Some great suggestions here--in addition to my previous list, I second the recs for the Can, Sigur Ros, Roxy Music, and some of the other prog suggestions. I just recently heard McCartney's Ram for the first time a few weeks ago (the DCC version), and it sounds like it was absolutely made for headphones.
I like psychedelic rock in stereo on headphones. While hearing a rhythm track squashed into one channel while strange sounds pan all over the place can sometimes sound bad-strange on speakers, on headphones, you can really hear how these creative recordings were made. So, I recommend Revolver; Sgt Pepper; Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles Are You Experienced; Axis: Bold As Love; Electric Ladyland - The Jimi Hendrix Experience Their Satanic Majesties Request - The Rolling Stones Surrealistic Pillow - Jefferson Airplane Piper At The Gates Of Dawn - Pink Floyd Sell Out - The Who etc etc.
Early King Crimson is a pretty fun listen on headphones Miles Davis - Bitches Brew, particularly the title track, it's great to hear the trumpet bouncing around your head If anyone likes Electronic, I'd wholeheartedly recommend The Chemical Brothers - Further Bonobo - Animal Magic Shpongle - Are You Shpongled? (From my Avatar)
Let's not forget: "Led Zeppelin II" (Whole Lotta Love - Sheesh!) "Street Hassle" and "Take No Prisoners" By Lou Reed - Binaurally recorded.
Great Headphone Albums: Lustmord: place where the black stars hang Oren Ambarchi: grapes from the estate Earth: 2 Rafael Toral: violence of discovery Tetsu Inouse: organic cloud Robert Rich: trances/drones Thomas Koner: teimo; permafrost Lull: cold summer My Bloody Valentine: loveless Slowdive: souvlaki Verve: a storm in heaven Joy Division: closer Einsturzende Neubauten: halber mensch And...anything by Harry Bertoia
How about Radiohead-Kid A? that one reminds me more of a Pink Floyd album than any that's been released in the last 30 years.
Another binaural recording: Glenn Gould - Bach Goldberg variations (Hybrid SACD) Somebody recommended this to me but I haven't checked it myself yet.
I have this album. The binaural part of the disc gets close but doesn't quite give me the sense of scale you get when you play a big old grand piano, but maybe they weren't going for the "huge" effect. It's still worth a listen, you get the great performance of Gould without the horrendous SQ of the original session. Gould really injects some soul into a composition that usually sounds wooden and dull to me.
The Alan Parsons Project - Tales, Mystery & Imagination, I Robot, Pyramid and The Turn Of A Friendly Card.
Yep. Funkadelic's Free Your Mind... (the song if not the entire album) is a headphone favorite of mine.
The Nightfly - Donald Fagen...absolutely one of my faves! also the "I Robot" on 200 gram vinyl, (but even the original sounds great) Paris - Supertramp "in your face" pipe organ from Bach or Buxtehude (if your into that sort of thing) oh...and a song..."Welcome to the Pleasuredome" many others mentioned here already...all on vinyl, of course, but other formats will suffice
Who's Next and Quadrophenia are standout headphone albums. Especially with Keith's thrashing about the kit in all manner. Also, someone mentioned McCartney's Ram....a big headphone favorite for me.
I don't where the idea that compressed and poorly EQ'd music sounds better on iPod headphones than properly mastered music came from, because it doesn't.
There's A Riot Goin' On (1971) Parade (1986) On The Corner (1974) The Hissing Of The Summer Lawns (1975) Fresh (1973) 1999 (1982) Inspirational Information (1974)
