There are some albums you just know you want to hear blasting out of a good set of speakers and then there are those albums you just need to hear in headphones. Loud. John Carpenter knows this, I'm sure, and no doubt set out to make an album that would shine in both settings, although it really shines being blasted directly into each ear hole from point-blank range.
Like his films - which you can't not mention when attempting to describe the man's music - Carpenter's music is immediate and direct in its intentions, while subsequent spins reveal unexpected subtleties just beneath the surface, like shallow graves. The man responsible for such pop culture touchstones as "Halloween" and "Escape From New York", not to mention the sorely underrated "They Live", approaches his first album with the same gusto and devil-may-care enthusiasm that makes his best work so enjoyable.
Joined in the creative process by son Cody and composer Daniel Davies, Carpenter creates an album that works as a soundtrack of sorts where we the listener are left to fill in the visual blanks. His influences are strictly top shelf: Jean Michael-Jarre, Walter/Wendy Carlos, Mike Oldfield, Gary Numan even and the result is an album that pays homage to all of the above while still managing to cave out his own identity. That's no small feat in the world of instrumental music.
Carpenters love of old school synths, jarring guitar accents, and symphonic tension never fails to hit the mark, making one wish he hadn't taken so long to release his first album. The only questions that remain are "Will he tour in support of it?" and "How long before the next one?"