Twenty-two years later and I still haven't gotten that "You'll get your balls to the wall, man!", chorus completely out of my head. That song and the album Balls To The Wall were released in 1984 when Accept were at the height of their popularity, but even then, they were still really just a B-list band, when compared to other '80s metal acts such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and their fellow German axe slingers the Scorpions. In fairness though, Accept were always more of a thrash-metal band, closer in style to Slayer and Anthrax, before they went and melodicized their sound, in an attempt to appease the American rock radio gods.
Metal Blast From The Past is one of the most content rich DVD packages I have come across in a while. Not only do you get a complete live concert performance from one of the band's biggest world tours in 1985, but you also get three songs from a '93 Sophia, Bulgaria concert, seven videos, behind-the-scenes footage, a discography, a biography, and nine previously unreleased audio tracks on the flip side of the DVD. Sounds like one hell of a bargain for under 20 dollars right? Well, it could have, and should have been, but the poor production quality of this material makes most of it almost unbearable to watch.
The disk menu is laid out nicely with each main category arranged in a circle below the Accept logo and around a vault dial. The response time is painfully slow for anything you select, and there were a few problems with some of the menus, such as the Video Clips menu not going to the correct song, or going back to the menu when you hit the chapter skip button. There are even more problems if you watch this thing on a computer. The DVD case also incorrectly lists one the Live Sophia '93 songs as "Starlight" and leaves off "Bulletproof".
The Staying A Life documentary, which features a live Osaka, Japan concert filmed in 1985, is the main feature of this DVD. Although twelve songs are listed, by no means do you get twelve complete song performances. This is first and foremost a documentary. Each song gets interrupted, to an almost ridiculous degree, by the most annoying, generic, Casey Kasem-sounding person I have ever heard.
Article comments
1 - rob
I saw Accept open for Dio in the summer of '86. What a great show. They blew Dio off the stage that night. They were great.
2 - Triniman
In fairness though, Accept were always more of a thrash-metal band, closer in style to Slayer and Anthrax, before they went and melodicized their sound...
Interesting comment. Name some songs that made them sound closer in style to Slayer and Anthrax.
3 - Paul Roy
OK, I'll cede your point Triniman. Accept were obviously nowhere near as hardcore thrash as Slayer, but songs like "Fast As A Shark" and "Fight It Back" were certainly a warm-up for heavier things to come.
4 - Triniman
Paul, fill me in. What were some of those "heavier things to come" that you speak of. I'm a little clued out here.
5 - Paul Roy
Heavier BANDS such as Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and the like.