- The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, KISS, Motörhead, Queen, T. Rex, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, UFO, Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, Rush, Jethro Tull, Rainbow, Blue Öyster Cult, Uriah Heep, Styx
He's a killer — he'll rip out your heart
On a one way track and you're not coming back
'cause the killer's on the attack!
Accept is a German Heavy Metal band. Initially started as Band X in 1968, Accept is one of the oldest and most influential German metal bands. Accept no substitutes!
They were successful in the mid '80s until the creative differences and failed attempt at mainstream with their album Eat the Heat broke the band in the late '80s. They reformed in the early '90s with a Darker and Edgier sound but after a couple of years broke up again. Proper reformation didn't happen until 2009.
Despite never achieving the same level of popularity as some of their contemporaries (namely Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Scorpions), the influence that Accept had on a number of genres such as thrash, speed and power metal (thanks to such hits as "Fast as a Shark" and "Balls to the Wall") has secured their place as one of the most important bands in heavy metal music. As such, they have influenced a plethora of hard rock and heavy metal acts like Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Exodus, Testament, Overkill, Cannibal Corpse, Helloween, Metal Church, Pantera, Skid Row, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Celtic Frost, Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Grave Digger, Doro and Gamma Ray.
Accept's current lineup:
- Wolf Hoffmann - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Mark Tornillo - lead vocals
- Uwe Lulis - rhythm guitar
- Christopher Williams - drums
- Martin Motnik - bass
- Philip Shouse - third guitar
Former members:
- Udo Dirkschneider - lead vocals
- Michael White - lead vocals
- Rob Armitage - lead vocals
- David Reece - lead vocals
- Gerhard Wahl - rhythm guitar
- Jörg Fischer - rhythm guitar
- Jan Koemmet - rhythm guitar
- Herman Frank - rhythm guitar
- Jim Stacey - rhythm guitar
- Peter Baltes - bass, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals
- Frank Friedrich - drums
- Stefan Kaufmann - drums, backing vocals
- Stefan Schwarzmann - drums
- Michael Cartellone - drums
Discography:
- Accept (1979)
- I'm a Rebel (1980)
- Breaker (1981)
- Restless and Wild (1982)
- Balls to the Wall (1983)
- Metal Heart (1985)
- Russian Roulette (1986)
- Eat the Heat (1989)
- Objection Overruled (1993)
- Death Row (1994)
- Predator (1996)
- Blood of the Nations (2010)
- Stalingrad: Brothers in Death (2012)
- Blind Rage (2014)
- The Rise of Chaos (2017)
- Too Mean to Die (2021)
- Humanoid (2024)
"TV TROOOPES!!!":
- Album Title Drop: In the chorus of "That's Rock 'n Roll", for the self-titled album:"Hey little woman, Accept tonight
Come rock and roll and feel alright" - Audience Participation Song:
- There are many songs in the band's catalog where the chorus is reduced to the title song in a singable way, invoking the trope as a result: "Balls to the Wall", "Son of a Bitch", "Fast as a Shark", "Princess of the Dawn", "Losers and Winners".
- One particular section of "Balls to the Wall" has a wordlessnote choral melody. In some live performances of this song, the singer invites the audience to sing along ("C'mon, sing it with me!") at this point.
- Badass Biker:
- The narrator of "Street Fighter" (from the self-titled debut album) is a member of a biker gang who despises mainstream society:"Black leather, steel engines
All the people call us street fighting men
Rude manners, hard women
That's the reason why we join the gang
[…]
Making rules, giving orders
You're thinking that you are the stars
But we hate your damned faces
Your little houses and bloody cars
[chorus]
Hate you! Hate you! Leave us alone, man!
Keep your stuff, and stay where you are!" - Similarly, the lyrics to "London Leatherboys" (from Balls to the Wall) were confirmed in an interview with the band to have been inspired by a news story about biker gangs fighting in the streets:"See the easy riders
They're roaring down their way
They need to give full speed ahead
They've been bunched together
To keep their crazy life
They turn on the power
Get wrecked every night" - And one example that's not from any song lyrics: the front and back covers of a compilation album titled Midnight Highwaynote show a denim-and-leather-clad man and woman on a (stationary) motorcycle, striking a pose for the camera.
