The Four Horsemen (Hetfield/Ulrich/Mustaine)
The former version of the song "The Four Horsemen" - "The Mechanix" appeared on Metallica's first demo tape "No Life 'Till Leather".
Album:
Kill 'Em All
The song live:
Has almost always been a fixed part of the live show before the release of the
"... And Justice For All" album. It is still a fixed part of a 'Kill medley'.
The lyrics:
The lyrics of "The Four Horsemen" are relating to the subject matter of a bible story in
the final book of the New Testament in the "Chapter 6 of Revelations" which is called
"The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse". The horsemen should spread in each of the four directions to
pronounce "The Last Jugdement - Doomsday" of the world.
The Mechanix:
"The Mechanix" was the former version of "The Four Horsemen". It has been partly written
by Dave Mustaine. Metallica wrote new lyrics and renamed the song into 'The Four Horsemen'
after they've kicked Dave out. Later the song "The Mechanix" appeared on Megadeth's
(Dave's band after Metallica) debut album.
Make A Wish Foundation:
As it can be seen in the "A Year And A Half..." video tape the young John Smith who was
diagnosed with cancer played "The Four Horsemen" together with metallica as his final wish.
In the figurative sense:
The four horsemen could also stand for the four Metallicans and their conquest of the
world, as a heavy metal band.
Interpretation possibility:
"Don't give up to fight against what's pulling you down
- however pointless it may seem !"
Metallica about "The Four Horsemen"
James Hetfield: Dave [Mustaine] brought that song over from one of his other
bands; back then it was called "The Mechanix". After he left Metallica, we kind of fixed
the song up - the lyrics he used were pretty silly.
Kirk Hammett: Prior to recording that song, we put in a slow middle section that
wasn't there when I first joined the band, and it needed a slow melodic solo. I remember
going to that part, I played something really melodic. Lars [Ulrich] looked up at me and
said, "Yeah, yeah!" He's a big lead guitar fan - one of his biggest influences is Ritchie
Blackmore. For that song I put down one lead then added one on a different track. I wasn't
sure which one to use. I listened to both tracks at once, to see if one would stand out.
But playing both tracks simultaneously sounded great, and we decided to keep it like that
on the record. Some of the notes harmonized with each other, and I remembered Cliff [Burton]
going, "Wow, that's stylin'- it sounds like Tony Iommi!". (source: GuitarWorld issue of '91)
