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Rating: "Breaker" is a subtle barbed wire that threads through the ears of the desperate pin-up on the cover and exits the skull in the form of pain, a clear hammering, the same wire that wraps and lacerates the Flying Vs in the internal booklet, producing aching riffs that penetrate the flesh like poisoned darts that, however, do not kill: the beneficial poison of Mithridates without side effects.
Born in 1981, in the midst of the N.W.O.B.H.M., "Breaker" thus becomes Continental Europe's answer to the Anglo-Saxon heavy metal just at the time when the genre's protectors were fading: the Judas Priest with the well-born but little-sold "Point Of Entry" and the AC/DC's dull bestseller "For Those About The Rock." Accept remodel their sound starting with the tough "Thunder & Lightning," taken from "I'm A Rebel," by injecting speed and melody into an irreverent sound fabric. The musical maturation of the five men, compared to the previous full-length, is palpable, starting with Udo, whose wild and rustic voice indelibly marks almost all of the album's ten songs, as passionate as are the guitarists Fischer and Hoffmann, particularly the latter, capable of producing prodigious club riffs, as well as poignant solos, never redundant, without distortion at all costs, while the rhythm section is rowdier than ever, with drummer Kaufmann accelerating and playing double in the manner of Les Binks, former Judas Priest.
The opener "Starlight" is a blast of metal wind through the hair of the listener mesmerized by the new sound created by the Solingen quintet, compact and aggressive, in service of an accelerated rhythm, where singer Udo seems to be screaming towards the starry sky, with a moan that loses itself in the dark air. The title track has a riff to whistle in the shower, this time propelled by Kaufmann's double and the catchy refrain. So no watered-down Hard Rock, no A.O.R, no polished rock, but just a good burst of heavy energy that restarts with each song except for the two ballads, which are "Can't Stand The Night," similar to a soundtrack of an improbable film shot in Munich, where Udo's rough voice serves as a counterpoint to a hard and timid guitar, and the charming "Breaking Up Again" in which bassist Peter Baltes grafts his gentle and mournful voice between the notes of an arpeggio that smells of Dire Straits, without taking away from the album's tension: a tacit truce between the group's melodic vein and its fans still attached to the ballads of the '70s. The song is sad, similar to "Before The Dawn" by Judas Priest, but perhaps even more delicate. Also standing out are "Run If You Can" and "Midnight Highway," always hard-hitting and engaging but also easy to listen to, especially the second, both characterized by the quickly digestible, boisterous chorus. There's room for some faltering like the song "Burning," suspended between a live scenario (real or fake?) and party-like metallic rock.
"Son Of A Bitch" remains, however, the album's signature song, a timeless anthem (with an unabashedly candid lyric), that ensnares with its slow yet free of radio sappiness progression: initial screw-like riff that imprints itself in the mind, decisive drum beats, and roaring, defiant, sneering voice (Bon Scott blesses from the high heavens) that slides amidst the arena chorus and a mini classical music interlude. Accept are ready for the challenge with Judas Priest that will be fought with "Restless And Wild" with a motorized sound similar to "Screaming For Vengeance" (but with added rolls), even if all this happens without Jorg Fischer, who leaves, probably disappointed by the little space he managed to carve out (only rhythm and few solos). "Breaker" is Accept's early card, photographing them in perfect form but also able to improve further, capable of hard-nosed tracks as of melodic excursions, a peculiarity that will be seminal in the German scene dominated by the Scorpions.
Accept develop classic heavy metal without intensifying its violence, but rather by giving it that touch of melody that makes it appreciated even by an audience tied to old Hard Rock, as well as by the growing legions of thrashers who were about to set the law in extreme music, also influenced by the five metal minstrels from Germany.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Starlight (03:52)
Know the bright lights of Hollywood
Movietowns, a phony world
Seen a few nights of wonder,
Seen a few nights of hell
Walkin' down the foggy streets of London-town
Now I know it well
Ev'ry light in the world is nothing
To the light we know so well
Starlight, shining bright, starlight
Had a bit of life in high society
The slums have seen me, too
And the rich and poor would wonder,
At somethin' old and new
See it ev'ry night goin' slowly 'round
Can't you see it's true
Out there ev'ry man is equal
Way out there in the blue
Starlight, shining bright, starlight
Take it all the way all night long
Twinkle on, you stars
I feel my brain is blinded,
I wonder what you are
Starlight, shining bright, starlight
Starlight...
02 Breaker (03:35)
Rollin' just like thunder,
tryin' to get you down
Mistreatin' ev'rythin',
if you were king he'd take your crown
If you were adead man
he'd take ya from your grave
He will not mourn for you or me
Happines he cannot feel
and love to him is so unreal
He burns like hell, he wants you dead,
alltogether hate's all he feel
Movin' like a spider' killin' off a fly
No hands, just fists, no heart, just rocks
Icicle brains
Bicycle chains
Rulin' like a tyrant,
teasin' ev'ryone around
He drags his legs, he plants his feet,
he's botherin' the ground
Here and now this man
you see plans his terror free
He's born to rule, a king to be
Icicle brains
Bicycle chains
He's a breaker
He will take ya
Destroyin' all around you
He's a breaker
He's a taker
He'd kill, maim, destroy to the end
Movin' like a spider,
preyin' on the rest
Rulin' like a tyrant,
tyrannosaurus rex
You could be a dead man,
and you won't know why
No hands, just fists,
no heart, just rocks
Icicle brains
Bicycle chains
He's a breaker
He will take ya
Destroyin' all around you
He's a breaker
He's a taker
He'd kill, maim, destroy to the end
05 Son of a Bitch (03:53)
You make the stars
Illusions and dreams
You're what you are
D'you know what I mean
I hear you clear
See in your eyes
Lying to please
It pleases to lie
You say it's your way
You say we'll make it right to the top
Your bullshit gets me
What have you got
I don't believe
A word you say
You make me laugh
Get outta my way
You say it's your way
Now listen to what I think of you:
Son of a bitch Kiss my ass
Son of a bitch Son of a bitch You asshole Son of a bitch
Cock suckin' motherfucker I was right - take this
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh
Son of a bitch Kiss my ass
Son of a bitch, ...
