The debut album is not recalled by any of the band members with any great fondness. As has been discussed with other albums on recent episodes, debut albums are always a learning process both for the band and the people they entrust to produce them. Both are trying to discover the sound they want, and the debut albums of most bands always seem to have troubles along the way. In this instance, Udo always expressed disappointment in the result, but also in the way the band recorded the album., He felt that while the production could have been better, he felt that the songs and the way the band chose to record them also lacked the professionalism they required. Wolf has been more circumspect, saying that the songs they recorded for this album were just ones they had gathered along the path on their way to that point in time, and lacking the focus that being written at the same time with the same ideas would produce on albums down the track. In any event, the album was recorded, and the self-titled album hit the shelves in January 1978… to a resounding thud.
For later fans of the band’s music, yes, you bet this first album is different, but that is often the case when a band first finds its feet. One thing that is for certain here is that you can hear where some of their influences may have come from. There is no doubt a heavy background in their music from Scorpions and UFO, whom Michael Schenker was with at that time. Songs such as "Lady Lou" and "Glad to be Alone" are perfect examples of that here. Also, the ballad "Seawinds" and the harder song "Sounds of War" both reference that Scorpions underscore in particular. Being a German band, the influence of Scorpions should be obvious, given the fact that they were very much on the rise at this time. Both “Seawinds” of “Sounds of War” have the lead vocals performed by bass guitarist Peter Baltes, no doubt because to ask Udo to perform these would have created completely different songs. Or did he just not want to sing on them? I don't know the answer. “Seawinds” in particular as the power ballad here is less than appealing to my ear and is lacking almost all of the elements that could make a great power metal ballad.
Then you have an even rarer beast. In fact, whether they had heard them or not, the song "That's Rock n Roll" has a very familiar Van Halen sound to it. Uncannily so. Even the lyrics could have come straight from David Lee Roth's mouth. It is very off-putting and a bit eerie actually. A German Van Halen cover band? Is that one of the band’s possible career paths? On listening to this… no.
Udo's vocals throughout the album are not what he would become known for. In fact, the only parts of the album where you hear from him anything like the gruff vocal style he became known for is during the middle of "Take Him in My Heart" and at the very end of the album in "Helldriver". For the remainder of the album, they have a more… commercial… bent about them. It’s a very interesting exercise listening to this album and hearing the different style of lead vocals on the songs. No two seem alike, and whether or not this was a direction that was planned for at this time, or whether or not the more recognisable vocal style came in as a result of this album not performing particularly well, I don’t have the answer. What I do know is that it must have been easier to accept (no pun intended) this style if you came across the band at this stage, rather than at a point a couple of years later and beyond.
For reasons that have hopefully been adequately put forward in this episode, there has been an aversion to Accept's earliest work, mostly from those that came in late to Accept's sound, and find it hard to come to terms with the early material. Many cite the early 1980's as the peak of their sound, with Udo screaming on vocals and the guitars finding that heavier duelling sound. The youngsters of the 21st century may well be coming into the band’s new material with Mark Tornillo on vocals and a modern metal edge to the music. Perhaps, having actually found the band in either of these eras, and then going back to listen to those first couple of albums, they find that it is so different that they are incapable of enjoying it.
As it turns out, I was a latecomer to Accept as well. Sure, I knew “Balls to the Wall” as every headbanger from the 1980's did, but I didn't really come to any other Accept music until much later on. More's the pity, but sometimes there is so much music out there you just can't have it all. As it turns out, I too found the historical past of Accept after I had come to enjoy their other more prominent periods, and also faced the difference that makes up their sound on this first album.
Suffice to say, this is an album that has its challenges, and one that doesn’t hold up as well as others from other bands of the era. The comments made by both Udo and Wolf from the first segment of this podcast do come across as accurate. It is an album where there is not a lot of cohesion in the track list, and a difference in the songs that appears difficult to overcome. Given I didn’t listen to the band much until 30 years after this album was released, it didn’t have the relationship with my youth that my favourite albums generally do. I have had it on several times over the past week, and in the background it has been listenable enough. Putting on today at home without any distractions to get my true feelings on it, I have found that the limitations that it has have been far more noticeable.
So certainly “Accept” the album shows a band in development, taking their first steps into the recorded music world. While it won't cater to all tastes, as an album written and recorded in the late 1970's it shows some of the characteristics of that period. While I don't categorise it as one of my favourite albums, and indeed is probably my least favourite of the band’s catalogue, it is one I can put on and listen to without hating it. It just doesn’t have too much to really attract you to choosing it to listen to and investing the 36 minutes it requires to go from start to finish.
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