Band of the Year!

Blood on the Tracks!

The Red Hot Chili Peppers came back strong, matured with a new kind of world-weathered wisdom but still crazed in all their original sock-dicked glory. They dropped a massive double-disc, Stadium Arcadium, that became their first Number One album- and possibly their best ever. The band kicked it on the rock with wild abandon, climaxing festivals from Lollapalooza  to Vegoose as well as every place in between. But the emotional highlight may have been the Voodoo Musical experience festival in New Orleans, where the Peppers brought the funk back home in a headlining jam with the reunited original lineup of the Meters. It was a fitting triumph for the newly reflective, adult Chili Peppers. “It’s about surviving, starting fresh,” Anthony Kiedis said. “I’ve made a mess of everything, but I have a blank slate –a canvas of snow- and I get to start over.”