969. Twisted Sister / Under the Blade. 1982. 3.5/5

I was never really sure what all the commotion was about when, after the success of Twisted Sister’s third album Stay Hungry, there was a rush to re-release and go back in time with this, the debut album Under the Blade. Having said that, I had probably not heard this myself at the time, and was much more enamoured with You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll and felt it deserved a better audience. Still, in revisiting this album now, some 35 years after its release, there was probably more to it than I thought then.

While the sound is probably dated in this day and age, the basics of the band, and for the most parts of the album the songs themselves, are all in order and still make all of the right moves. The raw energy of songs such as “Tear it Loose”, whose song current flows along like a torrent while mixing in the duelling solos with Dee’s fighting vocals.
The opening track, “What You Don’t Know (Sure Can Hurt You), starts off strangely and stagnantly, before finally getting into gear about halfway through and delivering a much more emphatic ending to the song. I laugh a little bit when Dee sings “We’re the Bad Boys (Of Rock ‘N’ Roll)”, because, well…it doesn’t SOUND bad! It sounds tame given the punk era that has just passed and the thrash metal era that is growing around them in 1982. But, it’s a catchy tune and vocal gathering which of course makes it fun, if not dangerous.
“Run For Your Life” drags its feet a little, slowing the tempo right down to almost nothing before busting out to a more enjoyable style – reminiscent of another song a couple of albums down the track. This jumps straight into “Sin After Sin”, which faithfully reproduces a similar riff progression and vocally melody line, which easily flows into “Shoot ‘Em Down”, another straight up hard rock anthem led by Dee’s vocals, which do seem somewhat strangely a tad in the background of the mix.
“Destroyer” goes back into the box of the slow moving hard riff sludging chant fest, the kind of song that needs to be a good one or else it can induce boredom. For me here it is more the boredom inducing variety. “Under the Blade” and “Tear it Loose” both redeem this, moving along at a gloriously fun pace, with “Teat it Loose” in particular giving the teenager in all of us some fun lyrics to sing along to.
“Day of the Rocker” is the final track on the album, and is one where it feels as though the wrong move was made. Following all of the energy and hard work put into earlier tracks, to decide on this as the song to finish on, a plodding AC/DC inspired soundtrack without the drive and desire of that bands’ music, makes this an unfortunate finale to what is a pretty enjoyable album.

As I probably made clear earlier, better albums were to come after this. As a starting point it is more than worthy of your attention, because it shows what a lot of hard work in cracking the market can produce. The fact that they found their niche in the 1980’s is not surprising and this starting point has all of the characteristics you will recognise.

Rating:   “I’m gonna live my dream, shout and scream!”  3.5/5

968. Queen / Live Killers. 1979. 5/5

Queen’s growing success over the 1970’s decade came on the back of critically accalimed albums, mega successful singles that proliferated radio stations all over the world, and their amazing stage presence on their live tours. Each of these elements would grab different sections of the listening public, and then draw them in to the other aspects of the band, creating a total fan base.
Having released seven studio albums in quick succession (all came in the space of just five years between 1973 and 1978), each followed by largest and further reaching tours, the one thing the band lacked at this point of their career was a live album, to showcase to their fans who were unable to see them in concert just how they sounded and performed on stage. As a result, a number of concerts on their European tour to promote the “Jazz” album were recorded with this in mind throughout February 1979. The resulting recordings were then put through the ringer, choosing the best version of each song to put on the album. The band and their label decided to release “Live Killers” as a double LP, but even so time restrictions meant that they would not only have to leave some songs off the album, but also change the order of some of the songs from the set list in order that they would fit better onto the double vinyl. In interviews the following year, when promoting what would be their follow up album “The Game”, the band commented that they were unhappy with the production of the album, a role that they had taken on themselves in their new studio in Montreux.
From my own perspective, I have often wondered if they could have just released an album that concentrated on just one performance, and left it in the set list order. There were obviously reason why this didn’t happen, and often didn’t happen with live albums from many bands in the 1970’s. As to the quality of the production, to me it has never been in question.

To be fair, Queen chose a pretty awesome time to record a live album, as the set list that they played on this tour was second to none. Certainly, the absence of any material from their first two albums is perhaps an oversight, but by this stage of their career, with so many successful singles and songs that were fan favourites, and seven albums worth of material to choose from, making set lists was never going to be an easy thing. Would I like to have had songs from that era represented? Absolutely. But choosing songs to leave out would have been the hard part. And the fact that a song like “Somebody to Love”, which was the third song played on most nights of this tour, was left off the album, is incredible to believe. So yes. Choices to be made. So, let’s just be thankful for the songs and album that we have here to enjoy.
One of the great parts about this album and set is that “We Will Rock You” is represented twice. Firstly, as the opening track, with the so-called ‘Fast Version’ leading the band out of the pack. I have always loved this version of the song. Sure, it moves away from the ‘crowd participation’ song that it is heralded as being written as by Brian May, but it’s a great hard rock song, opening the album with a great fury. Later in the set and album, the more recognisable version is played in its usual form, and place, prior to the song it is always paired with, “We Are the Champions”. But the fiery open to the album (due to the deletion of “Somebody to Love” and “Fat Bottomed Girls” from the album) is then continued with a blazing version of “Let Me Entertain You”, where Brian attacks ferociously on guitar again and Freddie getting the crowd up and moving from the outset. The triumvirate of great tracks then concludes with a rousing version of Freddie’s anger-fest “Death on Two Legs” which is always such a perfectly conducted track, and the live version ere is just as wonderful. The easy segue of the piano chord straight into “Killer Queen” is performed seamlessly and beautifully, the change of mood carried through without any loss of momentum. This continues as the song then moves into “Bicycle Race” and then “I’m in Love with My Car”, all without skipping a beat, and all interconnected as though they all belong together. It’s a great streak of music, and still wonderful to experience.
“Get Down, Make Love” is a good live version of this song, and is followed by the perennially popular and beautiful John Deacon track “You’re My Best Friend”. Side two of the first LP kicks off with a sensational extended version of “Now I’m Here” with Freddie creating some crowd participation in the middle of the track. I love this song, and especially this version. This is followed by the acoustic session, with “Dreamer’s Ball”, Freddie’s amazing “Love of My Life” with more crowd singing, and Brian’s still beautiful “39”, while the first album concludes with the effervescent “Keep Yourself Alive”, the lone representative of those first two Queen albums.
Into the second LP, and it is a cacophony of hard rock hits, rolling in one after the other. It opens with a rousing version of “Don’t Stop Me Now”, backed up by a soaring rendition of Deacon’s “Spread Your Wings” with further help from the crowd in attendance. One of the best songs on the album in the extended 13 minute version of May’s “Brighton Rock” where he extended and amplifies his solo section through the middle of the song. Brian showcases all his skills throughout, and it is a joy to listen to every time.
Onto side 2, and the final two songs of the show, the crowd favourite “Bohemian Rhapsody” followed by the hard rock favourite again with “Tie Your Mother Down”. Both are as terrific as they always are. The Short break is followed by the encore, which is pretty difficult to top. Another hard rock ripper from Roger Taylor with his “Sheer Heart Attack”, leads into the songs where the crowd comes into the show fully, with “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”, performed to perfection to complete the show and album, with an overture of “God Save the Queen”.