Son of a bitch you asshole
Son of a bitch, ...
Cut you three times below the ass to short to shit
Two timing son of a dog
06 Burning (05:13)
I hear a rock'n'roll guitar,
screamin' wild on the radio
Well, I know what I like,
know and it's right
Gotta take me through the night
The sound is comin' out,
it's breakin' down the doors
like an earthquake
Explodin' your brains,
Do it again, power is a natural right
I say, hey Rock'n'Roller,
power in your hands
You and your music,
right on rockin' man
You gotta hear it for a while,
it bowls you over, like dreamin'
Oh, hell what a night,
keep a rockin' on night
Hey, boy can't you see the light
I say, hey Rock'n'Roller,
power in your hands
You and your music,
make me rockin' mad
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
I say, hey Rock'n'Roller,
power in your hands
You and your music,
make me rockin' mad
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
Burning, burning, a rock'n'roll desire
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
Burning, burning, a rock'n'roll desire
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
I say, hey Rock'n'Roller,
power in your hands
Hey, rock'n'roller,
right on rockin' man
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
Burning, burning, burning just like fire
07 Feelings (04:48)
You gotta be a strong man
And know what you want,
And fight ev'ryone in your way
You're the one who sweats
And what do you get
When someone else picks up your pay
Hey, when you're fightin' a wolf,
it's a fight to the end with a pack
You work all day long,
You're stuck to the phone
Burn up a hundred cigarettes
The yes - men you know
They tell you no go
And dissatisfaction's all you get
Oh, when you're needing a queen
ev'ry card that you get is a jack
Accept what we do
This message to you
Is rock forever and ever
We've still got the feel
The music is real
And we'll rock'n'roll forever, forever
You gotta be strong
We'll rock'n'roll
Forever
No sword and no knife
Can help you survive
Survival is a busines head
A good deal you need
Or you're lost in their greed
You're rotten, helpless, dead
Hey, when you're fightin' a wolf,
it's a fight to the end with a pack
Accept what we do
This message to you
Is rock forever and ever
We've still got the feel
The music is real
And we'll rock'n'roll forever, forever
Accept what we do
This message to you
Is rock forever and ever
We've still got the feel
The music is real
And we'll rock'n'roll forever
08 Midnight Highway (03:58)
Out I started, late tonight
Blinded by the light
Strangest feelin' I have known
Don't know what's wrong or right
See the people, clubs and bars
Streetlife passin' by, yeah
Screamin' engine, burnin' gas
I'm on overdrive
Danger, danger, save your soul
The finger's writin' on the wall
Where you are the angels are blind
Midnight, and I cruise along the highway
Midnight, and I'm all right on the highway
Midnight, and I cruise along the highway
Midnight, on a never ending highway
Midnight sky is bright and clear
New moon on the right
All at once, risin' haze
The freeway is my life
I'm on a high, spacin' out
Where I'm goin' I don't care
Can't you see, this is me
An indestructible boy
Danger, danger, save your soul
The finger's writin' on the wall
Where you are the angels are blind
Midnight, and I cruise along the highway
Midnight, and I'm all right on the highway
I'm all right
Midnight, and I cruise along the highway
Midnight, and I'm all right on the highway
Midnight, and I cruise along the highway
Midnight, on a never ending highway
09 Breaking Up Again (04:37)
Wakin' up on monday morning
Sunday'd been and gone
Reachin' out for you
But i was alone
Now i sit at the breakfast table
Table's set for two
Been the same thing ev'ry mornin'
Silly things i do
Ooh, don't know what to do about you
I'll never give the way you gave
Ooh, now should i try to find you
Keep playin' ev'ry song you played me
Feel like breakin' up again
It's a thing i gotta live with
Take it on my own
I'm waitin' till it's over
Then again i never know
If i'd only seen you goin'
Walkin' out the door
But i had no way of knowin'
Can't take it no more
Ooh, don't know what to do about you
I'll never give the way you gave
Ooh, now should i try to find you
Keep playin' ev'ry song you played me
Feel like breakin' up again
10 Down and Out (03:43)
Hey, here I am, I'm feelin' good
Takin' a ride on a hot summer night
'cause on a long, hot, hot summer night
Just don't know why I know what I am
So let'em keep on runnin'
So let'em keep on chasin' me
Yes, here I am, all heavy legged
Been dancin' on, on a hot summer night
Call me a scrounger, a degenerate bum
Every day hear it over again
So let'em keep on runnin'
But let'em keep on chasin' me
You are down and out
When you're just being your self
We ain't down and out
Man take a look at yourself
See a summernight sky,
I feel like runnin'
I feel like livin' the way I do
That's who I am,
what I'm doin's right, it ain't wrong
I'm livin' this way, if livin' is true
So let'em keep on runnin'
But let'em keep on chasin' me
You are down and out
When you're just being your self
We ain't down and out
Man take a look at yourself
You're always sayin',
I'm sleepin' all day
A day's too long to sleep it away
You gotta think it over, over again
My eyes may be closed
but I'm livin' within
Let'em keep on runnin'
For let'em keep on chasin' me
You are down and out
When you're just being your self
We ain't down and out
Man take a look at yourself
You are down and out
When you're just being your self
We ain't down and out
Man take a look at yourself
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