History of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal: Accept

With their brutal, simple riffs and aggressive, fast tempos, Accept was one of the top metal bands of the early '80s, and a major influence on the development of thrash. Led by the unique vocal stylings of screeching banshee Udo Dirkschneider, the band forged an instantly recognizable sound and was notorious as one of the decade's fiercest live acts.

Udo formed Accept in his hometown of Solingen, Germany, in the early '70s, but it wasn't until quite a few years later that the band settled on a somewhat stable lineup, including guitarists Wolf Hoffman and Gerhard Wahl, bassist Peter Baltes, and drummer Frank Friedrich. A well-received performance at the Rock Amrhein Festival in 1976 brought them national attention, and they finally obtained a recording contract after replacing Wahl with guitarist Jorg Fischer two years later. Issued in 1979, their eponymous debut was badly produced, featured mostly subpar songwriting, and did absolutely nothing for the group. But with the arrival of new drummer Stefan Kaufmann prior to 1980s much-improved I'm a Rebel, the band had the final ingredient they were looking for, and their popularity began growing by leaps and bounds.

1981's even more accomplished Breaker was engineered by Michael Wagener (who would go on to produce such major hard rock acts as Motley Crue, Alice Cooper, and Ozzy Osbourne, among others) and continued to develop Accept's trademark sound, featuring the massive crunch and tight precision of Hoffman and Fischer's guitars laying the foundation for Dirkschneider's inimitable shriek.

All the elements were falling into place, and with the release of 1982's Restless and Wild, Accept finally stamped their passports to stardom. A heavy metal milestone, the album broke the band's career wide open, established their signature sound for years to come, and in the incredible "Fast as a Shark," featured possibly the first true thrash metal song ever recorded. Guitarist Hermann Frank was brought in for the ensuing tour, which, thanks to their ferocious live shows (including choreographed headbanging stage antics), turned the band into true stars all across Europe and the U.K. 1983's equally revered Balls to the Wall was an even greater commercial triumph, and qualified as one of the most obsessive, sexually explicit albums of all time. Led by the controversial title track, it broke the band worldwide and earned them their first magazine headlines in America.

With America now looming in their sight, the band decided to hire producer Dieter Dirks (of Scorpions fame) to give 1985's Metal Heart a more commercial edge and extra sense of melody. Also with U.S. audiences in mind, they abandoned the hedonistic fetishes of releases past in favor of a much lighter sexual tone and typical heavy metal subject matter like the title track's apocalyptic vision. The results were mixed, for while the album certainly helped to further their cause in the States — where they embarked upon a very successful tour sharing a double bill with Swiss hard rockers Krokus — it tarnished their reputation among some of their loyal following back home.

Russian Roulette, again with Michael Wagener at the controls, was a somewhat rushed, halfhearted attempt to backtrack into more aggressive metal territory, the album led to a serious splintering within the group, and after headlining a sold-out European tour with Dokken in support, Accept announced that they were taking an open-ended break.

Udo went on to form his own band U.D.O., but eventually the group re-formed for a few albums in the 90s before calling it a day in 1997.