Queen is a band that I knew I loved from the first instant I heard their songs on the radio, musically and vocally. There is always something magical about their songs, and the wide range of song styles that they are able to compose and yet still be Queen. It’s what sent me down the track with 1984’s “The Works” and then everything that came before it and also what followed.
My first experience with this album was the “Queen Live” single album that was released in Australia in 1985, which was a chopped-up hybrid of this album that was released to coincide with Queen’s tour of Australia in early 1985. Though I did not get to see them on this tour, which turned out to be their last of Australia, I got the album for Xmas that year and loved it. Then the following year, on a school trip to Sydney to see the play Barefoot in the Park, a friend had his tape player and was playing what I thought was the “Queen Live” album, but I began to hear songs that I didn’t know at all, and versions of others I’d never heard. I was eventually informed that what I was listening to was in fact called “Live Killers”, the full double album to the single hybrid version that I owned. Good knowledge to have. I didn’t end up getting my own copy until I got my first stereo with a CD player which was in 1990, and I bought this on double CD around that time. And it was immediately so much better than the version I still owned. And for me, no other Queen live release has been close to it. In recent years they have issued other live recordings, which have been great, but this honestly still takes the cake. The songs, and the way they are performed, is magnificent. The band may have been disappointed in the production, but I think it portrays how the band sounded live, not with absolute precision recording of their instruments, but in how they were. The extra loud crashes of the cymbals to me exemplifies how good this is, while some so called experts feel it harms the audio. Rubbish. It makes it a live album. All four members sound great and can be heard in the mix. It is a triumph. If you haven’t heard this, make sure you do. It is more than worth it.

967. Accept / Russian Roulette. 1986. 3/5

Just a few episodes ago I reviewed Accept’s third album “Breaker” (episode 203 for those that have not and would like to check it out), and during that review I suggested that it was the album that first truly saw the creation of the sound that Accept would go on to make their own, to indeed become the basis of Accept and their music. And from that album the band had recorded and release three further albums in less than five years, each a further statement and progression in that quest. And each, in its own way, influential in its own right. And each proving to be more popular amongst the fan base as it also increased with each new album. “Restless and Wild” was released in 1982, whose opening track “Fast as a Shark” has been credited as one of the leading influences into the burgeoning speed and thrash metal genres. Then came “Balls to the Wall” in 1983, with its three anthemic tracks that found a place in the developing heavy metal scene that was also finding a place in the MTV music video halls as well. Having produced those two albums themselves, the band had managed to find the sound that worked for them and propagated it into a functioning lifeform.
Then came “Metal Heart”, with Scorpions producer Dieter Dierks coming on board to produce and oversee the album, one you can hear all about on episode 23 of this podcast. It’s cleaner, more polished sound offered the band the opportunity to break into the US market in a similar way that Scorpions had done, though in the long run “Metal Heart” did less well than the ‘ballsier’ (pun motivating intended) “Balls to the Wall” album.
When it came to recording the follow up album, Dierks was not invited back, and the band once again took over the producing duties themselves. This also seemed to be on the back of a decision to go back to the sound the band had found on the album prior to that last release. Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann in an interview was quoted as saying: "Maybe we were trying sort of go back to our natural and not polished Accept sound with that record. We weren't really all that happy with the polished and clean-sounding “Metal Heart”. I was sort of very happy with my guitar playing on that record and very happy with my parts, but I remember the whole vibe of the band was at the time that we don't want to go through this again with Dieter Dierks who had produced Metal Heart."
Despite the slightly changed output, the band was riding high in almost every aspect as a band, and there was no reason that this wouldn’t continue with their seventh studio album on which they rolled the dice with “Russian Roulette”.