- The narrator of "Street Fighter" (from the self-titled debut album) is a member of a biker gang who despises mainstream society:
- The Band Minus the Face: There were two times Accept was seen without Udo Dirkschneider at the front: 1989's Eat the Heat and the entirety of Mark Tornillo's era.
- Book Ends: The first part of Hung, Drawn, and Quartered and last part of the song The Galley, both from Stalingrad, sound similar.
- Break Up Song:
- "Glad to Be Alone" (from the self-titled debut album) describes a failed romantic relationship between the song's narrator and a snobbish ex-partner, who is implied to be either already upper-class or a Social Climber:"I don't like your well-dressed friends
When they talk about their problems
With that kind of small talk
They feel good, but they are fools
I don't like to sit beside you
In your brand-new car
[…]
After a few days with you
I was glad to be alone again" - "Breaking Up Again" (from Breaker) is a straightforward Power Ballad (sung by the bassist, incidentally) about a failed romantic relationship:"Waking up on Monday morning
Sunday'd been and gone
Reaching out for you
But I was alone" - Parodied with "Losing More Than You've Ever Had" (from Balls to the Wall), which mocks these songs for their overwhelmingly male perspective. In the song, the boyfriend is clearly at fault but won't take responsibility for his actions, won't stop talking about losing his girlfriend, and won't accept she left for good.
- "It's Hard to Find a Way" (from Russian Roulette) is another Power Ballad, with lyrics implying a Cheater Gets Cheated On situation:"I'm acting sweetness
But I'm burning in hate
'cause I can't stand you hurting me
The same way I hurt you" - "Kill The Pain" (from Blood of the Nations), yet another Power Ballad, is either this and/or another kind of Grief Song:"A shadow in an empty doorway
Call your name but no reply
I still see your face, but there's no trace
Photographs, no goodbye"
- "Glad to Be Alone" (from the self-titled debut album) describes a failed romantic relationship between the song's narrator and a snobbish ex-partner, who is implied to be either already upper-class or a Social Climber:
- Call-Back: In the background of the front-cover illustration from Humanoid, there's a heart-shaped octagonal window that resembles the (literal) "metal heart" from Metal Heart's front-cover illustration; and, taking into consideration the lyrical theme of the title tracks from both of these albums, it's obvious that this was done intentionally.
- Careful with That Axe:
- The studio version of "Fast as a Shark" has an intro sectionnote that goes like this: "Heidi heido heida, heidi heido heida, heidi heido heida a a a a a a a a, hei— *scratch* AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!".additional details
- Some live performances of "Fast as a Shark"note also feature the "Ein Heller und ein Batzen" intro, but not all of them. The version from Staying a Lifenote instead begins with an escalating call-and-response section between Udo and the audience, which ultimately leads up to the scream that begins the song proper. As George Starostin put it in his review of the album:"[…] when the band comes out for the encore to do 'Fast As A Shark', Udo toys with the audience by making them shout back his 'Yeaahs' to him, with each new 'Yeaah' becoming more and more complex. Finally he screams out a particularly high-pitched and complex 'Yeaaaaah', and as the audience masters itself and actually manages to reproduce it somehow, he responds with such a tremendously high-pitched battle cry that no ordinary throat can reproduce - and as the humbled spectators sort of stand there thinking this guy's probably mocking them, the song kicks in: of course, it was the famous introductory wail that launches the Restless & Wild classic. Gotta love that bit."
- Cluster F-Bomb: "Son of a Bitch" from Breaker features a lot of cursing:"Son of a bitch - kiss my ass!
Son of a bitch!
Son of a bitch - you asshole!
