Careful With That Axe is the seventh solo album by John 5. It was released on August 12, 2014, and debuted at no. 50 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. The album's first and only single, "This is My Rifle", was released two months prior on June 17, 2014.

Work on the album took place in between his work as a touring guitarist for Rob Zombie. Recording took place in "The Doghouse Studios" in Los Angeles. With it being his seventh instrumental studio album, John 5 desired to mix his process up from the past. Historically, he had recorded all guitar and bass guitar parts himself, and hired a studio drummer to "Keep the beat and stay out of [his] way". For Careful With That Axe, he recruited a dedicated bassist, Matt Bissonette, to play all bass parts, and had a co-producer Rodger Carter play all drum tracks, with both players being more interactive in the process. Both were experienced studio musicians, with Bissonette having previously recorded with Elton John and David Lee Roth, and Carter having previously recorded with Lita Ford and Gene Simmons.

John 5 described the album as having "a real live band sound" that covers a broad spectrum of different music genre. The track "This Is My Rifle" is a tribute to Al Di Meola, while "El Cucuy" is a tribute to Spanish flamenco guitar music. "Jerry's Breakdown" and "Jiffy Jam" are both cover songs of Jerry Reed, a musician John 5 was familiar with due to his father listening to his albums as a child.

Both the album's title and its individual song titles are references to axe murders. "This Is My Rifle" is a reference to Stanley Kubrick and Full Metal Jacket, "Flight of the Vulcan Valley" is a reference to Flight of the Bumble Bee. "El Cucuy" is Spanish for the "bogeyman", while "Portrait of Sidney Sloan", "Villisca", and "The Dream Slayer" all refer to specific real-life murders.

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