Unknown Soldier

Only two positions are different.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

William_the_Bloody

Well I meant the song as I am a pretty big fan of early thrash & that Slayer release, so I'll have to sit down and give the whole Accept album a good listen

Urban Hat€monger ?

It is?
I always found Accept to be far too corny, and this was when I was 13 or 14 years old.

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Unknown Soldier

If you liked Manowar or power metal, I'm sure you'd think differently.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

List Ammendment

There has been a mix-up by me regarding Accept’s two albums Restless and Wild and Balls to the Wall that I have now clarified and I aim to fix the confusion. I was going to review them at the same time at position 6 here, but will now do them individually as I originally planned.

Restless and Wild was actually released in Germany 1982 but didn’t get a UK/US release till 1983. Balls to the Wall was largely released in 1983 but didn’t get a US release till 1984. Which means that Restless and Wild is the next album up and Balls to the Wall will now be slotted into 1984.

Given that I put Restless and Wild at the same level as Balls to the Wall, it slots into position 6 here no problem.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

The Lowdown
In many ways Accept from Germany were an archetypal metal band circa the 1983-1984 period, for the simple reason they incorporated all the aspects that were predominant in metal at this time (blazing twin guitars, thumping bass and ferocious drumming to name just a few) which all resulted in some pretty mean sounding fist-pumping metal from them. Their style saw them issue out centralist metal that could easily appeal to listeners of artists like Iron Maiden to Dio and their so-called cheesy offerings appealed to the glam metal left, but they equally appealed to the more aggressive offerings of the metal right as well with their speed and aggression when they chose to apply it. All these aspects of the band, could all be found to varying degrees on the band’s two seminal releases in this period Restless and Wild and the even more famous Balls to the Wall. There are several reviews on the web that recognize just how influential Accept were to metal in this period and one review states that any metal fan worth his salt should at least give both these albums a twirl, a statement that I more than agree with! But this wasn’t always the case for the band from Solingen in Germany, as their first album Accept was the perfect exercise in everything bad about metal and the same could be said for their second I’m a Rebel two albums from a band not going anywhere. By the time of their third album Breaker there was certainly a distinct improvement which helped push them up the Teutonic metal league stakes, where they soon fitted in with the already large amount of German metal bands at this time, all trying to follow in the footsteps on the mighty Scorpions. Around 1983 Accept and Trance (see Trance review above) were two of the best when it came to putting out Teutonic metal at this time (there are a whole host of other bands worth exploring here) In 1982 Accept would take up the baton as the principal home-based German band with the recording of the gritty sounding Restless and Wild, and it would be the first of their releases to encompass the band’s sound to an impressive level. The band start in the most aggressive way possible with the opening bludgeon of “Fast as a Shark” which is outright speed metal at a lightening pace and the chorus of the song touches into what would be power metal, as are certain elements of the guitar work. The heart of the album though lies in its heavy mid-paced ramblers like “Ahead of the Pack” a track well penned for dedicated headbangers, along with a-side closer “Neon Nights” with its almost 80s Nordic vibe, a musical tendency that would circulate through a number of other similarly geographical based metal bands at this time. The title track “Restless and Wild” which is one of the best songs in the whole discography of the band, stands right up there with tracks like Anvil’s “Metal on Metal” as perfect examples of epic metal circa the 1982-1984 period and these type of tracks just blow! Later album tracks include the cheesier sounding “Demon’s Night” and solid tracks like “Flash Rockin’ Man” "Don't Go Stealing My Soul Away" and the smug sounding album closer "Princess of the Dawn" keep the album right on track. I like it less though when they dip into other band’s territory like the AC/DC styled “Shake Your Head” or the Judas Priest styled “Get Ready” and these are weaker issues by the band. Musically Reckless and Wild displays Wolff Hoffman and Hermann Frank in fine form on guitar and they are equally matched by the fautless rhythm section of Peter Baltles and Stefan Kaufman. I left mentioning vocalist Udo Dirkscheneider until now (as it’s a bummer remembering how to spell his name) as he serves whether somebody will dig the band or not, as his croaky voice alternates between throaty power and throaty screaming, and he was certainly an in-demand metal vocalist at this time, guesting on other albums by other artists. I find German metal from this period as one of the most interesting on the scene and with bands like Accept, German metal was now appearing to finally follow in the footsteps of the Scorpions (who they themselves had taken a number of albums to find their own feet) Finally it’s no understatement to say that Accept were extremely influential to the whole of the non-English speaking European metal scene at this time and without them the European floodgates regarding metal might not have opened up.

Udo Dirkschneider- Vocals
Wolff Hoffman- Guitar
Hermann Frank- Guitar
Peter Baltes- Bass
Stefan Kaufman- Drums

Production- Accept

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

William_the_Bloody

Hey great stuff, but this threw me off for a second, as the release date for this album traditionally says 82, but apparently it wasn't released outside of Germany until 83?

Does this then mean that the Balls To the Wall album will not be in your top 20? Doing the math with 5 spots left...it can't be included unless you omit one from the list below???

Metallica - Kill em All
Motley Crue -Shout at the devil
Dio - Holy Diver
Def Leppard - Pyromania
Iron Maiden -Piece of Mind

Unknown Soldier

Restless and Wild according to Wiki was released in Continental Europe in 1982 but in the UK and USA in 1983. Balls to the Wall has now been removed and will be in the 1984 list as it didn't get a release in some countries like the USA till 1984, so I've qualified it for 1984 based on this and also it doesn't mess up the top 5 positions by doing this.

The top 5 you have above is correct but not the order, only one of those five is actually placed in the correct order.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

William_the_Bloody

I know, that is how I would order it. If I were to take a guess on how your going to order it. I imagine it will look like this

Dio - Holy Diver
Motley Crue -Shout at the devil
Iron Maiden -Piece of Mind
Metallica - Kill em All
Def Leppard - Pyromania

The Batlord

Putting Motley Crue over Iron Maiden and Def Leppard? You don't know him at all.

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