With the return of full control of the album’s output firmly back in the band’s hands, there is a slightly darker tone in the lyrics and perhaps even musically on this album, one that tends to move beyond the direction “Metal Heart” had been heading. “TV War” opens up in a speed that is reminiscent of “Fast as a Shark” from the “Restless and Wild” album. It jumps out of the blocks with a great frantic riff and is blistering in its speed and attack on its subject matter as well, cynically commenting on the way TV covers a war zone as though there is no direct effect on those watching form home. In many, in the current climate, it is still very accurate. The double kick from Stefan Kaufmann and machine gun bass work from Peter Baltes creates the perfect rhythm for the guitars to rifle over the top, and Udo is in fine form from the outset. A great opening to the album. This carries on into the mid-temp stomper in “Monsterman”, which again kicks off with a fantastic riff that becomes the solid basis of the track. It hooks you in from the start, dragging you in to kick along and sing along with Udo as well. It’s a heavier track drawn solely by the ripping solid rhythmic riff and hard beating drum beat, and allows Wolf Hoffman in particular to journey between melodic guitar and menacing riffing. Udo has a ball almost sneering through his vocal delivery, all of which brings a wonderful moody heavy break to the song.
The title track “Russian Roulette” harks back to the “Balls to the Wall” era of the band in the way it starts off softer both musically and vocally until it builds up into the pre-chorus and then hits you with the very AC/DC-like chorus that mirrors their rhythm style and vocally the chanting of the chorus with Udo and their backing chorus. What is most noticeable about this track is the growing maturity of the band compared to those albums mentioned already here, of what is considered the band’s first golden age. Because this draws on the free spirit and enthusiasm of that time, but brings more depth to the music here, as well as the vocal expression of the track. It takes the lyrics which drip with the band’s anti-war message, and hammer it home with a thick heavy rhythm sound and yet singable almost-anthemic like lyrics into the during the chorus. It drives home the message, and makes for an entertaining song as well.
OK. So I guess we then need to discuss the next track, “It’s Hard to Find a Way”, Accept once again dipping their toe into ballad territory. The couple of differences here though perhaps allow it some grace. Firstly, Udo does sing it, unlike the ballads of the earlier albums where Peter Baltes used to sing them. Secondly, this has a grittier tone, obviously through Udo’s vocals but also musically as well. Wolf’s, guitar solo does offer the usual melodic feel of these types of tracks, before breaking out into a harder finish once the band returns for the final chorus into the conclusion of the song. So yes, it does have ballad tendencies without digressing all the way into the mire. This is followed by “Aiming High” which brings the album back to the way it started, with a return to the peed and intensity that provides some of the best moments from Accept. The fast and driving rhythm again sets the scene, and while the lyrics generally critique ambition and power in their own way, the music runs and draws on pure adrenaline. This is topped off by Wolf’s iconic solo guitar break where he lets go and frees up his arms to create a cracking interlude. It is a fabulous way to close out the A side of the album.
“Heaven is Hell” opens the B side with as direct and pointed a lyrical scope can be when it comes to speaking about religion and its ‘side effects’. Musically it again channels as a more mature style of the sound that came from the earlier albums, tempo-wise it sticks well and truly to the middle ground and even on the maudlin side, lyrically it leaves you in no doubt about where the its heart lies. At over seven minutes it is one of the band’s longest songs, with its shifting moods and rising and falling tempo changes offering the listener a true think piece lyrically and musically. “Another Second to Be” jumps back into the urgent punchy track that Accept do seem to be at their best at, a more typically resonant heavy metal song that pushes along and may be straight forward in output but also thoroughly enjoyable and fist pumping in the same instant. “Walking in the Shadow” drops back an instant in tempo to follow this, once again offering the deliberate hard riffing and anthemic chant in the chorus that mixes between styles again. The typical standard Accept track of the era is where this song treads again, with more moody guitaring and vocals that draw the best from the band.
“Man Enough to Cry” once again draws on the undeniable influence AC/DC has had on Accept’s music, the solid punching rhythm here accentuated by the hard riffing guitars and the backing chant vocals in the chorus to support Udo. It’s a bouncy soundtrack that still incorporates that wonderful guitar tone from Hoffmann and Fischer, combining beautifully to alter the mood just enough during the solo break to give the song a shift in sonics. The album is then brought to its conclusion with “Stand Tight”, another song that channels musically “Balls to the Wall”, as much of the album does – but with more defiance and energy and focused brooding mood than that album has. It showcases a band that continues to make steps forward in its musical journey.

Having only recently reviewed another Accept album, as explained earlier in this episode, regular listeners would be aware of my journey into discovering the band Accept and their albums. Though I had tasted their wares during the years, it wasn’t really until the released of their 2010 comeback album “Blood of the Nations”, and having enjoyed it thoroughly, that I seriously went back and began to listen to their back catalogue.
When it came to “Russian Roulette”, that came at the end of a long deep dive into the six albums that preceded it in the discography. In a simplified way, each album I listened to in order, I enjoyed more, and so I guessed that by the time I reached “Russian Roulette”, that may well have been accepted as going to happen again. But what I found when I did begin to listen to this album was perhaps a little more than that. At that time, almost 20 years ago now, I thought that it was just because the sound on the album was slightly different again from their previous four albums, just enough to keep it interesting for the listener, and that this was what made it enjoyable for me to listen to.
Over the last week or so, I have discovered what I believe is the real reason I enjoy this album so much. Because in listening to it in isolation, having just recently spent another couple of weeks listening to the “Breaker” album for that recent episode of this podcast, I’ve found what draws me to it. It is the way the songs all have a comfortable, familiar feel to their structure – that they have drawn inspiration from the great performances of those three earlier albums. But they haven’t copied them here to create new songs, they have improved on those sounds, they have modernised and matured the sonics of those tracks, and brought them to this album. I have mentioned a few times on this review how songs or parts of songs have a familiar sound about them that remind me of earlier tracks or albums, and yet are fuller or bigger or expanded for the time the album was released. So there is a lot to draw in. The Accept sound on the album has progressed, as you would hope it would rather than just having the same dynamic as every other album they release, but it still reminds you of WHY they are Accept and what drew you to them in the first place. That’s what attracts me to this album in particular. It sounds like Accept, but just to a replica of any Accept album.
What is hard to conclude is that this album saw the band go on a hiatus, at a time that it felt like they were on an upward trend. Important members left, all of which left plenty of questions marks about the future of the band going forward. That story is for another day, but it still feels somewhat disappointing that this lineup of the band did not produce a follow up, given the excellence that is found here.

966. Accept / Restless and Wild. 1982. 4/5

Through the course of Accept’s first three albums, there had been flashes of inspiration, songs or even just moments in songs where you could feel the real sound of the band trying to escape into the open. On Breaker those came through almost fully formed, only to have other moments that made you forget that. From the opening moments on Restless and Wild however, you know that the moment has arrived, and so had Accept.

