The Knife Feels Like Justice was released in 1986 by Brian Setzer

Brian Setzer

Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...

 on the EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 America record label. The album was not promoted well by the label, possibly because Setzer had progressed from playing rockabilly

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

 music to the more adult-oriented and more topical

Topical

In medicine, a topical medication is applied to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous membranes such as the vagina, anus, throat, eyes and ears.Many topical medications are epicutaneous, meaning that they are applied directly to the skin...

 rock-roots sound, as several of his musical contemporaries had recently done like Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

, John Cougar Mellencamp, even Jon Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...

. As a result it only peaked at number 45 on the Billboard US album chart.

Although it did not sell well upon its initial release, the original pressings for both the cassette

Compact Cassette

The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

 and compact disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 versions have sold out. It was re-released on CD in 1990 and again in 1999. In 2007 it was released again as part of a "2 albums on 1 CD" format, paired with his 1988 follow-up album Live Nude Guitars. An import CD version is also available.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Brian Setzer; except where indicated

1. "The Knife Feels Like Justice"
2. "Haunted River"
3. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
4. "Bobby's Back"
5. "Radiation Ranch"
6. "Chains Around Your Heart"
7. "Maria" (Setzer, Steven Van Zandt
   Steven Van Zandt
   Steven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
   
   )
8. "Three Guys"
9. "Aztec" (Mike Campbell, Setzer, Bo Diddley
   Bo Diddley
   Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
   
   )
10. "Breath of Life"
11. "Barbwire Fence"

Personnel

• Brian Setzer - guitar, vocals
• Mike Campbell - 12 string guitar
• Peggi Blu - vocals
• Kenny Aaronson
  Kenny Aaronson
  Kenny Aaronson is an American bass guitar player.- Early life and career :He started playing drums at the age of eleven, following in his older brother's footsteps. Kenny switched to electric bass at the age 14 after becoming enamored by the bass on Motown records and was strongly influenced by...
  
   - bass, drums, percussion
• Benmont Tench
  Benmont Tench
  Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III is an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early years:...
  
   - organ
• Tommy Byrnes - guitar, background vocals
• Chuck Leavell
  Chuck Leavell
  Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...
  
   - keyboards
• Queen Esther Marrow - vocals
• Diva Grey - vocals
• Dave Williams - vocals
• Yvonne Zuaro - vocals
• Andrew Williams - vocals
• Steve Jordan
  Steve Jordan (musician)
  Steve Jordan is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, musical director and Grammy Award-winning artist, who has made a name for himself as a producer from the Bronx in New York City. A graduate of the Fiorello H...
  
   - drums
• Kenny Aronoff
  Kenny Aronoff
  Kenny Aronoff is an American drummer. He has played drums for many musicians, including John Mellencamp, Bob Seger, Belinda Carlisle, Elton John, John Fogerty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, The BoDeans, Gregg Alexander, The Smashing Pumpkins, Tony Iommi, Jon Bon Jovi, Vasco Rossi, Cinderella and...
  
  - Drums, percussion