Accept

Accept is a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, originally assembled in the early 1970's by Udo Dirkschneider. It is considered by many the most influential German band from the genre and one of the godfathers of speed metal.

Contents

1 Biography 2 Final line-up 3 Discography 4 External links

Biography

For many years after its founding, Accept suffered constant changes to it's line-up and was essentially kept on an amateur level, making sporadic concerts on festivals. Their professional career began in 1976, when they were invited to play on one of the first rock 'n roll festivals from Germany - Rock am Rhein. After the festival took place, the band received a recording deal and entered a professional studio for the first time, in order to record the self-titled Accept, an album which despite the band's efforts didn't archieve much success.

The first stable line-up of Accept was composed by vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarists Wolf Hoffmann and Jörg Fischer, bassist Peter Baltes and drummer Frank Friedrich. Friedrich quit the band after the release of Accept, since he didn't intend to pursue a professional career in music. He was replaced by Stefan Kaufmann and, with this line-up, the band proceeded to record I'm a Rebel in 1980. This was the album which brought media attention to the Accept, which was subsequently invited to make its first televisioned show.

There were three important facts which took place in 1981. First, the album Breaker was released. Second, a contract with manager Gaby Hauke was signed, an ageement which lasted throughout the entirety of the band's career. Third, Accept joined Judas Priest's world tour and obtained a fair amount of success, making the band known outside of Europe.

The next album - Restless and Wild - was released in 1982, but didn't count with the presence of Jörg Fischer, who quit the band a short time before the recording took place. All of the guitars from this album were recorded by Wolf Hoffmann. Restless and Wild saw an evolution in the band's sound, which incorporated several characteristics of the genre which would later be called speed metal. An extensive tour followed, and guitarist Herman Frank was hired so that the songs could be properly executed on stage.

Their next release, Balls to the Wall, would prove to be something different from what they had previously recorded. The album was of a conceptual nature, and included songs which spoke about themes such as politics, sexuality and the church. The lyrics for the songs were credited to a certain "Deaffy", which was later revealed to be their manager Gaby Hauke under a pseudonym. She proceeded to compose the lyrics of all of their songs from that album on, without ever officially claiming authorship of the songs.

During a show on their hometown, in the year of 1983, the band ran into Jörg Fischer by chance. With some insisitance from Hauke, Jörg was made a part of the band once more. A world tour which would only end in 1984 - on the historical Monsters of Rock festival - followed.

Metal Heart came next, in 1985, soon followed by the live album Kaizou Ban. Russian Roulette continued the series of albums, being released in 1986.

However, as time passed, divergences began to surface. Peter Baltes, Wolf Hoffmann and Gaby Hauke expressed a growing interest in the USA, and spent more time on the overseas country than on Germany, which meant they were constantly away from the rest of the band. The distance between them grew stronger, and it was eventually decided that Accept would enter in an hiatus and that Udo Dirkschneider should pursue a solo career in the meantime. The other members of the band worked together with Udo on the technical side of his first solo album, entitled Animal House, and it was released under the name of U.D.O. in Europe and America.

After some time of incativity, Peter, Wolf and Stefan set to work once more as a band with the help help of vocalist David Reece; Udo's solo career was working out well and guitarist Jörg Fischer had once more left Accept. After a few demos, the band felt secure enough with this new line-up and released Eat the Heat, the first Accept album without the presence of Udo.

An European tour counting with the support of rhythm guitarist Jim Stacey followed the release of the album. The tour, however, came to a sudden halt when Stefan Kaufmann was afflicted by a serious injury to his back, which required immediate medical attention. He was replaced by drummer Ken Mary for the remainder of the tour. By the tour's end, the original members of the band - Wolf Hoffman, Peter Baltes and manager Gaby Hauke - reunited and discussed the future of the band. Vocalist David Reece was proving to be a person of unstable personality and Stefan Kaufman was going to need a long break from the drums. Thus, they reached the conclusion that it was time to quit. By 1989, the band had already ceased its activities.

A live compilation entitled Staying a Life was released in 1990, and fans from around the globe demanded a reunion. During a visit to Germany, Udo met with the musicians from Accept and, after some discussion, it was decided that they would unite the classic formation of the band once more. Tired of having to play with a different replacemt every tour, Wolf Hoffman decided that from that point on he would be the only guitarist in the band, playing both the lead and rhythm sections of the songs.

Objection Overruled was released in 1993, and the band's reunion was a success in Europe and obtained some notability on the USA. A mandatory world tour followed. Another album, entitled Death Row was released in 1994, but Stefan Kaufmann became unable to play once more due to the his back injury. The band pondered about wether to continue with the recording of the album, but eventually invited Stefan Schwarzmann as a temporary replacement and commenced plans for their next tour.

The musicians, however, began to feel tired. The teenagers from the town of Soligen had grown up and were beginning to feel the toll of a life of constant touring around the world. A sense of ending was felt when the band entered studios to record Predator from 1995, this time counting with Michael Cartellone (from Damn Yankees) on the drums.

Accept's final tour went through America, Europe and Asia, with their last concert being made in Tokyo, Japan, one of the capitals of heavy metal in the world.

The band then remained inactive for over a decade, and on the begging of 2005 announced a short commemorative tour counting with Accept's classic line-up.

Final line-up

• Udo Dirkschneider - Vocals
• Wolf Hoffmann - Guitar
• Peter Baltes - Bass
• Stefan Kaufmann - Drums

Discography

• Accept (1979)
• I'm a Rebel (1980)
• Breaker (1981)
• Restless and Wild (1982)
• Balls to the Wall (1984)
• Metal Heart (1985)
• Kaizoku Ban (Live, 1985)
• Russian Roulette (1986)
• Eat the Heat (1989)
• Staying a Life (Live, 1990)
• Objection Overruled (1993)
• Death Row (1994)
• Predator (1996)
• All Areas - Worldwide Live (Live, 1997)
• The Final Chapter (Live, 1998)
• Rich & Famous (EP, 2002)

External links

• Official home page (http://www.acceptarchive.com)
• Website from the band's current label (http://www.nuclearblastusa.com/bands.html)de:Accept