In the age of the iPod I find that I, for better or worse, do about 80% of my music listening in headphones only. Occasionally I notice a record, usually from the 60s or 70s, that commits so many crimes against stereo that it deserves to be called out. This series will be called Unlistenable in Headphones.
First up: Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Top 2 crimes against stereo-
#1 Hard Panning bass and guitar away from each other- I think the idea at a certain point in the mid to late 70s was that the stereo field should be an accurate re-creation of stage positions. This could explain why the engineer on this record decided to always keep Iommi and Butler separated, as if they were fighting fish.
HOWEVER.........
#2 Inconsistencies in instrument placements from song to song. On Iron Man, Butler's bass is hard left while Iommi's guitar is hard right. This is difficult and distracting enough to listen to as it is, especially when the two instruments start playing different parts. It makes my ears feel very unbalanced, and makes my head hurt. Then we get to Electric Funeral where Iommi is playing two guitar parts panned away from each other (perfect!) but Butler is now HARD PANNED RIGHT?? Wha??? I noticed my head tilting to the right as I was waking up 7th avenue.
If you want to make radical shifts in instrument placement on every song that is fine, but your band better have the words Stereo and Lab in your name.
