Four Horsemen

Retro-rockers the Four Horsemen were one of many late-'80s groups that decided to look backward, not forward, for inspiration. Peddling no-frills hard rock in the image of Lynyrd Skynyrd and AC/DC, their bad-boy boogie anthems temporarily endeared them to media and fans alike, but internal and external forces soon conspired to derail the band's trajectory. Englishman Haggis (born Stephen Harris) first tasted fame in the mid-'80s when he was going by the handle of Kid Chaos, the bassist for flash-in-the-pan glam rockers Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction. A brief stint as rhythm guitarist in the Cult followed, after which he moved to L.A. in 1988 and teamed up with singer Frank Starr, lead guitarist Dave Lizmi, bassist Ben Pape, and drummer Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery (ex of Canadian hardcore pioneers D.O.A.) to form the Four Horsemen. The quintet may not have been able to count, but they sure knew how to rock, and their eponymous debut EP displayed a raunchy, no-nonsense, but irresistible AC/DC-like approach, spiced with twangs of Southern rock. Frequent touring followed and did much to streamline the group's live chops, and the Four Horsemen soon set to work on their full-length debut, Nobody Said It Was Easy, with producer Rick Rubin. Released by Rubin's Def American label, the record garnered mostly positive reviews and landed them opening slots on tours with Lynyrd Skynyrd and labelmates the Black Crowes, but didn't shift all that many units. In fact, other than enjoying rare MTV exposure for their "Tired Wings" video, the Four Horsemen's only major source of exposure seemed to emanate from the enthusiastic but unreliable British press, whose minions dedicated as many lines to exaggerating vocalist Frank Starr's bad-boy reputation as they did to lauding the band's...