Accept Germany
""Balls to the Wall" is a legendary metal album which is liked and respected by many metal fans and metal musicians. And that's not a coincidence. In many ways, it represents all the good things about 80s metal, and I think that's why it remains a classic to this day.
There's a tendency today to deride 80s metal for its general silliness, but "Balls to the Wall" is one of those albums that debunk this sort of criticism. Musically, every song is rock solid, and every song contains at least one guitar riff with balls (to the wall). The title track is no less than perfect, I think - it has everything: the riffs, the lyrics, the vocals, the chorus, the over-the-top solo; it's an instant headbanger. "Love Child" is musically a en epitome of good 80s metal with driving riffs, kick-ass guitar solos and a great chorus. On top of that it's a song about homosexuality and identity, a topic which was probably controversial for its time, and which is yet another example of how metal lyrics deals with lyrics that mainstream society is scared of. On top of the music, Udo Dirkschneider's vocals are absolutely wonderful. He has a distinct and unusual voice, and it is, in part, his voice that defines Accept's sound.
It's quite simple, the, any metal collection would be incomplete without this album.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"Do you want ten reasons to love German traditional 80s heavy metal?
Okay, here they are:
"T.V. War" "Monsterman" "Russian Roulette" "It's Hard to Find a Way" "Aiming High" "Heaven Is Hell" "Another Second to Be" "Walking in the Shadow" "Man Enough to Cry" "Stand Tight" There you go - ten reasons to love German traditional 80s metal, and on one album. "Russian Roulette" offers nothing but pure, reverb-ladden, unadulterated traditional heavy metal of the 1980s. All the wonderful klichés are in place, including catchy melodic choruses, guitar acrobatics, powerful and solid drums.
And, of course, Udo Dirkschneider's unique voice adds to, if not constitutes, Accept's distinct sound, while, as is typical of Accept, the lyrical content turns things as we think we know them upside down and challenge our stagnated and conservative worldview as in "Heaven is Hell" and "Man Enough to Cry".
I'd recommend this album to fans of traditional heavy metal, and I think that fans of power metal, hard rock, and perhaps also glam metal might like it too.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"One of the things that define Accept is Udo Dirkschneider's voice, and his absence on "Eat the Heat" is probably problematic to many metal fans. Vocalist David Reece who performs on this album is certainly not a bad vocalist in any way, but, while Dirkschneider's voice is quite unique (althought slightly reminiscent of that of Brian Johnson), Reece's vocals are very typical of run-of-the-mill 80s heavy metal. While he certainly is a good vocalist, he does not contribute anything original to "Eat the Heat", which comes off as an average 80s heavy metal album, compared to many of Accept's other albums. The music itself is also very much typical 80s heavy metal music.
Overall, it's a good 80s metal album which I certainly enjoy listening to, but as an Accept album, it is somewhat lacking. I think fans of traditional heavy metal will love this album, but if you're looking for originality, you should go for "Balls to the Wall" or some of the other early Accept releases.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
""Metal Heart" is probably not as good nor as important as "Balls to the Wall", but it is still a great metal album, which certainly has deserved its status as a rock music classic.
The album is teeming with all those elements that make for good traditional 80s metal, such as catchy choruses, catchy and energetic guitar riffs, solos which are both chaotic and virtuosic, pumping bass patterns and a big reverb-ladden drum sounds (and, of course, everything is on the brink of being drowned in reverb, which is one of the few things I don't like about 80s metal).
In any case, fans of traditional heavy metal should love this album, and I think that fans of power metal and, perhaps, also glam metal might appreciate it since, Accept do also draw musically on those two genres to some extent.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"Accept without Udo Dirkschneider? Does that really work? Well, it worked okay on "Eat The Heat" from 1989 which had American singer Dave Reece on vocals. Dave Reece was a fine singer, but his voice was perhaps a bit too typical for heavy metal singers at the time. New frontman Tornillo's voice is more in the same screechy department as that of Udo Dirkschneider or Brian Johnson of AC/DC without sounding exactly like those two famous "schreechers".
This certainly retains the "Acceptness" that was perhaps lacking on "Eat The Heat" - Tornillo also has a very powerful voice that allows him to really scream his head off, which suits the music very well (this is heavy metal after all; belting is more than welcome).
Musically, "Blood of Nations" contains solic good old fashioned heavy metal tunes, although some of them, like "Beat The Bastards" and "Locked And Loaded" are almost on the verge of being power metal tracks (then again, a lot of power metal is really just souped up traditional metal). There is some really wicked riffage on this album, and stand out tracks to me are "Teutonic Terror" (effing great title - I'll use it as a band name for one of my projects!), "The Abyss", "Blood of Nations", and "Rollin' Thunder".
Actually, this is traditional metal as Accept do best, and, provided that you can accept Accept without Udo Dirkschneider, this should be a hit with fans of the band, and fans of traditional metal in general will probably also love it.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
