Style: heavy metal, power metal
Label: Epic
Year: 1983
Home: Germany
Members: Udo Dirkschneider ~ vocals
Wolf Hoffmann, Herman Frank ~ guitars
Peter Baltes ~ bass
Stefan Kaufmann ~ drums
I've never heard anything from Accept aside from the MTV hit "Balls To The Wall". I know, that might be a cardinal sin & I will take your horrid name calling in the comments. So, flashback to 1983 with the album of the same name that largely put Accept on the map, though the album before it Restless & Wild also has classic status among metal fans. Balls To The Wall is considered historically a huge album by just about every metal historian. When it was released metal was still largely more underground than not. It wasn't user friendly or mainstream, not popular in the clubs, while the metal community was seen as outsiders, Satanists, maybe even troublemakers. Even though metal had been around for a bit, it was still a fringe scene when the '80's dawned & every parents nightmare. This is one of the albums, alongside works by Quiet Riot, Van Halen, Twisted Sister & a handful of other bands, which helped push metal out of the shadows & into the mainstream. I was 6 yrs old when Balls To The Wall was released, but it would be years later that I first heard the title track as at the time we didn't have but a few channels & none were MTV. When I first saw the video my immediate reaction hearing the lyrics & seeing the cover was that this must be one of those gay songs like Boy George. I know that sounds crass, but this was a world where Ellen DeGeneres was not a household name nor an iconic lesbian, Melissa Ethridge had not yet said yes I am, you could recognize a gay man due to the Freddie Mercury mustache, & Elton John was marrying a woman. Unless you lived in a big city, & I didn't, gays were that uncle you spoke about in hushed tones, or Boy George. I figured any guy singing about his balls must be gay. I didn't know the phrase had any meaning, though for the life of me I couldn't figure out what you did once you put your balls on the wall. What purpose does that serve? All this sounds horrid, & I write it to give you a good laugh, but I also must confess that I thought Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was 100% about food. Why would someone pour sugar on someone else? That's a waste of sugar when people are starving in Africa. Adults licked sugar off each other & stood against walls with their pants down. Being an adult was going to be strange! Who know I'd see 2020 ... nevermind. ... So, nostalgia aside, I come to this album not from 1983 but from 2021, where I obviously don't see it as a gay song. I'm hearing it in 2021 after metal is mainstream & I've heard more metal styles & albums than I can ever begin to count. I thus come at it with a big question: is this as good as its legacy makes it out to be? Which leads to other questions. Does it deserve a listen outside the context of 1983, as in as it withstood the text of time? Is there any other good songs on it aside from the title track? Having made you suffer through my bad humor & nostalgia I'm going to just skip to the answers: Yes, yes, yes! I'd put this album up against any metal album from any time after its release, including present day. This is a must have for your collection. It has a sound firmly rooted in classic metal, which every metal fan loves, re: Kiss, NWOBHM, Black Sabbath, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Judas Priest. Also, it just totally grooves, which I don't hear enough in modern metal albums that go for walls of sound & lots of flashy playing. Yet, think of all the headbanging albums of classic status. They all groove. Even Van Halen grooves. This grabs you with solid riffs that will have your head pounding from start to finish. I really like the clean guitars. I mean that as in every note can be heard. I tire of these bands that turn the distortion way up & crank things so crazy you can't hear what is being playing. Give me Megadeth, Pantera & bands where its just the riff & the pure air. Too many bands muddy the waters. I also really like the slow burn feel of this album. Its not a speed your face off attack. This is slow, scary, plodding & heavy. I do have to mention the speaking part on the title track. I didn't remember it, so I watched the MTV video & this isn't there. Its too bad, as having the speaking part with the bass just rolling along & some viking-like backing vocals is awesome. I usually don't like talking parts, outside of Elvis where it is somewhat bearable, but this is haunting. It totally makes the song & its too bad they cropped it from the single version. I also really liked "London Leatherboys". This has a great lost NWOBHM-esque sound. Very masculine lyrics of tough guys & wild girls, before the scene went pretty boy cock rock sexy. As for Udo, he may not be a singer everyone gravitates to. I'm sure some have said he's not so good, but he's original, makes up for any scratchy tones with depth & feeling so many better singers don't have. I tire of singers who want to scream to the heights, but have no emotion. Udo is the perfect counterpart to the music in a way not enough singers are, who are singer over or under but not as an equal with the music. I have to also saying sticking the power ballad "Winter Dreams" at the end is a nice touch. The obligatory power acoustic ballad is over-rated. Dump it. We're fine without one. Here it ends the album as a nice coda. I like the fact that this is mystical & almost otherworldly, which is a different feeling for such songs. Yet, it still rocks without getting all weepy. All that being said - take this album & learn from it. Its a classic for good reason.
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