Customer Reviews

Nobody Said It Was Easy

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Talk about bad timing. Nobody Said It Was Easy was released in August 1991, several weeks before Nirvana unleashed Nevermind on the world and changed the face of popular music as we know it. The Four Horsemen included every ingredient necessary for big-time success between 1986-1990: a long-haired charismatic frontman, a pair of deft axe men who tore off fierce riffs with a pop sensibility, and supercatchy songs. They just happened to release Nobody Said It Was Easy a little too late.

There's an old story that back in the mid80s, Four Horsemen singer Frankie Starr came across newly arrived W. Axl Rose on the Sunset Strip and gave him an earful about how Frankie would be a star while Axl wouldn't amount to anything. Frankie didn't lack for hubris that's for sure - the line from the riff-tastic "Rocking Is Ma Business" goes "the book on rock and rock, MF, I wrote it!" Or how about this one from the scorching "Let It Rock"? - "Half a year from now we'll all be millionaires." It turned out that Frankie wasn't all that prescient - Axl became the mega-star and the Four Horsemen became anything but millionaires. Sadly, Frankie died in a motorcycle accident several years ago without the Four Horsemen achieving the widespread success they deserved.

Along with, ironically enough, Appetite for Destruction, Nobody Said It Was Easy is one of the few albums from the pop metal era that today still sounds as good as ever. If you're into Junkyard's eponymous debut or Cinderella's Heartbreak Station, or if you think the idea of a band that blends the styles of AC/DC and Lynyrd Syknyrd sounds appealing, you have to get your hands on Nobody Says it Was Easy. In fact, there's no time to waste - this thing isn't exactly a big seller and could go out of print at any moment. Once you're "out on the open road", cranking "Rocking is Ma Business", "Can't Stop Rockin'", "Let It Rock", and "Hothead", you'll be really grateful you picked it up. Just don't blame me if those sirens in "Moonshine" have you checking your rear-view mirror. The closing track, "I Need a Thrill" provides a fitting epitaph for Frankie who seems to have been one of those people who lived life hard, always chasing the next thrill. Thankfully, his music lives on, providing more than a few thrills for those of us lucky to own some of it.

Rick Rubin was churning out this kind of AC/DC-influenced rock back in the late eighties, early nineties. Starting with the Cult's "Electric", Rick and his fellow producer, George Drakoulias, put out great rock albums by Masters of Reality, the Black Crowes, and these boys, The Four Horsemen.

The gems here include "Rockin' is Ma Business" (which I heard during the summer of '92 on the radio, which surprised me, because they didn't edit out Frank, the lead singer saying in a break right before the solo, "Hey, if it's so good, why am I still f___kin' broke?"), "Can't Stop Rockin'", "Moonshine" and the country/Skynnard-influenced "I Need A Thrill/Something Good."

Frank Starr's vocals go between a Brian Johnsony sound ("Can't Stop Rockin'") and a Skynnard-style vocal ("Tired Wings", "Moonshine", "Wanted Man") without the Jacksonville twang. The guitars are produced very well, and played well, too.

If you like straight-ahead American boogie rock, you should dig this one.

1991 - Grand Rapids Michigan, home to one of the best live music venues in western MI, Club Eastbrook, it was a typical evening, cool, yet warm fall weather, the smell of grass burning everyware, and the realization that you have a ticket to one of the hottest shows in town, "The Four Horsemen." Fresh off their first album, "Nobody Said It Was Easy", they were the night's headliner. They ripped into their set with a vengence, every song was incredible including the radio mainstays - "Nobody Said It Was Easy", "Rockin Is My Business" and "Tired Wings." The backbone of the album, these were the best songs on the radio at the time. With one of the most sought after producers, Rick Rubin, controlling their destiny they spit out one of the years best rock albums. No Nirvana didn't kill rock, a bunch of horrible albums by the giants did but not before The horsemen had their say. Although they accomplished more on their first album then Fred Durst will ever have, they didn't have a closer, I've heard their second album was good but it received zero radio play. Unfortunately Frank Starr passed away in the mid-ninties but they will always be an essential piece of automotive stereo hardware. One of the last great rock albums of the 90's before grunge and Clear Channel took over............

Like other reviewers before me have said, this is a true gem! Its like if you took the first Little Caesar cd, mixed it with ACDC's Powerage, and added a little bit of the first Dangerous Toys cd. True, straight up, hard driving rock and roll with the integrity of Motorhead and a sense of humor to go with it. Unlike the flavor of the year bands, the Four Horsemen truly had the spirit of rock and roll.

I don't remember where I first heard this band but I am glad I did. I have both albums - "Gettin Pretty Good..." and "Nobody Said It Was Easy" I love them both. Hard rocking songs to get me motivated. Great CD for driving alone, volume turned way up!!! If you like Southern Rock, both of these should be in your collection.

ya know that story that we all talk about...what CD's would you take or choose to have,..if you were to be stranded on a deserted island? Well, I have a massive list for that event, but this disc/tape/vinyl record would be on the list for sure. One of the most underrated albums, and bands, of the last 20 years...the Horsemen had it all on this album, impeccable songwriting, killer riffs, and a blues base that is undeniable,..all mashed up in a hard rock stew,..and left to simmer until ready to destroy your stereo! This album is a rock and roll masterpiece all the way through, and though it does stick to the same style throughout, it works, and does not grow stale.
The songs on the first half of this disc, are songs you probably know, whether or not you have heard of the band,..they were huge hit singles on AOR radio, and Frank Starr was a voice that you could not deny, a frontman that said what he thought, and left it all out on the stage, for sure. A story that has been passed around, that Frank caught up with the "new guy" W. Axl Rose on the Sunset Strip after a show, and proclaimed how he(himself, Frank C) was gonna be a huge star, and how Axl would never make it big in this town, now I am not sure that this is true, but I have read it a few times, and even a friend that was part of that scene told me about it..so it is just a nutty tidbit of our rock and roll history,..learn it kids! ANYWAY, this is a superior album, that deserves to be in any Rock or Hard Rock Fan's collection...Go get it and enjoy it...

this album is quite possibly the best rock album to ever be put out. Easily as good if not better than back in black or kiss alive, alive 2. If you want a album you can listen to without skipping a song, then this is the album. The only album that even comes close is GNR appatite for destruction, personally I believe Nobody said it was easy, is the better of the two. Buy it, you will not be disappointed.

I owned this when it first came out. Somehow didn't survive college and post. So I was glad it finally came up in MP3 format. I guess grunge killed these guys. But this album is straight up rock 'n roll. And it holds up.

I keep wanting to pigeonhole this release by saying it's the best . . . Southern Rock Album or . . . the best Stoner Rock Album . . . or wait, The Best Rock Album, but nothing fits. The Four Horseman "Nobody Said It Was Easy" Is simply one of the best albums EVER. That is a very bold statement to make, but justified. For shear strength of songs there isn't a weak one on the release. That fact alone puts it with AC/DC "Back In Black", Metallica "Black", Lynyrd Skynyrd "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd" or GNR "Appetite for Destruction". That's some pretty hefty company, but the simple fact is it's true. If you like any of the afore mentioned releases, you will not be disappointed with this masterpiece. It F'n Rocks!

If you haven't given this a listen, you should. Straight up Rock-N-Roll! These guys were headed for great things, when fate stepped in and took it away. Frankie I'll always love you, and you live forever in my heart! Dave, hope you're doing well after all you've been thru. You guys will always rock in my book!
Quakencin@aol.com
Cindy