[7] The album was recorded primarily by Mark Howard (assisted by Wayne Lorenz) at Boulevard Teatro in Oxnard, California.

The Washington Post called the album Whitley's "best work yet," writing that "it has lots of loud, abrasive guitars, but they ebb and flow, allowing the blues-flavored songwriting to come through clearly and strongly.

"[9] No Depression wrote that "Whitley's falsetto sounds wonderfully spooky, and his slide playing threatens 'As Flat As The Earth' and 'Immortal Blues' with a naturally sinister feeling.

"[10] Trouser Press wrote that "much of the record evinces mechanical imagery in titles like 'Gasket' and elliptical lyrics about steel and faulty airplanes.

"[1] The New York Times wrote that "Whitley infuses [the songs] with a spirit of the blues: a clear-eyed, fatalistic tone that accepts both exaltation and despair.