C/D: Accept

The drummer is right on the nail too - not afraid to do something flash here and there, just for a split second. Too much reverb everywhere, like many metal records of the period (eg, Priest's 'Defenders...').

We found ouselves wishing the songs were played faster, say at Venom pace, so that the abandon of the vocals and lyrics was matched by the music. We changed the turntable speed from 33 to 45, and that was every effective - an extrememly tight, hard riffing, breakneck swagger that resulted - until the vocals came in, of course, when the whole effect was ruined, albeit in the most amusing way.

I found that, although I enjoyed the reverb-drenched sound, I thought the songs were so strong that a dryer, more straightforward sound, such as was the UK metal style in the period 1978-80, when punk had briefly shamed metal into stripping back and getting tougher, may have suited these songs best.

Hell, even Metal Heart is classic.

From 1981 to 1985, Accept were untouchable.

"Generation Clash" was never all that bad.

Have been listening to Restless and Wild and Balls to the Wall and pretty much nothing else for most of the week. I'm sure that 20 years ago, I wouldn't have had any problem figuring this out, but if I want more bands in the vein of Accept and Scorpions and Judas Priest, where do I turn? And don't just say NWOBHM, because that's not what I'm talking about.

Are the U.D.O. albums any good?

I've been listening to Balls as well, for the last 3 weeks too. 'Love Child' is my favourite.

Now I've started checking out the U.D.O. material, and although it's only been a couple of days of tooling around on LastFM, I say yes, it's definitely worth checking out. The not-quite-English eccentricity of his lyrics become very addictive. He has 11 albums out, or thereabouts, and it's got that Accept feeling to my ears.

Other artists? Hmm, maybe Saxon would hit the spot.

I'm listening to U.D.O. right now, and in truth it is very much in the current tradition of German power metal very well exemplified by Edguy. It isn't quite what Priest and Accept were doing back then - the new material is more expansive where that early material had the tight, kickarse, stripped back quiality that said 'Oh shit, here come the punks, we'd better deliver the goods in three minutes'.

Perhaps that time has gone for good, and if you really want that flavour, it's best to stick to the era. For example, there is German band Sinner (the name alone gives you a clue to where they're coming from), from about 1980. You might like that. The few songs I've heard from them kick a sizeable quantity of arse.

Ha! Yeah, "Love Child" is the song I keep coming back to as well.

I read a little bit about Sinner, so I'll be sure to check them out.

that early material had the tight, kickarse, stripped back quiality that said 'Oh shit, here come the punks, we'd better deliver the goods in three minutes'

^^^Yes, that's exactly the stuff I'm looking for!

I second the Edguy recommendation, they're a great band. You might want to try Primal Fear and Gamma Ray, too. Those Germans are good at this stuff. And Udo actually has a new album out called Mastercutor, and it's not as bad as the title might indicate.

That said, the one Accept/Priest-inspired retro metal disc to own in 2007 is 3 Inches of Blood's Fire Up the Blades...not only is the singer in full Udo/Painkiller Halford mode, but the musicianship is tight as hell and the songs are very catchy. And they are equally good live. "NIGHT MARAUDERRRRS!"

Begrand, what's the best U.D.O album in your opinion?

I really lost touch of his material for a while after the 80s. He's got such a massive discography, yet I only know a few of his albums, like Animal House, which was only so-so. I have a live album that's actually pretty great, but that's mainly because he does a bunch of Accept tracks.

Every time he pulls out a power ballad, which seems to be often these days, it's just unbearable to hear.

Here's some lesser known ones from that era, roughly in order of preference starting with favorites.

