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.
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