Son of a bitch!" - Corrupt Corporate Executive:
- The lyrics of "No Shelter" (from Blood of the Nations) – released in August 2010, not long after the Great Recession – condemn people of this kind in no uncertain terms, and rejoice in their downfall:"You steal from the hungry, you take from the poor
You swindle the rich man, and then you steal more
Greed is your life-blood, and white collar crime
Your hands don't get dirty, no, you steal with your mind
[…]
Welcome to Main Street, you forgot your champagne
All of your off-shore accounts have gone down the drain
Your stocks are all worthless, your paper trail burns
Your riches have turned into rags, the tables have turned" - Similarly, "Revolution" (from Stalingrad) was released in April 2012, and mentions the previous year's Occupy Wall Street protests in a positive light:"No money, gotta pay the rent (hard luck!)
The check is in the mail
But you get your tax deduction
Outsourcing mass production
[…]
What's wrong with this picture?
The poor get poorer and the rich get richer
[…]
Occupy the streets
Get up, take action, be a link in the chain reaction
It's time to unify (stand up!)"
- The lyrics of "No Shelter" (from Blood of the Nations) – released in August 2010, not long after the Great Recession – condemn people of this kind in no uncertain terms, and rejoice in their downfall:
- Darker and Edgier:
- Breaker was this to their first two albums, with the rationale being "we're not getting anywhere by being commercial, so let's just play what we want to play".
- Russian Roulette has some of their grimmest lyrics. As the title suggests, and unsurprisingly for an album from 1986, three songs on this albumnote have lyrics about the Cold War, nuclear war, and war in general; apart from those, two more of its songsnote have lyrics about controversial topics such as the debate over euthanasia's (il-)legality and religiously-motivated violence. (This was around the same timeframe when Thrash Metal rose to mainstream popularity, with many of that genre's most famous acts covering those kinds of real-world topics in their lyrics.)
- The Dictatorship: "Primitive" (from Predator) begins with these lyrics:"What you're gonna do
When you turn on the news
And a dictator smiles at you?
What you're gonna do
When you try to escape
But big brother is watching you?" - Drugs Are Bad:
- Although "Russian Roulette" (the title track) is mainly an anti-war song, a few of its lyrics describe a soldier's inability to return to civilian life in a metaphoric way using phrases which, in a different context, could be used to describe addiction to "hard" drugs and withdrawal symptoms… and what's more, taking into account the history of certain types of stimulant drugs having been used by enlisted men to stay awake / increase their alertness, the lyrics might be about drugs in a literal sense, too:"You screwed my brain
And offered me a line
You set my heart on fire
To make me stick like glue" - "Bulletproof" (from Objection Overruled) describes a friend of the song's narrator gradually using more & more recreational drugsnote , and eventually dying of an overdose:"He took it once, just for the thrill
He'd bought a ticket to ride
[…]
We laughed about the jokes he told
He was one of the boys
Hey, what a guy he used to be
When he was sober and dry
[…]
When he turned into a demon
No way to calm him down
Just like a Jekyll and Hyde
[…]
Danced with Lucy in the sky
On a cloud of ecstasy
Too late to stop him now
[…]
He wasn't bulletproof
He shot himself the final round
No man is bulletproof
It's destination underground"
- Although "Russian Roulette" (the title track) is mainly an anti-war song, a few of its lyrics describe a soldier's inability to return to civilian life in a metaphoric way using phrases which, in a different context, could be used to describe addiction to "hard" drugs and withdrawal symptoms… and what's more, taking into account the history of certain types of stimulant drugs having been used by enlisted men to stay awake / increase their alertness, the lyrics might be about drugs in a literal sense, too:
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Each one of the band's first three albums contains exactly one song that's a slow mournful ballad sung by bassist Peter Baltes instead of Udonote ; additionally, there's one more song (not a ballad) from the first albumnote with lead vocals mostly by Peter. After those, he wouldn't be featured on lead vocals again up until Predator (1996)note 1note 2 .
- False Prophet: "Sucks to Be You" (from Too Mean to Die) is written in second-person about someone who is excessively selfish & boastful to the point that they "think that [they are] the messiah":"You, you're a perpetual liar
You think that you're the messiah
And that you never do wrong
[…]
Born to be a loser
Boasting's all you do
You know it all, but you just don't have a clue
[…]
You're a source of endless chatter
Somehow you think that you matter
And that it's always your turn" - The Fundamentalist: The second verse of "Heaven Is Hell" (from Russian Roulette) describes the mentality of some religious extremists who consider the killing of "nonbelievers" to be morally justified:"You shouldn't kill your brother…
…except if he doesn't know what's right!
