Accept

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Accept was a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, originally assembled in the early 1970s by Udo Dirkschneider. The band played an important role in the development of speed metal and Teutonic thrash metal. Their 1983 album, Balls to the Wall, subsequently became their most successful release, featuring its well-known hit with the same title.

Biography

Early years (1976-1982)

For many years after its founding, Accept went through constant changes to its line-up and was essentially kept on an amateur level, making sporadic appearances in festival concerts. Their professional career began in 1976, when they were invited to play at one of the first rock and roll festivals from Germany — Rock am Rhein. Following the festival, the band received a recording deal. Their first recording was the self-titled Accept album which did not achieve much commercial success.

The first stable line-up of Accept was composed of vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarists Wolf Hoffmann and Gerhard Wahl, bassist Peter Baltes and drummer Frank Friedrich. Friedrich and Wahl quit the band after the release of Accept, since they did not intend to pursue a professional career in music. They were replaced by Stefan Kaufmann and Jörg Fischer, 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 band, which was subsequently invited to make its first televised show.

Three important events took place in 1981. First, the album Breaker was released. Second, a contract with manager Gaby Hauke was signed, an agreement which lasted for the whole 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 did not have the presence of Jörg Fischer, who quit the band a short time before the recording took place. Jan Koemmet was hired as Accept's new guitarist. 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.

Mainstream success (1983-1987)

Accept became successful with their next release, Balls to the Wall (1983), now with Herman Frank (ex-Sinner), which 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 different kinds of human relationships. For example the title track "Balls to the Wall" refers to slaves revolting against oppressing masters. "Fight It Back" is about the social misfit, fighting against conformity. The lyrics for the songs were credited to Accept + 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 in their hometown in the year of 1983, the band ran into Jörg Fischer by chance. On Hauke's insistence, Fischer was made part of the band once more. A world tour which would only end in 1984 — at the historic Monsters of Rock festival — followed.

Metal Heart came next, in 1985, soon followed by the live album Kaizoku-Ban. Russian Roulette continued the series of albums, being produced by Scorpions producer Dieter Dierks and released in 1986.

However, as time passed, differences began to surface. Peter Baltes, Wolf Hoffmann and Gaby Hauke expressed a growing interest in the USA, and spent more time in overseas countries than in Germany, which meant they were constantly away from the rest of the band. The distance between them grew, and it was eventually decided that Accept would enter an hiatus and that Udo Dirkschneider would, in the meantime, pursue a solo career. 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.

David Reece period (1988-1989)

After a period of inactivity, Peter, Wolf and Stefan set to work once more as a band with the 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 Udo.

A short warm up tour in the USA was followed by a European tour 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 sustained a serious injury to his back. He was replaced by drummer Ken Mary for the remainder of the tour. By the tour's end, Hoffmann, Baltes and Hauke had decided that Reece was an unstable personality and Kaufman was going to need a long break from the drums. They decided it was time to quit. By 1989, the band had ceased its activities.

Reunion with Dirkschneider and the final years (1990-1996)

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 relaunch the classic line-up of the band.

Objection Overruled was released in 1993. The band's reunion was a qualified success in Europe and the USA, where the band was working though Pavement Records. A world tour followed. Another album, entitled Death Row, was released in 1994, but Kaufmann became unable to play once more due to his recurring back injury. The band 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 Solingen had grown up and were beginning to feel the toll of a life of constant touring. A sense of finality was in the air when the band entered studios to record Predator from 1996, this time with Michael Cartellone (from Damn Yankees) on the drums.

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

Hiatus, reunion(s) and the future

The future of Accept remains uncertain, as all members continue working on their own projects. However 2005 saw a short commemorative reunion tour with Accept's classic line-up. The final show was held on August 27, 2005, in Kavarna, Bulgaria - at the Monsters of Rock festival.

When asked if Accept were planning on writing and recording new material, Dirkschneider replied: