspired and excited to make music.

In concert, Ego Vs Id has evolved into one the tightest, most professional-sounding rock groups in Colorado, the volatile Cook jumping all over the stage while EVI slashes its way through a brash, earnest and surprisingly original brand of countrified indie-rock and a few choice covers.

For the first decade of its existence, rap music was deemed a fad, another pop culture trend to soon fade like disco and pet rocks. After rap music defied the prediction of its demise, its musicality came into question. Was it real music? After selling billions of albums, topping radio play and dance club charts, getting Grammy recognition and having rap artists inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame, there’s no question that it is music.