The joy that exudes from the opening track is magnificent. “Fast as a Shark” is vindication for the evolution of their sound, to come up with this track which blitzes along with drums and guitars while Udo chants his vocals, reaching the crescendo in the chorus. Though some ‘historians’ have described this as the first speed metal track, I tend to think of it as the first song of Accept’s Golden Age, announcing the arrival of a faster, heavier, more dominant band. This is followed up by the title track “Restless and Wild” which continues in this direction, and also features Udo moving between his low spoken and high screeching vocals for one of the first times with such conviction. Both of these tracks are a great opening to the album. “Ahead of the Pack” plays along in this style as well, while “Shake Your Heads” is more of a traditional tempo song with the anthem chorus in-built for crowds to sing along to.
The middle section of the album brings things back to a different mood, a much slower tempo and different feeling to the album. “Neon Nights” almost has a Rainbow pacing and sound to it, mixing as it does in the soloing. “Get Ready” is a straight forward hard rock outing with basic rhythm backing along with that lyrical output that encourages the crowd singalong again. “Demon’s Night” sludges into action and driven by Udo’s vocals it moves up and down in tempo throughout but also gathering momentum as it progresses.
“Flash Rockin’ Man” begins the final stanza of the album in style, with energy and guitar riffs that pick up the pace in satisfying style. “Don’t Go Stealing My Heart Away” again has similarities to AC/DC in both style and substance, but is entertaining and enjoyable in its own way. The closer “Princess of the Dawn” goes to another extreme from the speed of the opening track, settling itself into a constant mid-range tempo driven by the rhythm of the guitar, bass and drums, and allowing the song to play out over the top of this, with the lead breaks, keys and Udo’s chanting leading the way. I was surprised that I enjoyed this track so much, even the abrupt ending of the song where it just cuts off in mid stroke rather than the traditional fade out.

Unlike the previous album, that was brought down by three songs that just didn’t fit in with the mold that Accept was trying to break, Restless and Wild contains none of those filler tracks. Everything here works in its environment, mixing faster and medium paced tracks without compromising the whole. The musicianship is second to none, and the overall package is a winner. This is still an album that can be put on and enjoyed at any time, which to me is always the best indicator.

Rating:  “Fast as a shark he'll cut out of the dark, he's a killer, he'll rip out your heart”.  4/5

965. Accept / Breaker. 1981. 3/5

As a German heavy band at the end of the 1970’s decade and moving into the 1980’s, Accept had its work cut out for it. From the very beginning they had a very AC/DC type output to their music, and the influences they were trying to adapt to in order to create their own sound were not easy to carry forth. With the debut album, the self-titled “Accept”, this was especially the case, with no real aggression or huge energy in the tracks themselves. There were the two requisite power ballads thrown in hoping that they would attract an audience, all of which mostly was a lost cause. The follow up album “I’m a Rebel” saw the band pushed down a different path, one where the record company hoped to find a more commercial sound. This may have worked a treat, if the band had not been encouraged to record a number of different genre tracks on the same album, and then not have the album released until more than six months after the album had been completed, and then, thrown into a marketplace that was overcrowded by some of the finest albus of the era being released at the same time by Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Iron maiden, just to mention a few. It led to the album sinking under the weight it was trying to carry, without a permanent structure of the band finding their own sound and style, rather than trying to conform to what others believed they should be doing.
In interviews with the band both at the time of this album’s release, and in the time since then, this is the point where Accept decided to make the music they wanted to without an outside influence trying to coerce their decision making. Lead vocalist Udo Dirkschneider was quoted as saying “Following our experiences with “I’m a Rebel” we made it our goal not to be influenced musically by anyone outside of the band this time”, while guitarist Wolf Hoffmann said "Maybe we knew that the old approach from the record before didn't work very well. So we were saying 'fuck it, let's just do what we think is right. Let's not try to be somebody else, let's not try to have a radio hit anymore.'"
With producer Dirk Steffins returning to provide the same service again, the album was recorded during December and January, and this time released in quick time, finding its way onto the shelves in March 1981, and looking to be the album that truly break the band, with the suitable title of “Breaker”.

