Nobody Said It Was Easy cover

Nobody Said It Was Easy

Released

Led by guitarist Stephen “Haggis” Harris, a former member of the Cult and Zodiac Mindwarp, the Four Horsemen’s songs were straightforward heavy blues-rock in an AC/DC meets Nazareth style. Indeed, “Rockin’ Is Ma Business” and “Hot Head” were both propelled by stolen AC/DC riffs (“Down Payment Blues” and “Rock ’n’ Roll Damnation,” respectively). The keys to this style, though, are a good drummer and a good singer, and the Four Horsemen had both. Frank Starr was a hoarse-voiced screecher in the Brian Johnson/Axl Rose mode, and Ken “Dimwit” Montgomery was a punk at heart who’d come up playing with Canadian hardcore legends D.O.A. and laid down one simple but powerful backbeat after another. Rick Rubin’s dry, minimalist production kept things simple and loose. The album wasn’t a hit, though, and they were dropped, drifting into oblivion after a long, painful series of lineup changes, stints in jail, and overdoses.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
Painkiller cover

Painkiller

Judas Priest
Gun-Shy cover

Gun-Shy

The Screaming Blue Messiahs
Might & Power cover

Might & Power

Megaton Sword
Montrose cover

Montrose

Montrose
Natural Boogie cover

Natural Boogie

Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers
Agents of Fortune cover

Agents of Fortune

Blue Öyster Cult
Steppenwolf cover

Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf
Cactus cover

Cactus

Cactus
Stone cover

Stone

Baroness
10 From 6 cover

10 From 6

Bad Company