Accept
Staying A Life

THE REVIEW

The Accept, a German band founded in the mid-70s, have been one of the most important formations in the history of metal. They contributed fundamentally to phase 3 of Hard&Heavy, after the first embryonic phase with psychedelic rock, rock n' roll, and hard blues influences, including the harder Who and Kinks along with others like Steppenwolf, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, and Cream, and a second phase featuring the more robust and powerful Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Deep Purple. This leads us to the so-called New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, a British movement of bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon, Angel Witch, Tygers Of Pan Tang, the early Bruce Dickinson's Samson, and many others, including Udo's band which, although not English, effectively belongs to that movement and sound, which then in turn inspired Power, Thrash, Speed, etc.

In '79, they officially debuted with their first self-titled album, which was still raw and influenced by their fellow countrymen, Scorpions, as well as Judas and AC/DC (the latter were a real influence since one of the future classics of the band "I'm A Rebel" was actually written by the Young brothers in the Hamburg studio of their brother Alex and later "gifted" to the German group). Then, five more LPs would follow in as many years up to '85, the year they held a historic concert in Osaka, Japan. Those recordings were released in the EP "Kaizoku-Ban," which almost went unnoticed. It took another five years for those recordings to finally get justice and be fully released in this "Staying A Life". That was not an easy period for the band, which was facing temporary breakups, line-up changes, and mediocre albums. This release helped raise their profile in anticipation of the subsequent reunion with Udo.

A double that perhaps represents the pinnacle of Udo and his companions' discography, a live anthology of the band's greatest hits up to that moment (the greatest albums were indeed in those early years), the energy and live dimension represent the essence of all the greatest artists, and so it is for them too, boosted by Udo's charisma and very distinctive voice.

The beginning is explosive with the super classic "Metal Heart", followed by other self-commenting tracks: "Breaker," "Screaming For A Love Bite," "Up To The Limit," "Living For Tonight," "Princess Of The Dawn," "Neon Nights", and "Burning" are all well-known tracks whose quality is undisputable.

The second disk continues in the same vein as the first, packed with classic hits delivered with great energy and skill. Notably, the stunning "Restless And Wild," "Son Of A Bitch," "Flash Rockin' Man" (the riff shamelessly similar to Maiden's "2 Minutes Of Midnight," but the song is 2 years earlier!), the incredibly fast and amazing "Fast As A Shark," and the over-10-minute classic of classics "Balls To The Wall," while the unnecessary and cloying solo by Wolf can be ignored.

The Accept certainly deserved even more glory than they received. They were one of the most significant bands of the late 70s/early 80s metal wave that preceded the new revolution of "Kill Em All" and Company. Incidentally, I am now quite perplexed to read about a new reincarnation of the band without the diminutive founder and charismatic leader. Oh well, we can content ourselves with listening to them again in their finest form in this extraordinary testimonial. It's just a pity about the absence of the first two albums.

Recommended for all lovers of metal and rock in general.