Despite being familiar with their sound and history, I haven't really listened to many of Accept's albums. While I'm way past my 1980 anniversary article, I felt like giving this a shot anyway. At first, it's obvious that the band doesn't quite have their iconic sound, but it's still a decent chunk of rock, sitting comfortably between AC/DC and NWOBHM, with a dash of disco.
I'm not kidding. Both "Save Us" and "I Wanna Be No Hero" have this disco beat, with the bouncy bass lines. I'm guessing it's an attempt to capture the success of Kiss's "I Was Made For Lovin' You," and they're not as bad as you'd think. Another curious factor is, despite having the iconic Udo Dirkschneider (even this early, his voice has a lot of charisma), they have two songs sung by the bassist Peter Baltes. He's not bad, in fact, though he's given the acoustic ballads, which end up being just okay.
The main impression is a band being pressured for a more mainstream sound, but the result is a pretty forgettable album, though Wolf Hoffmann does have some solid solos on here. Even the title track, which happens to be a song written for AC/DC (they recorded it but never released it), feels lackluster. Only "Do It" sounds like the kind of metal the band would later be famous for. Still, it's fun while it's on, if nothing else.
Speaking of AC/DC: there's news breaking about a new album coming from the Australian rock masters. As I was going over those details, I realized that I hadn't listened to their last album, Rock or Bust. I know I rather liked a lot of Black Ice, as I felt the band captured their classic style very well, so I was curious to see how much of that carried over, despite the six year gap.
Of course, the band has a sound as regular as the tide: straight-forward blues rock designed to be as distilled and toe-tapping as possible, and this one is no different. If there is any distinction, Rock or Bust is shorter than any of their other albums, and that Malcolm Young didn't perform on it, as he had retired due to his health. However, he gets plenty of song-writing credit, as he was working on these songs with Angus while they were touring. The band decided to have his nephew Stevie take over on rhythm guitar. However, I don't think I can really tell a difference. With stuff this simple, it's more about the song-writing anyway.
Like I mentioned when I reviewed Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, there may not be much point in reviewing an AC/DC album. There certainly are some catchy songs, like "Rock or Bust," "Baptism by Fire," and "Sweet Candy" that have the punchiness of Black Ice, and "Dogs of War" is nice, gritty take on their style. As for the rest, it's pretty standard stuff, but not really their strongest effort. As expected, it's solid rock that shows the band isn't quite out of gas yet, and here's hoping that their next one proves the same.
I can't believe it took this long to get this album. I was excited for this nearly a year ago. Still, better late than never, I guess. What we have here is some really great hard rock, built off of the 80s AOR mold, but isn't afraid to get metal in the riffing from to time.
The first thing I noticed was the production which gives the songs a ton of punch. They all sound massive, and beg to be turned up. The band is all on point, with vocalist Erik Mårtensson really giving his all on these songs, carried by the massive riffs and rhythms backing him up. While I knew that "Viva La Victoria," "Mary Leigh," and "Delirious," were solid songs, but I didn't expect the rest of the album to be just as good! The album just has this driving energy all the way through. Even the slower songs like "Shelter Me," "When the Winter Ends," and "Take Me Home" rock pretty hard. I also want to point out "United," "The Masquerade" as highlights.
Seriously, this could have been a Top 5 contender for 2019. I had a blast listening to this, and I'm sure I'll be listening to it more, as well as digging into this band's discography. If their albums are even half as good as this, it will be worthwhile. Quality hard rock from top to bottom.
Well, that was some pretty fun stuff. Like I said earlier, I'm planning on hitting the 2020 releases here at the end so look forward to that. In the meantime, I hope you are all staying safe and well. Until next time, rock on! \m/
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