There is little doubt when you first listen to the album, that the direction of the music from the band has gone up a notch in speed and aggression, offering a point in difference from what had come on the first two albums. and yet there is enough in the music on a few of the tracks that harks to the past and suggests that there were still a few tendrils grasping onto the structures that hold them to that previous period.
The album kicks off on a great note with “Starlight”, zooming in with a terrific opening riff as the entry point to Udo’s vocals, that immediately reach new heights from the outset. It does offer a new platform for the band from the opening two minutes, a harder and heavier sound with good momentum through the track that differentiates from previous albums. It is Accept for the new decade, with the basics of the band elevated to create that. This is followed by the excellently faster paced title track “Breaker”, which continues the reimagining of the band’s direction. Charging along with pace an attitude, driven by Wolf Hoffman and Jörg Fischer’s guitars here that give an early insight to a future sound of Helloween’s guitar sound. Udo’s vocals are pumped with anthemic qualities that drive the best Accept songs. It is a terrific song with excellent bass riffing from Peter Baltes and his rhythmic parter on drums Stefan Kaufmann, and a winning formula to start the album. “Run If You Can” expands on this again, combining another great opening guitar riff with a catchy chorus sung energetically by Udo, and another solid bass line from Baltes that tightens everything together nicely. The duelling solos also show a touch of Judas Priest about them. Another terrific song.
“Can’t Stand the Night” moves away from the excellent tempo driven aspects of the opening of the album, reigning back in the harder and faster side to fall back to what tends to try and be a hard rock ballad, drawing on aspects of a previous version of the band and its earliest tracks. Udo stretches his vocals upward to match the style of track being composed here, though to his credit he tries to retain credibility in the framework of the song by adding some of his grittier vocals to keep it above the lower end of the scale of these songs. It is the longest song on the album which also doesn’t help matters. It is also then dominated by the following track which closes off the first side of the album, “Son of a Bitch”. This is a classic Accept track, if only for young kids who want to release some pent up anger. The expletive-laced vocals, according to all reports, were written to be spewing their venom at record companies in particular, and they make for easy repetition after a few beers and this turned up loud. Probably not as effective at age 56 as it was at age 16, but still enjoyable in the right company. It gives an aggressive and fist pumping conclusion to side A of the album.
“Burning” jumps straight out of the blocks with a very AC/DC-like fast paced guitar and drums, evoking images of Bon Scott and Angus Young performing it. And that is not meant in any way to be derogatory to either band, because even though the similarities are obvious, it is still a great track, with Udo out the front urging on the crowd with terrific anthemic vocals again and great guitars and rhythm. Yeah, this could be an AC/DC song, but Accept has always had that kind of sound in admiration of the band anyway, so they may as well take advantage of it and make the most of it. On “Burning”, they do exactly that. “Feelings” drops back a notch with a mid-speed tempo but a heavier riff which settles nicely into the groove produced by Baltes bass and Kaufmann’s drumbeat, and is driven along by Udo’s vocal power in verse and chorus. Once again, the image of the frontman out there pumping his fist upwards and outwards as he sings is undeniable while listening to the song. It is another excellent track.
“Midnight Highway” is the second change up the band throws at us here on this album. It moves back to a very 1970’s commercial rock tone which is immediately noticeable in the guitar sound, and then the bridge being sung by Peter Baltes, changing the tone of the song completely. It isn’t terrible, it isn’t even average. But it is very noticeably different from everything that has come before it on the album. It sounds like it should be on the soundtrack of a 1990’s teenage coming-of-age movie, one that dives back into those old 1970’s styled songs to get its point across. It is up vibe and energetic enough, but it has changed style.
But then... the crash arrives. A big 32 car pile-up on an icy motorway where everything gets destroyed. Because as you get to this point of the album and this begins, all you can think is “oh my god… what the hell is this?” What “this’ is in fact is the track “Breaking up Again”, and it is a tough ask to bear. OK, I accept (no pun intended) that there will be fans out there who think that this song is wonderful, that it is the perfect song to showcase the band’s versatility, and that it would help with breaking the band into different markets, at the very least in Europe. Well, I cannot and will not agree with that. This... is an album killer. Honestly, I thought we were going in the new direction, taking on the record companies and the radio stations and making a serious move towards that heavy sound that they were hoping would make them the success they should be! And this song is the antithesis of that. It is the antichrist of heavy metal. Now, I am a renowned deplorer of ballads of most varieties and in most circumstances. But this... this is just vile. I still cannot believe that this was allowed to make the album. Peter Baltes once again takes over the lead vocals for the band’s album’s ballad, and while he might sing well, his voice again is the counterpoint to what makes Accept... Accept! In my opinion at least. There is simply no way that this song fits on this album. It is the wrong style, the wrong tempo, the wrong genre. The wrong everything!!
The album then concludes with “Down and Out” which while it doesn’t fully recover from the insanity of the previous track, at least allows the listener to finish the process of listening to the album with a slightly less bitter taste in the mouth.

My arrival into Accept in regard to listening to their albums did not come until much later in life than when most fans would have picked them up. My first initiation to the band, like so many of my generation, came from the video for the song “Balls to the Wall” from the album of the same name. In Australia in 1986 there was a legendary two-night extravaganza when Channel Ten, on their Friday and Saturday night music program dedicated the weekend to heavy metal videos, and I was exposed to a lot of new bands and songs during that weekend that I had never heard of before. “Balls to the Wall” was one of those tracks. Still, as none of my friend group were fans of the band and no one had any of the albums, they remained mostly a mystery to me for some years.
In the mid-2000's I had begun to go back and track down bands and their albums that I had never really listened to, to better my overall music education, and Accept was one of those. And those first albums I listened to included “Breaker”, along with “Restless and Wild” and “Balls to the Wall” and “Metal Heart”. And I enjoyed them. And “Breaker” I felt had some really good songs on it, and the mix of older styles and new didn’t affect my enjoyment of the album initially, because I neither knew about the first two albums at that point, and was just enjoying the discovery of an old band. Yeah, it was a bit strange having a song without Udo singing on it, and that the song was so different from the rest of the album, but I just assumed this was an Accept-able thing for the band to do. (I’m here all week people, I’ve got dozens of them!)
Further exploration of the Accept catalogue came with the release of their comeback album without Udo in 2010, “Blood of the Nations”, which I adored on its release. And it made me delve deeper into Accept’s back catalogue, and further into the albums that had initially grabbed me. And that included “Breaker”. And the more I listened, the more I enjoyed it.
Over the last week I have both appreciated and studied this album a bit more intensely. This was an album I was glad to be listening to and reviewing again, but this time around I was more interested in what I actually thought about the album, rather than just playing it because I liked it. Mainly because whenever I have been asked about Accept and this album, my stated opinion has always been “I like it!”, but if questioned further, I don’t think I could have really elaborated on that. So listening to the album this week was as much to garner how I felt about the album, and why.
The conclusion? This could have been an absolute top shelf album, apart from three things – “Can’t Stand the Night”, “Midnight Highway” and “Breaking up Again”. The opening of the album is still terrific. The guitars sound great, Udo’s vocals are spot on, and the rhythm of bass and drums gives the songs a great bottom end. The lyrics are catchy and easy to sing along with. These songs are FUN! But these three songs change the tone of the album along the way. Even then, it is only “Breaking Up Again” that truly feels out of place and monsters this album with the weight of its averageness. Those three songs drop this album back in overall rating, and more is the pity. Take those out (which in the modern age you can do by easily skipping them) and it really does have the right energy throughout. Put them back in, and you have a promising album that points to a promising future.
This proved to be the solid springboard that saw Accept take great leaps over the next few years, producing albums that started to capture the attention of the music listening public. It remains an excellent album of its time, even with those couple of flaws in the mix.

