Accept - 3 CD Box (1995)

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Accept - 3 CD Box (1995)

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Accept - 3 CD Box (1995)

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Accept's creative breakthrough, 1983's Restless and Wild, begins with one of the most unexpected, surprising, and hilarious mock intros ever recorded. Untold thousands no doubt furrowed their brows in confusion at the perky German folk song emanating from their speakers, only to be rudely interrupted by a scratching needle and Udo Dirkschneider's incomparable shriek, as the band launch themselves into the stunning violence of "Fast as a Shark." Not just a thrilling, light-speed juggernaut, the song was probably the last thrash metal prototype waxed in the pre-thrash era (officially inaugurated by Metallica's Kill 'Em All a few months later). Though nowhere near as frenetic, the title track and "Ahead of the Pack" are just as fierce, and despite a sudden stumble with the mediocre "Shake Your Heads" (an overtly cheesy, Judas Priest-style metal anthem, and the album's only stinker), the dramatic "Neon Nights" ends side one on the upswing once again. As for the album's second half, it's pretty much beyond reproach. Introduced by the solid "Get Ready" (another nod to Priest with its "Living After Midnight"-inspired drum intro), it builds from strength to strength with increasingly mature and melodic (though lyrically obscure) tracks such as "Flash Rockin' Man," "Don't Go Stealing My Soul Away," and the colossal "Princess of the Dawn." The latter closes the album as it began, in unexpected fashion, when its extended outro is abruptly interrupted mid-verse. The bottom line here is that this, like its successor Balls to the Wall, is an essential heavy metal album, and any fan worth his salt should own them both. But for the sake of first-time visitors, Restless and Wild is the slightly grittier, less melodic of the two. Whichever you chose, you can only win.

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Accept - 3 CD Box (1995)

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With 1985's Metal Heart, German metal institution Accept attempted to add catchier choruses and melodies to their high-octane guitar riffing in a clear ploy to crack the American market. Not that this move in any way upset the balance of their thus-far smooth-running metal machine, which had been gaining momentum with every release since the start of the decade. No, Metal Heart was certainly a step toward accessibility, but a cautious one at that – and, frankly, there was no toning down when it came to the lacerated larynx of gifted lead screamer Udo Dirkschneider. You gotta hand it to Accept, they sure knew how to make an entrance by now, and the apocalyptic title track is about as dramatic as it gets (the operatic "Bound to Fail" comes close), with guitarist Wolf Hoffman taking the helm on a long, mid-song solo excursion containing equal nods to Beethoven (very nice) and Edward Van Halen (get real). First single "Midnight Mover" is next, and along with the even more melodic "Screaming for a Love-Bite," it places obvious emphasis on hooks and melodies (and proved to be the toughest to stomach for the band's more hardcore fans). But despite another strange detour into jazz territory with the bizarre "Teach Us to Survive," Accept still packed amazing power, heaping on their Teutonic background vocals for the ultraheavy "Dogs on Leads" and gleefully pile-driving their way through relentless moshers like "Up to the Limit" and "Wrong Is Right." The brilliantly over-the-top "Too High to Get It Right" finds Dirkschneider screeching like never before, and to cap things off, the band really cooks on "Living for Tonight" – arguably the best track all around. A winning set.

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Accept - 3 CD Box (1995)

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By the time they reconvened to record 1986's Russian Roulette, creative differences were beginning to tear German metal stars Accept apart at the seams. While guitarist Wolf Hoffman wanted to continue pursuing the commercial metal formula first explored with the previous year's Metal Heart, vocalist Udo Dirkschneider defended a return to the harder-edged approach that had characterized the band's uncompromising breakout releases Restless and Wild and Balls to the Wall. Their fourth album in as many years, Russian Roulette also found the once-unstoppable quintet physically exhausted and creatively tapped out, and the inevitable result was a disappointing and unfocused album. Its first few songs (including the all-out thrash of "T.V. War" and the chugging riff and gang choruses of "Monster Man") are promising enough, but the more melodic experiments that follow ("It's Hard to Find a Way," the God-awful "Man Enough to Cry") sound terribly forced and contrived. At over seven minutes, the incredibly grim anti-religion diatribe "Heaven Is Hell" might have been an epic in the classic Accept tradition were it not such a shameless remake of their 1984 smash "Balls to the Wall." In fact, any tricks they forgot to repeat here are used instead in the similarly derivative title track – simply mind-boggling. The pounding intensity of "Aiming High" and the familiarly chugging riffery of "Another Second to Be" offer the disc's last real bright spots, and with unsatisfying filler like "Walking in the Shadow" and "Stand Tight" rounding out the set, Accept failed to win any new fans here, or retain many old ones either.

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