Udo Dirkschneider - vocals; Wolf Hoffman - guitar; Jorg Fisher - guitar; Peter Baltes - bass; Stefan Kaufmann - drums
This recording was made right after the release of Accept's fifth album, Balls to the Wall - seven years after vocalist Udo Dirkschneider formed his powerful German metal band in Cologne. Though the group had become a festival/arena headlining act in Europe, they were virtually unknown in the U.S., and this was their first American tour. Balls to the Wall was also their debut album in America, and was backed heavily by the SONY-owned imprint, Portrait Records.
The group had come under the supervising eye of Judas Priest, who used them first as an opening act in the U.K., and later to help conquer deeper parts of Europe. Accept, while never having a massive commercial breakthrough in the U.S., did garner raves from most of the metal writers of the day, and even came to be called "the best metal import from Germany since the Scorpions" by Kerrang! Magazine.
While singing, Dirkschneider's accent does sound a little heavy, but the band itself certainly knows how to rock with brutal, simple riffs. Six of the ten tracks featured here, including "London Leatherboys," "Turn Me On," "Fight it Back" and "Losers and Winners," are from the aforementioned, sexually charged Balls to the Wall record. The remaining tracks are from a combination of their earlier four discs.
While not quite as compelling as AC/DC or Priest, Accept will certainly make a worthy play for lovers of '80s metal music.