If he can't love your heaven,
ah, it's a mercy for him to die." - Gangbangers: "The King" (from I'm a Rebel) is a mournful ballad with lyrics about a small-time career criminalexcerpt 1 and his eventual downfallexcerpt 2 and imprisonmentexcerpt 3 .
- Large Ham: Udo Dirkschneider and Mark Tornillo both, bringing to the table wailing, scenery-chewing high notes and Brian Johnson style gravel-grinding respectively.
- Letters 2 Numbers: "Stand 4 What U R" from Eat the Heat, replaces "for" with the number 4.
- Line-of-Sight Name: According to an interview with the band, the song/album title "Balls to the Wall" was taken from a music critic's description of Accept's music.etymology
- Longest Song Goes Last:
- Restless and Wild closes with "Princess of the Dawn" (6:15).
- Eat the Heat closes with "Mistreated" (8:52).
- Stalingrad closes with "The Galley" (7:21).
- The Rise of Chaos closes with "Race to Extinction" (5:24).
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places:
- The lyrics of "Lady Lou" (from the self-titled debut album) include this part:note
"Lady, I'm lovin' you
In my car drive"- "Head Over Heels" (from Balls to the Wall) is written from the point of view of someone out walking "late at night in the park" who happens to notice other people there engaging in some sort of sexual activity, and then can't resist the urge to covertly watch them:note
"For heaven's sake, what's going on?
It's like someone is here
Gotta follow now
Like being in a trance for me
[…]
Down on my knees, God help me please
Gotta know who's out in the dark
I've stopped my breath, can feel the hands
Could hear the sound of people making love
I surrender RIGHT NOW!
I've to be touched, I feel so much"- "Turn Me On" (from Balls to the Wall, again) seems to be about a sexual encounter in a dark storage room, interrupted by people outside knocking on the door loudly:
"I can't wait to get you
Down on the dirty floor
I know it ain't a place
But come on and close the door
[…]
It would be good to do it in the nice way
But sorry, I ain't got no time
I know you would like some light
But sorry, here is no lamp
[…]
It was more than I could ask for
Sorry babe, I've gotta go
Guess there's more than two now
Who wants to break the door" - Market-Based Title: The 1990s-era live album All Areas – Worldwide went by the alternate title The Final Chapter in the U.S. and Japan, apparently because the band was on hiatus at the time it was released in those territories (which was in 1998) and no reunion was anticipated at that point. However, that alternate title is somewhat misleading, because it was recorded during the tours in support of the Objection Overruled and Death Row studio albums (which were released in 1993 and 1994, respectively), thus putting it prior to the recording of the Predator studio album (from 1996); this explains why it does not feature live versions of any of the songs from Predator.
- Mercy Kill: The lyrics of "Monsterman" (from Russian Roulette) are about the controversy over whether or not euthanasia should be legal, taking a pro-euthanasia stance, and mention this trope by name in the first verse:"I see a hot hot fighting
On controversial sides
They call me mercy killer
'cause I did it right" - Non-Appearing Title: "Russian Roulette" (the title song). According to Metallian's biography of the band, it was originally supposed to be titled "War Games" (a phrase which is in the chorus), but was changed because of legal threats from, well, guess who...
- The Noun and the Noun: Restless and Wild, and the songs "Losers and Winners", "Rich & Famous", "Sick, Dirty and Mean" and "Thunder and Lightning".
- Numbered Sequels: "Generation Clash" from Eat the Heat got a numbered continuation on Death Row.
- Precision F-Strike: "Russian Roulette" (the title track) is about the horrors of war, sung from the perspective of a soldier who's in deep despair/regret about his situation. The song begins with an ominous-sounding bassline gradually fading in, with a guitar part mixed at low volume & no audible drum part at all… thus making it all the more shocking/transgressive when Udo singsnote its opening lines of lyrics (content warning / NSFW!):"I know you raped me
And fucked my soul and life" - The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: The lyrics of "Balls to the Wall" (the title track) describe a violent uprising by people living under slavery or some other form of oppression; in this context, the song's title apparently means more-or-less the same thing as the old saying "when the revolution comes, you'll be the first against the wall", i.e. shot by a firing squad:"You better watch the damned (God bless ya!)