964. Accept / I'm a Rebel. 1980. 2.5/5

Accept had released their debut album in 1979, at a time where in retrospect they were unprepared for what the process required, and for what was necessary when it came to the writing process for a new album. In later years, guitarist Wolf Hoffmann recalled that their self-titled debut album was just a collection of songs that the band had been playing from their early years, all written without a focus on the job at hand. He was quoted as such: "We were just playing songs that we had always played. It was material that had gathered up over the first few months and years of our existence and it was a mixture of all kinds of stuff." Lead vocalist Udo Dirkschneider also expressed his dissatisfaction with the group's first effort when looking back on it some years later. The release of the album however gave them the opportunity to expand their horizons, and initially it gave them exposure outside of their native Germany into countries such as Belgium, France and The Netherlands for the first time.
Coming into the follow up album, the same line up that had toured the first album came back into the studio for their second attempt. Overall the band was looking to make a significant change from the first album. With a year of touring under their belt, they not only had the solidity of their playing to express, but also new songs written with the purpose of the new album in mind. Dirk Steffens was brought in as producer of the album, the first of three consecutive Accept albums he would be at the helm of. With this in mind, the band was looking for a more commercial sound in order to gain a stronger foothold both in Germany and then throughout Europe. This leads to a varied collection of tracks that does set it apart from their debut album but due to the differentiation between the styles of the songs, perhaps doesn’t quite establish exactly what sound Accept wanted to be known for.
The album was recorded in the back half of 1979, but wasn’t released until almost six months after the recording sessions had been completed. None of this set the band up on a solid platform, and with 1980 already becoming a stand out year for album releases in the hard to heavy genre, “I’m a Rebel” had some work to do if it wanted to compete on that level internationally.

Early on in their career, Accept had a sound that at its best mixed in tangible similarities of a cross between Judas Priest and AC/DC, which wasn’t such a bad thing when you trying to find your feet in a crowded music marketplace, and establish the identity that they eventually found so well.
Anyone who comes into this for the first time in the modern age, some 45 years after the album was released, is going to find it somewhat difficult to assuage how this is the same band that they may now be aware of. The answer of course is that they aren’t. However, listening to this album like other albums of the age, such as by Praying Mantis and Angel Witch and the like will give you the best tools with which to enjoy it. The main point of difference is that those two bands were comfortable within their music at that time, whereas with Accept, here was a band still trying to discover itself musically.
The opening track on the album plays into this whole perception about Accept’s early sound. “I’m a Rebel” is written by Alex Young, elder brother AC/DC’s Young brothers, and was actually recorded by AC/DC in 1976 with a possibility of it being released on their next album. This didn’t eventuate, and when producer Steffens decreed that the album needed a radio hit, he turned to Alex who produced this song. This is as good an explanation as any for when you hear the opening track, because it sounds like and AC/DC song, which at least does get the album away on a good footing.
Beyond the opening, this album has a better idea of where it wants to head, and is better than the debut as a result. The hard rock tracks all provide a solid base for the album. Along with the title track, the second song “Save Us”, along with “Thunder and Lightning” and “China Lady” provide the best that the band can deliver. Udo Dirkschneider’s vocals hit those heights that make his unique voice one that is as distinctive today as it was back in the day. He is having a great time on these tracks, and you can tell that this is the style that he was interested in following. The guitars of Wolf Hoffmann and Jorg Fischer are just as prominent, and their solo spots along with their harmony pieces are excellent and pick the songs up. Stefan Kaufmann’s drumming is also hard hitting here and great in the mix. “Thunder and Lightning” has a steady beat throughout that fits the theme, while “China Lady” has a grittier theme to it and is more than just a foot-tapping tune.
“I Wanna Be No Hero” mirrors the opening track by trying to be a more commercially appealing song, which doesn’t make it a bad song, but the difference in how hard it sounds like the band is playing is noticeable. Here there sounds like there is a desire to sit comfortably in the rock riff as written, where the other songs mentioned sound like they are being PLAYED rather than strummed. The closing track “Do It” fits this narrative as well though not to the same degree. Again, it is fine as a hard rock song but it lacks the ambition to be more than is.
That leaves the two rock ballad tracks, both of which contain lead vocals not from Udo but from bass guitarist Peter Baltes. And again this is where the album loses focus. These two tracks are mixed in with the attempted commercial hard rock tracks and the harder rock focused tracks that seem, to me at least, to be the best of the album. But the rock ballads are as you would expect. “No Time to Lose” actually sounds like a Rainbow song in places, and Baltes vocals are very much in the Graham Bonnet style. This is an almost paint-by-numbers tradition of this style of song, one where Baltes’ bass guitar also seems much higher in the mix than on other songs. What is even more strange, this song is solely written by producer Dirk Steffens, so there is no doubt at all what he was trying to do with this song on this album. It isn’t terrible but it also isn’t very good. The other rock ballad track is “The King”, this one credited to all of the band along with Steffens. It heads in all the same directions as “No Time to Lose”, and it feels like both tracks would fit more comfortably on a Foreigner album than an Accept album. It’s a strange path to follow, but as has already been noted, the band was still trying to find its own sound at this point of its career, rather than following the path that had been laid by others.

Though I listened to bits and pieces of Accept through the years, mainly from their more well known albums from the 1980’s, it was not until the turn of the century that I began to collate the albums of the Accept discography and truly discover what they had to offer. And it is an interesting study, especially when you go through them in chronological order, and decipher the changes and growing maturity of their sound from album to album. The first album is okay but really nothing special, a fact that the band itself has acknowledged in the past. But this album, well now that’s a different story.
But let’s say this from the start. “I’m a Rebel” is not a brilliant album. It is not even one of the best ten albums that Accept has released over the years. But it has a quaintness about it that I have always liked. It is a solid album with solid hard rock songs, if you ignore the two exceptions. And that is where the crux of it lies for me. Take those two songs out, and it is a far better album. Of course, it would then only be six songs and 25 minutes long, which is more of an EP. But Accept beyond this was built around the solid rhythm and hard to heavy sound of the guitars, and Udo’s vocals. Not utilising them does harm this album. And it is obviously a lesson that the band learned after this album, because they continued to make steady progress through the next decade in refining what became their sound.
I’ve had this out for the past couple of days again, and given its relatively short length have given it seven spins in total, and yes it still has its charms. Like I said it isn’t a world beater, but not every album is. In fact, very few are. This, on the other hand is an enjoyable hard rock album that is easy to listen to, and then put back on the shelves until next time. It is worth a listen to anyone who enjoys the history of heavy music, firstly to hear just where the band was at this point of their career, and then take in how they progressed from that point. It will not blow your mind, but it isn’t all bad either.

