It’s hard not to be terrified when you first hear ‘Asylum’. A huge contrast to the enigmatic A-side’s futurology – Numan’s first solo single, released just three months after Tubeway Army’s ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ freaked to the top – it evoked a still, drum-less dread that made his young fan base distinctly uneasy. Starting with low, deep drone offset by Polymoogs at their most scything and stringy, its steady pulse makes way for a recognisable but off-centre melody. The creeping dread comes from Numan’s turn on an out-of-tune piano – measured in the first movement, frantic and desperate in the second, as if seeking absolution. Every bit as scary as the first Halloween soundtrack, the John Carpenter influence was undeniable. Although ‘Cars’ would also motor Numan into the American top 10, US buyers were given The Pleasure Principle track ‘Metal’ as an alternative B-side – an unlikely breakdance anthem after it was embraced by Afrika Bambaataa’s Zulu Nation. ‘Asylum’ also suggested alternative career diversions for Numan that he would belatedly pick up in 1991 as his pop career waned, scoring the soundtrack to Rodman Flender’s low-budget horror flick The Unborn. But it was nowhere near as unsettling as this.