They're gonna break the chains (Hey!)
No, you can't stop them (God bless ya!)
They're coming to get you, and then…
…you'll get your balls to the wall, man!" - The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified:
- "All or Nothing" (from Objection Overruled) is a protest anthem, which might also qualify as a Power Ballad, with optimistic lyrics and a grandiose sing-along chorus:"Revolution in the streets
Our vision turned into reality
Too late to stop it now
A spark that's lit a fire burning high
[…]
[chorus]
It's all or nothing and we don't stop fighting
All or nothing and we won't back down
It's all or nothing, we can light a fire
All or nothing, we will take it all!" - "Revolution" (from Stalingrad) is a much angrier kind of protest song, with lyrics siding with the protesters who participated in the "Occupy Wall Street" protests circa 2011.
- "All or Nothing" (from Objection Overruled) is a protest anthem, which might also qualify as a Power Ballad, with optimistic lyrics and a grandiose sing-along chorus:
- Rhymes on a Dime: Eat the heat. Heat cannot be eaten.
- Rock Me, Amadeus!: A rendition of "Sabre Dance" appears in the middle of "Sodom and Gomorrah" from Death Row.
- Shout-Out:
- In "Breaker"note 's lyrics, there's one particular couplet which is a near-exact match with part of the title track from Paranoid (Album) by Black Sabbath, just changed from first-person to third-person:
"Happiness he cannot feel
and love to him is so unreal
He burns like hell
He wants you dead
Altogether hate's all he feel"- The lyrics of "Dead On!" (from Death Row) mention "a teen spirit idol" who "couldn't stand the pressure". If it weren't already obvious enough to whom this refers, then take note of that album's release date: October 4th, 1994.
- Slobs Versus Snobs:
- In "Glad to Be Alone" (from the self-titled debut album), this trope seems to be what led to the breakup of the narrator's short-lived romantic relationshipnote .
- This trope is pretty much the entire topic of "I Don't Wanna Be Like You" (from Objection Overruled); for example:"I'm hog-tied 'n' dirty
I'm tough and mean
Keep your Wall Street slickers
And the American Dream
[…]
The ordinary way of life ain't for me
I do what I want, and I wanna be free
Never know where I go or what I'm gonna do
Why can't you see, the only thing I know is that
I don't wanna be like you!"
- Soul-Crushing Desk Job:
- The second-person protagonist of "Feelings" (from Breaker) is portrayed as a frustrated office worker whose efforts are constantly being obstructed by "yes-men" higher up in the org chart (e.g. "Oh, when you're needing a queen, every card that you get is a jack").note
- "Guardian of the Night" (from Balls to the Wall) is written from the perspective of an outcast who seemingly cannot fit in with society's requirements, such as having an ordinary day job:
"I don't like people working all day
Only working just to see next tomorrow
But they are happy while they're living that way
In that world I gotta beg, steal, or borrow" - Spoken Word in Music: Partway through "T.V. War" (from Russian Roulette), there's a voiceover of a fictional television news anchor announcing, in effect, the outbreak of World War III:"According to informed sources of the defence ministry, there is now confirmation that enemy missiles have penetrated our airspace. Impact is estimated in a matter of minutes. Good evening!"
- Start My Own:
- Original singer Udo Dirkschneider has his own solo career on U.D.O.
- Guitarists Wolf Hoffman and Herman Frank also have released solo albums.
- Step Up to the Microphone: A select few of their songs feature bassist Peter Baltes on lead vocals; in particular, four of them appear on the band's first three albums... and then, after a 15-years-long "dry spell", three more of themnote showed up all at once on Predator.
- Stock Rhymes: The chorus of "Burning" (from Breaker) uses one of the most (in-)famous ones:"Burning! Burning! Burning just like fire!
