I happen to believe that headphones are one of the best things that ever happened to music.  When I was a kid, my parents weren’t super-cool with the idea of my listening to rock and roll (I don’t know what they’d have preferred… gospel?).  If I wanted to hear what was inside that Black Sabbath album I borrowed from my friend’s sister, I had to be covert about it.  There could be no blasting it on the stereo in my room.  Instead, I disappeared into the magical strains of “War Pigs” thanks to a trusty set of old-school headphones.  The cord was pretty short, so I couldn’t lie on my bed and trip out to Pink Floyd, but headphones enabled me to fall in love with heavy rock without fighting about it with my parents every day.

These days, headphones are even better.  Thanks to devices like today’s deal of the day, kids discovering the heavy stuff in the 21st century can plug their headphones into their computer and listen to Mastodon anywhere in the house without disturbing anyone.  I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied by earbuds; they lack the heft and fidelity needed to really zone out on King Crimson or Rush. 

It’s all about those cans, baby.