Brian Setzer   The Knife Feels Like Justice EMI The Knife Feels Like Justice - Haunted River - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams - Bobby's Back - Radiation Ranch - Chains Around Your Heart - Maria - Three Guys - Aztec - Breath Of Life - Barbwire Fence In 1984, Setzer arrived to a point in his career where he felt too limited with the label "Rockabilly" and "Guitar Hero" sticked to him. He wanted to show and prove he was more than a Grestch guy who sings about Cadillacs an Pin-Ups. With a more ambitious vision in mind he left the Stray Cats and reinvented himself as a heartland rocker (on a side note it was also the beginning of the mullet period).He was helped in this process by Don Gehman the man behind the sound of John Mellencamp's Scarecrow and, according to his own words, by a "real band" (understand two guitars, a full drumkit, a keyboard and an electric bass) including members of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp) and Tommy Byrnes who was for a brief period the fourth Stray Cats. After an apparition at the first Farm Aid, the debut album from the "new" Setzer was released in 1986. If the result is not entirely convincing and sounds really dated by moment (especially that typical 80's drums sound) the curious and open-minded listener will find a couple of good things. The title track opens brillantly the disc and sets the pace (though the lyrics are still obscure to me). "Bobby's Back" is a dip into R&B (via MTV) and was already present in the Stray Cats setlist in 1984, as is "Barbwire Fence" another highlight of the album. "Radiation Ranch" is a solid rocker based upon a simple but efficient guitar riff, later recycled to write "Drive Like Lightning (Crash Like Thunder)" more than ten years later. But the real good surprises come from "Aztec" (co-written with Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell) and "Maria" (another collaboration, this time with Steve Van Zandt) both with a strong social comment revealing a new side of Setzer. Even though some stuff is just average, tthe whole album is coherent. But Setzer didn't pursue in this way and without a clear vision of what to do of his "freedom" (without a pre-definite musical genre) oriented himself toward FM rock on the catastrophic "Live Nude Guitar", but this is another story. Fred "Virgil" Turgis         Red Hot & Live Surfdog Records Red Hot - This Cat's On A Hot Tin Roof - Get It Off Your Mind - Slow Down - Put Your Cat Clothes On - Take A Chance On Love - Broken Down Piece of Junk - Peroxide Blonde (In A Hopped Up Model Ford) - Tennessee Zip - Mini Bar Blues - Runaway Boys - Stray Cat Strut - Rocket Cathedrals - Fishnet Stockings - Rock This Town - Gene & Eddie To be honest, although I’m a huge Setzer fan I didn’t really know what to expect with this live album recorded in 2006 in Japan with Robbie Chevrier on piano, Ronnie Crutcher on bass and the great Bernie Dresel on drums. On one hand the idea of an album made for one third of Setzer classics heard many times before on live records (both official and bootlegs), one third from the pleasant but not very original “Tribute to Sun Records” and the remaining third from the highly disappointing “ 13” had nothing to excite me. On the other hand I was more than curious to hear those classics played with a new arrangement with piano or a second guitar (a configuration not used by Brian Setzer since The Knife Feels Like Justice era 20 years ago) and maybe the tunes from “ 13” would sound better on live than on the studio takes. And I must admit that one more time, Setzer caught me. This album is nothing less than excellent. It manages to capture perfectly the excitment of the live performance, and it’s amazing how much a piano or a second guitar can change the sound compared to the trio format. The sound is full and pure rock’n’roll. The Rockabilly/Sun tunes are all excellent with sparkling guitar and real rockabilly piano courtesy of Robbie Chevrier. What could sound sterile on record takes here its real dimension, one of the best exemple being “Put Your Cat Clothes On”. The songs from “ 13” sound raw and good (as they should have on the record) when they are played live with this this line-up, especially the glam “Rocket Cathedrals” (do I hear a electric bass on this one?) and the instrumental tour de force “Mini Bar Blues” quoting Les Paul and Jimmie Bryant. But the real surprise to come from this album is the way they inject new life in those classics that are “Stray Cat Strut”, “Runaway Boys” (one of the best version I heard and believe me I have quite a few bootlegs) and “Rock This Town” which starts like a good ol’ boogie woogie to quickly evolve into a pure rock’n’roll gem. This album proves (if needed) that when he doesn’t waste his talent in Christmas albums or pre-marketed album for Japanese audience, Setzer can rock like nobody else. Fred "Virgil" Turgis