Burning! Burning! A rock and roll desire!" - Stop and Go: "Primitive" (from Predator) pauses for about 1 second at the 3m17s point, immediately following a section of lyrics that ends with the word "stop"note :"What you're gonna do
when it's sin after sin
and you know that it's never gonna STOP?!" - The Svengali: The lyrics of "Son of a Bitch" (from Breaker) are about a showbiz executive, portrayed unflatteringly as a control freak who dishonestly claims that he'll help naive young hopefuls rise to stardom, in order to exploit them:"You make the stars, illusions and dreams
You're what you are, d'you know what I mean?
[…]
You say
It's your way
You say we'll make it right to the top
Your bullshit gets me, what have you got?" - Truck Driver's Gear Change: "Winter Dreams", the Power Ballad from Balls to the Wall, has three verses, and goes up a key at the beginning of the second verse and again at the third verse.
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The lyrics of "Metal Heart" (written in 1985) begin with "It is 1999 [...]"
- Wanderlust Song: "Seawinds" – a melancholic-sounding Power Ballad from the self-titled debut album – has lyrics which are entirely about this topic; for example:"In a cold and dark December
As I walked into the rain
Stood beside the road all night long
In the grey December morning
I decided to leave my home
Took a train to nowhere, far away
Far away" - War Is Hell:
- "Sounds of War" (from the self-titled debut album) is a straightforward example of this lyrical theme:"Shooting guns I hear from everywhere, loud
Bombs are falling out of dark grey clouds
Tanks are coming, beware of the chains
Children are suffering, they CRY FOR HELP!" - "Shake Your Heads" (from Restless and Wild) begins with a more general expression of a gloomy state of affairs in the then-president day ("See the world around you, deep, dark, and grey"), then goes on to mention the looming threat of nuclear war:"Wars of aggression
Mankind's favorite game
A press on the button
A world in flames" - "T.V. War" (from Russian Roulette) begins with lyrics about television viewers treating news coverage of distant foreign warsnote as a form of entertainmentside note , then abruptly shifts to an announcement of an incoming ICBM attack, implying that World War III has begun:"T.V. war is part of life
Entertaining and far, far away
What a story and how they fight
Let's gamble and guess who will win
[…]
Information - in between
Missiles are in the air
You can hear them and see
They're already here" - "Russian Roulette" (the title track) expresses a soldier's resentment towards the dehumanizing treatment he's been subjected to, and says that no amount of medals/awards can ever pay him back for the loss of his life in combat:"That's what you like to do
To treat a man like a pig
And when I'm dead and gone
It's an award I've won
Do you think that pays
Pays for my life?
Which I give now when I die" - "Stand Tight" (from Russian Roulette, yet again) has lyrics about a Drill Sergeant Nasty, written from the perspective of one of his subordinates:"You say you've got to drill me
And you let me kiss your gun
I have to clean your boots
In every way you like
You deny my human rights
You don't make it easy!" - Although "Blood of the Nations" (the title track) depicts war in a less negative light than is usual for Accept's lyrics, it nevertheless uses the exact phrase "war is hell" in its lyrics:"We're brothers, hand in hand
We kill and we die
Blood of the nations
Cause war is hell
We pay with our lives" - "Stalingrad" (the title track) describes the half-year-long battle/siege of Stalingrad, with well over a million combat casualties, during World War II:"So hungry, so cold
We're only following orders
We gave our hearts and souls
Brothers we find, frozen in time
In Stalingrad"
- "Sounds of War" (from the self-titled debut album) is a straightforward example of this lyrical theme:
- Why Am I Ticking?: "Metal Heart" is about a disease in 1999 which turns human hearts into timebombs.
- Yes-Man:
- Mentioned by name in "Feelings" (from Breaker), apparently in reference to a low-ranking office worker's bosses:"You work all day long
You're stuck to the phone
Burn up a hundred cigarettes
The yes-men you know
They tell you "no go"
And dissatisfaction's all you get" - In "Flash Rockin' Man" (from Restless and Wild), this phrase is once again used to refer to management typesnote :"A servant of the yes-men
If people knew, what would they say?"
- Mentioned by name in "Feelings" (from Breaker), apparently in reference to a low-ranking office worker's bosses: