Balls to the Wall?
I listened to this album a lot when it came out and I still like Accept but this is really not their best stuff. 'Metal Heart' and this album brought this German hybrid of of Judas Priest and AC/DC into the spotlight. Like a lot of other metal from the mid-80s, it has just passed its expiration date.
Songs about putting your balls to the wall and plugging an explosive into everyone's rectum as a sign of victory isn't really that appealing. A sign of victory to what I wonder. London leatherboys? Sounds like a gay S&M song.
Udo Dirkschneider is a reasonably good singer to the likes of Brian Johnson and Wolf Hoffmann is a good lead guitarist which keeps Accept in the above average level of otherwise forgettable '80s bands like Armored Saint or Grim Reaper. Most of this album is pretty forgettable stuff. This is not the album you want to start with if you're going to listen to Accept though. I would choose 'Metal Heart' over 'Balls to the Wall' if you are considering between the two. 'Restless and Wild' and 'Breaker' are their best albums in my book: heavier and more original. .
Classic Metal
Balls To The Wall and London Leather Boys are worth it alone. This is by far the best Accept album as far as I'm concerned. I got to see them live with the Scorpions in Madrid, Spain and they put on a great show.
The rest of the songs are pretty good too, but sometimes Udo's voice gets a little much with his screaming. However, that is a minor thing and not even worth knocking this review down a star.
This is great stuff and I highly recommend it.
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All Balls to the Wall
Accepts best album! Classic 80's rock in the vain of the mighty AC/DC before the hair band craze hit the radio.
TIMELESS, QUALITY, GUT-WRENCHING METAL!!!
Udo Dirkschneider (vocals) and Wolf Hoffman (lead guitars) may very well be one of the all-time great hard rock/metal duo's in the business. Simply put, they don't make quality Heavy Metal like this anymore (harder to find these days)! Searing hot, snarling, fist and teeth clenching, bombastic, highly structured and serious killer Metal riffing and leads with great songwriting and vocals. Just a superb, genre-leading metal masterpiece!!!.
It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This !!!
It's really that good. Balls To The Wall is not only one of the greatest Accept albums of all times,it is truly one of the greatest metal albums of all time! In fact,along with "Holy Diver" from Dio,"Pyromania" from Def Leppard and "Headhunter" from Krokus,this is what I would play for someone who has never heard 80s style metal. Accept is one of my favorite bands and this CD has all the reasons for that. Udo has never sounded better with his trademark screaming vocals (no one sounds quite like him,no one,and that's the sign of a legend),Wolf is in top form as usual for great lead guitar work and the rest of the band is just awesome. As great as this is,it is not my favorite Accept album,that honor goes to the one that followed this "Metal Heart" but in all fairness I'm a sucker for melody and that was their most melodic album. However,when it comes to THE classic Accept sound,you simply can't beat this. It has the radio smash hit "Balls To The Walls" the amazing "London Leather Boys", and so much more. Every song on here is a classic and how many CDs can you truly say that about? This CD was my first taste of Accept. I was at a concert in 1983 (it was a Kix concert being from Pennsylvania where they played alot) and my favorite memory of that night was not the concert itself (which was great too) it was the CD they played before the concert. I heard this fantastic song called Head Over Heels,then I heard "Turn Me On" then I heard "Love Child" and then I heard "Balls To The Walls" and at that point I said "I have got to buy this CD" the next day I went to the record store and bought it and listened to it so much I wore out my cassette (thank goodness for CDs). To truly appreciate this masterpiece,you have to really crank up the volume. I recommend this to anyone just discovering Accept or hard rock music in general. It doesn't get much better!
The Pros:Everything. Of course the title track "Balls To The Wall" ,"London Leather Boys", "Head Over Heels" ,the very sexual lyrics to "Turn Me On" the very brave lyrics to "Love Child" (it took a lot of courage to write about homosexual feelings in a metal band),"Losers And Winners" and "Losing More Than You Ever Had".
The Cons:The only thing I can come up with for this,is the guitar sound is a little dryer than the previous release "Restless And Wild" but it still sounds great. The production is awesome and the songwriting is amazing.
The Bottom Line:I can't recommend this highly enough. It is a true masterpiece. The performance and the songwriting. The only other advice I can give about this is play it on 10 to get maximum effect. Donutman says so!!!.
You can see a complete list of all Accept discography, or go back to the Accept tabs
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