Ok, my crazy metalhead friends, let’s dissect the discography of one of the greatest known bands in the history of the known universe: the ballsy, metal-hearted giants Accept. Combining the heavy metal beats with the characteristic classical vein of its creator and boss Wolf Hoffmann, not forgetting about the sexy and full-hearted bass sound of the co-creator and owner of the world’s best-known curly-locks, Peter Baltes, the Germans are respected and beloved around the globe and we get more surprised every day with their vigor and love to play music. Obviously, I don’t have to keep talking about the origins and history of these old-geezers here because everyone already knows them, so let’s get right to it and revisit the winning career of the eternal rebels and masters of Teutonic Metal, ’cause we are Restless and Wild!
1 – ‘Restless and Wild’ (1982)
The record begins with “Fast as a Shark” and ends with “Princess of the Dawn”, does that sound good enough for you? I’ll leave the tracklist down here for you to evaluate why ‘Restless and Wild’ is the best album in Accept’s rich history. If you have questions, read the tracklist again. This, my friend, is what we call a perfect album.
01 – “Fast as a Shark”
02 – “Restless and Wild”
03 – “Ahead of the Pack”
04 – “Shake Your Heads”
05 – “Neon Nights”
06 – “Get Ready”
07 – “Demon’s Night”
08 – “Flash Rockin’ Man”
09 – “Don’t Go Stealing My Soul Away”
10 – “Princess of the Dawn”
2 – ‘Balls to the Wall’ (1984)
Perhaps one of the most iconic albums of all time, ‘Balls to the Wall’ has all the ingredients needed to form a classic: unique feeling, true heavy metal anthems in the title track, “London Leatherboys”, “Head Over Heels”, “Turn Me On” and “Winter Dreams”, a brilliant amount of attitude overflowing from all members and, most importantly, lots of fun parts. A true heavy metal jewel and a record respected by all, as it should be.
3 – ‘Metal Heart’ (1985)
‘Metal Heart’ needs no introduction from me, as it illustrates what every headbanger feels: the pride of living by the metal, of feeling free. From the first chords of the title-track to the catchy and addictive atmosphere flowing through the course of the album, all while being loyal to the band’s roots, this deserves a spot in every music collector out there. An almost perfect album and definitely one of the best works of the 1980’s.
4 – ‘Blood of the Nations’ (2010)
Noses were turn, eyebrows were lifted and question marks hovered in the air and in the heads of all the fans with yet another Accept return, now without their longtime frontman and most charismatic member. And then comes the first chords of “Beat the Bastards” as a message to the skeptical bastards who were expecting a half-baked album. Instead, Mark Tornillo’s crispy vocals and a spark of inspiration from Wolf and Baltes made ‘Blood of the Nations’ one of the biggest returns of a band in the history of music.
5 – ‘Breaker’ (1981)
It would be highly unjust of me not to put ‘Breaker’ in the top 5 spot of this rank. “Starlight”, “Breaker”, “Son of a Bitch”, “Midnight Highway”…there are too many classic tunes here, and alongside the fact that it was the beginning of Accept’s creative and performance peak, which would last almost a decade, makes this album absolutely mandatory for every metal fan.
6 – ‘Russian Roulette’ (1986)
‘Russian Roulette’ is one of my favorite Accept albums and it was very difficult for me not to put it in a more prominent position in the ranking, but the stellar efforts above didn’t let me use the fanboy card. “Monster Man”, “TV War”, “Heaven Is Hell” and others make it a very strong work. I also give the made-up award of best cover by an Accept album, as an almost dwarf-like Udo has to practically stand up to stay in the same height as his comrades. Priceless.
7 – ‘Stalingrad: Brothers in Death’ (2012)
A blistering and explosive sequence to a magnificent album. “Hung, Drawn and Quartered” delivers the ear-bleeding experience that is to come, and masterful songs like “Shadow Soldiers” and “Revolution” show that Wolf and company were not kidding around and would continue to gift us with high quality sound for a long time.
8 – ‘Blind Rage’ (2014)
The most recent album of the German masters (until the publication of this ranking, that is – we have a new one coming this year), ‘Blind Rage’ continues the new era with Mark Tornillo, in a competent and fun way. It doesn’t, however, have songs as striking as its predecessors and has is a little weak in the replay factor. To sum it up, it’s a mix of his two older brothers, but just falls short on being as awesome as them in terms of quality; nevertheless, it’s a good effort.
9 – ‘Objection Overruled’ (1993)
‘Objection Overruled’ is like a mix of classic Accept and what we would see later on in ‘Deathrow’. Combining weight, feeling and a sense of reinvigoration, the album was acclaimed by fans and critics at the time as a (almost) perfect return from a heavy metal legend. Cool stuff here.
10 – ‘Deathrow’ (1994)
Many people call ‘Deathrow’ the Accept’s ‘Painkiller’, which makes perfect sense if we look at it from the weight and speed perspective. What we have here is an orgy of pounding and crunchy riffs and some pretty cool badass attitude, all while Udo is singing better than ever; the guitar lines of Wolf are heavier and the kitchen comprised of Baltes and Stefan Kaufmann is impeccable, but I know what you’re thinking and I agree with you: nothing can really be compared to ‘Painkiller’.
11 – ‘I’m a Rebel’ (1980)
More experienced and rounded, the boys greatly improved the musical level seen in Accept’s debut with this very fun effort, but still played in the form of proto-heavy metal. Some slips here and there and a below-average production (even for that era) make ‘I’m a Rebel’ feature in an uncomfortable position in the ranking.
12 – ‘Predator’ (1996)
‘Predator’ is the last album before Accept’s second hiatus and last one to feature the metal gremlin Udo Dirkschneider. Clearly fatigued and with several relationship problems, the members seemed to play by simple obligation and actually didn’t give decent amounts of security and feeling to the songs. There are, however, good tracks, like “Hard Attack”, “It Ain’t Over Yet” and “Crucified”.
13 – ‘Eat the Heat’ (1989)
Here it is: the infamous and derisive ‘Eat the Heat’. In a clear attempt to embrace the mainstream US market, Wolf and his fellas recruited David Reece and set off for the hard rock road, almost completely abandoning heavy metal. The product of this daydream? Well, a not too pleasant experience.
14 – ‘Accept’ (1979)
The beginning of Accept’s glorious and stellar career was not so glorious. ‘Accept’ is an extremely raw album and shows a high immaturity level of Wolf, Baltes, Udo and company. Of course, we have good tracks here like “Seawinds” and “Street Fighter”, but the record just can’t hold a high position in such a monstrous discography, making it the weakest of a rich and fulfilling career.
Wrong. Gay.