Raven * Rock Till You Drop (Roadrunner) 81
More * Blood & Thunder (Atlantic) 82
Raven * Wiped Out (Roadrunner) 82
Overdrive * Swords and Axes (Metal for Muthas) 84
Tygers Of Pan Tang * Spellbound (MCA) 81
Manowar * Hail To England (Music for Nations) 84
Manowar * Battle Hymns (Liberty) 82
Riot * Fire Down Under (Fire Sign/Metal Bldade) 81
Anvil * Metal On Metal (Attic) 82
Angel Witch (Castle) 80
Anvil * Forged In Fire (Attic) 83
Alcatrazz * No Parole From Rock 'n' Roll (Grand Slamm) 83
Savatage * Sirens (Metal Blade) 83
Manowar * Into Glory Ride (Music for Nations) 83
Riot * Narita (Capitol) 79
Riot * Rock City (Fire Sign/Metal Blade) 77
Tank * Filth Hounds Of Hades (Action Music) 82
Hellhammer * Apocalyptic Raids (Noise) 84
Heavy Load * Metal Conquest (Thunderload) 81
Heavy Load * Death Or Glory (Thunderload) 82
Tank * This Means War (Music For Nations) 83

Ooh, thank you very much!!

also fuckin first IRON ANGEL why not

FAST. AS. A. MOTHERFUCKING. SHARK.

This band is INCREDIBLE. How did I only just recently hear them? As many mentioned above, Restless & Wild and Balls to the Wall are exhilarating teeth-clenching soaring masterpieces of classic metal. They've got riffs AND tunes for miles and they make it sound easy but not facile. Both of these records are pretty much exactly what I want to be hearing right now, and even on first listen I had that "oh man I'm going to be listening to this A LOT" thought with both. Painfully brilliant.

Stalingrad was awesome too, from last year.

Breaker and Metal Heart are not-quite-classic, but still very much hold their own against those two records. And their comeback albums from 2010 and 2012 are very, very good, too.

Actually Balls to the Wall and Metal Heart were just re-released in cool expanded versions in the UK, one has the live album Staying a Life, and the other comes with the Kaizoku-Ban live EP.

I've never heard Breaker, but everything from Restless and Wild through Russian Roulette is great, and their three '90s albums are good, too. I don't like the reunion albums; no Udo, no Accept, as far as I'm concerned.

Breaker is worth hearing. "Son of a Bitch" might be one of the goofiest songs ever, but that riff is nasty.

New Accept album, Blind Rage is out 8/19. I'd say the last two are decent, but it's hard to compete with Udo era, even the 90s albums.

The band actually existed in the form of Band X since 1968! Anyone hear anything from that era?

The new album's a blast, I'd say it's the strongest of the three. "Stampede" is a bit rote, but the rest of the thing is the kind of cantankerous heavy metal you expect from them. This reunion has worked out better than anyone could have imagined.

Listening to Restless & Wild and reading that a version of the band had been going since the late 60s. I have a real hard time imagining Udo singing Beatles and Stones covers, but he had to just that, right? I'd love to see some pictures.

I don't doubt it, as even Ronnie Dio himself was around playing music forever before hitting it big in the hard rock game.

i don't doubt it and was gonna quote RJD as th obvious exemplar but as much as that's entirely possible

RESTLESS AND WILD

there's an invention

Classic.

who the fuck was Robert A Smith-Diesel and why did he write so many lyrics on Restless and Wild

I guess he was a Ray Haligan, Jr type songwriter except for Accept he did lyrics instead of music?

I saw some youtube video about Accepts history and I think they mentioned that it was a pseudonym for Wolf Hoffman's then girlfriend.

doing a trad heavy metal run now and man, the ratchet up in intensity between verse and pre-chorus for the title track to "Balls to the Wall" is a helluvan escalation. goes from a run of the mill mid-album sounding track to an outright anthem in no time.

One of the band's girlfriends/wives did write lyrics for them, but this Smith-Diesel seems to be a real person with multiple songwriting credits for numerous acts on Discogs?

Wolf's g/f was Deaffy

Mr Smith-Diesel:

https://img.discogs.com/g3pcnWr_HG72Y5UzSNoQ0Qi-t0c=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/A-1070373-1475788208-1630.jpeg.jpg