963. Testament / Brotherhood of the Snake. 2016. 3/5

Since the reformation of the (almost) original line up of Testament in the past decade, there have been only good things coming forward. New albums to enjoy, a great feeling coming from the band at large, and tours to most of the world. The thought of a new album was something to be celebrated. And perhaps this is where some of the anomalies lie.

The two comeback albums, The Formation of Damnation and Dark Roots of Earth have been good – spectacular in places even, backed by opening tracks that kick start the momentum immediately. The energy present in “More Than Meets the Eye” and “Rise Up” is contagious. Here though, the title track “Brotherhood of the Snake” doesn’t match that, and comes across a little weak in that respect. You would hope for better to follow, and while there are songs that can bring a bit of vibrancy to the album such as “The Pale King”, “Centuries of Suffering” and “Neptune’s Spear”, something isn’t quite right.
What perhaps is a little troubling here on Brotherhood of the Snake is the sameness of the song content. Some may feel this is a general attitude of this genre of music, but Testament has always managed to steer clear of the similar rhythm and riffing that can bring this comparison. Here though it has sounded like it has crept in. The consistent double kick of Gene Hoglan’s drum kit can be attributed to some of that, but it is a combination of factors such as the drums, the rhythm guitar and bass riff blending in together, and Chuck Billy’s vocals not really moving out of the one key for the majority of the album. This might appear to be ill informed or just plain wrong to many people, but I have been waiting for this album to grab me since its release. Usually I can at least attached myself to a couple of songs, and from that point I have a connection which drags me in. That hasn’t happened here. Sure, I can put the album on, and I can have it play in the background and listen to it easily enough. But there is no pull to MAKE me put it on in front of any other album on my current rotation, and that spells trouble to me.

For the first time in a long time, I just feel like we’ve heard it all before. It’s not a bad album, it is just an average album. No doubt many of these songs will sound much better in a live environment, and I hope I get the chance to experience that. Compared to what they have produced in the past, this is slightly disappointing.

Rating:  “There's no place to hide, our sights are set on you”.   3/5

962. Metallica / Hardwired... to Self Destruct. 2016. 3.5/5

I had truly begun to wonder if Metallica would even bother to ever release another album of new material. In a day and age where money is made by touring rather than selling albums, did they even need to bother? They will forever sell out concerts around the world playing everything off the albums of their first ten years. After the horror of much of the material from Load and Reload and St. Anger, did they need to put themselves through all of that again? Sure, Death Magnetic had half an album of good material, but do you actually want to hear any of that live? All of this sounds negative, but in the long run, on the announcement that they had indeed pulled their finger out and recorded a new album, I can honestly say that, on this occasion at least, I was looking forward to hearing what the band had come up with.

What is the deal with releasing double albums? Iron Maiden did it with The Book of Souls, and now Metallica has done it here with Hardwired...to Self-Destruct. Is it a payoff for the length of time between releases, or just an inability to edit and cut out songs to fit it all on one disc? The ludicrous situation comes when you have to put out THREE vinyl albums to fit the material on it! Obviously, if every song is strong enough to warrant inclusion then this is okay. Much like Maiden’s last release, I’m sure the consensus is that a little editing could have been done.
At least you can say that on this album, Metallica has had a crack at finding that lost ground from 25 years ago. It’s not completely successful, but as with the previous album there are at least places here where you can hear that not everything has been washed away from the original item. It would not be an accident that the first three songs that were released as teasers to the album were “Hardwired”, “Atlas, Rise!” and “Moth Into Flame”, as they are still the three songs that give you the best feeling about the album and the band. Harder, faster, vocals that spit and guitars that flame. They won’t necessarily be everyone’s favourites on the album, but they are the ones that best portray the old warm feelings that Metallica once harboured in all fans. “Now That We’re Dead” sits between these, and while the tempo is not the same as the others, the groove works despite its similarity to pieces of Load.
The slower songs still dredge up bad memories of stuff from Load and Reload. It’s that slow sludgy lack of momentum that really harks back to that era of Metallica, an era that sends shivers down the spine for all the wrong reasons. “Dream No More” is the first impact of this. This could almost have come from the sessions from those albums. “Confusion” also drags up memories like that, but probably more from James’ layered vocals, which are a staple of their releases from the 1990’s. “Halo On Fire” finishes much better than it starts. “ManUNkind” is only average at best, mixing as it does some Sabbath-like riffs along with a halting tempo that I find difficult to like.
“Here Comes Revenge” is a creeper, starting out somewhat morbidly before growing throughout until it concludes with you moving to the music without even realising you are doing it. “Am I Savage” is another where the tempo just doesn’t sit quite right. Again it’s that 1990’s tempo, one where the band moved to after its conversion period, and while the build to the end of the song improves dramatically overall it is average.
I must admit that while “Murder One” is not a bad song, I don’t understand why you would write a song in tribute to Lemmy Kilmister that is played at this tempo. Surely it would have made more sense to get it up to the tempo of those great Motorhead songs that he wrote – I’m not suggesting rip them off, but make it a celebration of the man and his music. Instead, we are stuck in this low tempo grunge that had little to do with his music at all. Strange. “Spit Out the Bone” though ends the album on a positive thrashier note. It’s just a little strange that the preceding songs were of such a different vibe that this is suddenly thrown at you as the closer. It lifts your perception, but in many ways it is a false perception.
As a band the individuals still all have what it takes. Robert Trujillo, while in some places still appearing to be overwhelmed by the wall of guitars in the mix, does an excellent job once again. His part is as support player in the band, but he is terrific again and when he is allowed to break out it is noticeable. Kirk Hammett, following the disasterous St. Anger no-solo experiment, again proves he can put together his craft at a high point. James Hetfield strives to find that middle point between youthful screams and middle age lower tone with his vocals again, and for the most part succeeds. The elephant in the room is still the drums. They sound fine, and at least Lars has never repeated that god-awful sound that he decided was awesome on St. Anger. But honestly, has he even put any effort in to what he’s playing? Yeah, he’s rich and clicked up enough credits in those early albums to allow him (and the band for that matter) to do whatever they like, but seriously? Like millions of my generation, when ...And Justice for All came out I spent hours and hours trying to play those songs just like Lars did, and it was fantastic. He was the top of the pile then. Now I reckon my nine year old could play this album with barely a listen. It’s not the only reason the songs these days can’t match their earlier stuff, but to me it’s a major one. Lars inspired generations of drummers with his playing in the 1980’s. Now everyone has gone past him. It’s a little sad to see, and hear.

