The Four Horsemen – Nobody Said It Was Easy (Reissue)
The Four Horsemen – Nobody Said It Was Easy
Dissonance
Release Date: 20/03/26
Review by John Deaux
7.5/10
Let me tell you about a band so Rock and Roll that just possessing the album probably gets you on a watch list.
The Four Horsemen. Just the name of the band is something your mom probably warned you about before she realized she was the problem.
This is the album that Rick Rubin produced way back in 1991. And that was the year that Grunge decided that Rock ‘n’ Roll needed to get sad and apologetic. Perfect timing. Truly. Nothing says “we’ve really thought this through” like releasing the most unapologetically macho Hard Rock record of the decade the same week that everyone was deciding that flannel and feelings were the future of Rock. The music industry looked at The Four Horsemen and said “not now.” The Four Horsemen looked at the music industry and said “oh yeah?” and got arrested.
The lead singer, Frank Starr, didn’t just look like a bad guy. He was a bad guy. There’s a big difference between the two that most Rock and Roll singers never manage to grasp. He went to the slammer on drug charges while the album was still warm. That’s not a publicity stunt. That’s commitment. Your favorite artist releases an NFT. Frank Starr released himself on drug charges.
The band was centered around Haggis – aka Stephen Harris, though I’m fairly sure no one called him that two times in a row – who had previously worked with Zodiac Mindwarp and The Cult, because apparently being in one legendary band just wasn’t enough to solve the issues plaguing the poor guy. He got this whole shebang together with the aid of Rubin and put together a band of completely crazy people and produced something amazing. And then he left. Because of course he did.
Now. The Album.
Everybody loves the underdog. Everybody loves the album that proves that the underdog was actually just delusional. Everybody loves the album that proves that the underdog was actually just delusional and that the dog was probably the delusional one to begin with. Everybody loves ‘Nobody Said It Would Be Easy.’ And it doesn’t take long to figure out that subtlety died on the side of the road somewhere between Atlanta and nowhere and no one bothered to put up a missing persons sign. This is AC/DC if AC/DC had a Southern Rock problem and a therapist they were avoiding.
Guitarist Dave Lizmi has riffs that were either written or carved into the side of the road. The kind of guitar playing that makes you want to do something that will get you disbarred. ‘Rockin’ Is My Business’ is the song about the man who has finally realized that being conflicted about rockin’ is no longer an option. He’s moved on. He’s at peace. You should be too. ‘Tired Wings’ is the part of the album that catches its breath just long enough to remind you that it really doesn’t have to. There’s something in there that’s feeling, and heart and soul and that’s just freaking scary. ‘Can’t Stop Rockin’ is just that. The Four Horsemen were not an advertising firm. They were many things. False Advertising was not one of them.
‘Wanted Man, Let It Rock, Hot Head’ — those are like a manifesto. Not a written manifesto. Nobody in that band was writing anything down. More like a vibes manifesto. The vibe being: we are going to play extremely loud Rock music and several of us are going to die and we all knew that going in.
‘Moonshine’ and ‘Homesick Blues’ demonstrate Southern roots without ever letting you forget that the tree that those roots come from is on fire.
‘75 Again’ and ‘Lookin’ For Trouble’ are—and I mean this as the highest possible compliment—songs that would genuinely concern a school counselor.
The record ends with ‘I Need A Thrill / Somethin’ Good’, which is a song that represents the entire Four Horsemen philosophy in one hyphenated title. Life is need and luck. Sometimes you get both. Sometimes your drummer dies and your singer gets hit by a drunk driver on Sunset Strip and Grunge takes everything you built and buries it under a pile of cardigans.
Classic Rock magazine related that the critics liked Four Horsemen because they knew that the machismo posturing was ironic, while the kids liked Four Horsemen because they knew it wasn’t.
That is the most beautifully sad sentence about a Rock band that has ever been written. The people who were supposed to promote the band had no idea what the hell they were about. They thought it was a joke. It was not a joke. Frank Starr is dead. Ken Montgomery is dead. It was not a joke.
This reissue includes liner notes by Darren Sadler, a new interview with Lizmi, archive materials from both Lizmi and Haggis, and in a nice touch, commentary from Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr, apparently the biggest Four Horsemen superfan in the world and probably a guy who named himself after Frank Starr on purpose because you have to pay those kinds of debts out loud. Both members have apparently endorsed the release. That sentence is a tragedy beyond what most people deal with in a year. I’m asking you not to think about it too much. The Four Horsemen put out a perfect, angry, unfashionable record and the universe immediately destroyed them in the most unpleasant ways possible. They deserved better. The record deserved better.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Nobody Said It Was Easy
02. Rockin’ Is My Business
03. Tired Wings
04. Can’t Stop Rockin’
05. Wanted Man
06. Let It Rock
07. Hot Head
08. Moonshine
09. Homesick Blues
10. 75 Again
11. Lookin’ For Trouble
12. I Need A Thrill / Somethin’ Good
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Jon Deaux and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