Initially I thought the album sounded good, with pieces attracting me immediately, and some not so. At the time, it was my assumption that, like many albums, it would grow on me over time the more I listened to it, and that I would be better for it. To be honest for me that wasn’t the case here. The songs that grabbed me straight away I still listen to happily. Most of the songs that I had trouble with have mostly remained that way. If you played only the opening track and the closing track to someone, they would probably think this album could be a rival to the first four albums the band released. If you play two of the songs from the middle, that same person may think this was a rival to those albums from the 1990’s. That’s how subjective it is. I think it is overkill, and by having the courage to remove two or three songs and making it a 60 minute single disc album it would have worked better. But hell, what would I know.

Rating:  “Plug into me and I'll save you from emotion”.  3.5/5

961. Accept / Restless & Live - Blind Rage - Live in Europe 2015. 2017. 4.5/5

Since the return of Accept to the metal maelstrom some years ago, and the recording of three excellent albums, it was probably only a matter of time before the re-imagined line up got around to putting out a live album to showcase their wares. Little did we know that it would be a monster, containing 27 brilliant tracks pulled from throughout the bands amazing back catalogue, and taken from different concerts all over Europe.

Just about everything you could want to listen to is here. From the timeless classics to the newest releases to the surprising entries, very song is performed with heart and steel.

The band sounds great, no matter which venue the song has been taken from, and with the two newbies doing a great job. The rhythm section of Christopher Williams on drums and Peter Baltes on bass keep everything in control, leaving Uwe Lulis and the immortal Wolf Hoffman to showcase their wares on guitar. Impressively, Mark Tornillo on vocals does a sterling job, whether it be the old material made famous by Dirk, or the material he has performed on through the last three albums. He does justice to it all.

I unfortunately missed their tour of Australia some 18 months ago, something that I will probably regret for some time if they don’t tour again. Given that this is an indication of what they can do on the stage, you would think people would be flocking to see them. As a record of their live tour, and how the current line-up can perform, it is well worth giving this a spin whether you are a 40 year fan or an interested entry level listener.

Rating:  "Now you know your dreams are useless, and there are lies you'll never tell"  4.5/5

960. Grave Digger / Healed By Metal. 2017. 4/5

In the modern age, where the world is opened up to the music listener through the internet age, the ability to access all manner of bands and their material means you can experience more music than ever than was the case in my teenage years. So when I see a band is releasing their eighteenth studio album, and I have never heard anything of theirs before, it’s time to get their latest release and give it a spin to see where the longevity comes from.

Thus, Grave Digger is another band I have heard nothing of their back catalogue, and so went in with little to guide me. The thumping start to the title track “Healed By Metal” sets everything off in the right direction, a simple but effectively branded song that encourages chanting along with the chorus with the underlying heavy riff. This is followed by “When Night Falls” which picks up the tempo and flies along with those speed metal guitars, reminiscent of Judas Priest in their heyday. This is exemplified by “Lawbreaker” which jumps straight in and continues in this direction, once again powered by a chorus that encourages the sing along.
“Free Forever” continues to channel the 80’s heavy metal styling, using many of the guitaring techniques used in the hair metal scene (in a heavier sense) to contribute to the music. I don’t know if it was deliberate, but it is effective (think Mick Mars’ guitar sound and you’ll know what I mean). The crowd anthem chorus of “Call For War” uses that theme as well. It’s a simple but effective song progression, and one that pulls on the strings of my youth. “Ten Commandments of Metal” goes for the mid-tempo heavier riff, while the chorus of Chris Boltendahl’s vocals again demand a crowd-chanting involvement.
“The Hangman’s Eye” brings in those Helloween and Gamma Ray hints while retaining the basis of the band’s sound, belting out the vocals and then letting the guitar solo flay along during the break. It really drags you into the album again. This is followed by “Kill Ritual” where you can taste Judas Priest’s influence again, and the pull on my love of metal is again inflamed within the solo break.
And then, hello! “Hallelujah” wants to have an old school thrash influence, though not with the same ferocity. Still enjoyable. “Laughing With the Dead” slows everything back to a chanting mid-tempo again, which for me was a strange thing to do at the ‘end’ of the album. It sounds fine, but why end an album on that tempo? The answer to that is that there are two ‘bonus tracks’ following this – which surely in this day and age everyone gets, this making the ‘concluding track’ NOT that at all? Anyway, Kingdom of the Night picks up that tempo again, but is bettered by the final track “Bucket List”, a romping heavy tune that is a joy to bang your head along with, singing along at the top of your voice. Terrific stuff.

I’m not sure what the long-time fans of the band think about this album, but I rather enjoyed it for the most part. The foundation of the 80’s heavy metal scene being sewn into the fabric of the songs is what appealed most to me, and made it an enjoyable experience. While Boltendahl’s vocals are not what you come to expect from the speed/power metal bands of the halcyon period, where high pitched melodic vocals are most prominent, his fit wonderfully well here, uniquely his own and perfectly crafted to the music. Like a few other bands I’ve found lately, I need to make a serious effort in discovering the bands back catalogue to see what I’ve missed, but as a starting point of Grave Digger for me, this was more than worthwhile.

Rating:  “We hold our shields high in the sky, never surrender till we die”.  4/5