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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Their Finest Piece of Work!, November 27, 2002
I can listen to any Accept CD and enjoy it. However, this album is heads above the rest of their work. "Balls To the Wall" gives it all to you; ripping-fast motivational rants like "Winners and Losers," melancholy "Cold Winter Nights," and Udo growling the song "London Leatherboys;" nobody can turn a raspy gutteral voice into great music the way Udo Dirkschneider can! And not a lot of mid 80s metal bands had the guts to pen a song like "Lovechild," about a guy coming to terms with his gay lifestyle. There is a two CD set out there that includes this album along with "Restless and Wild." "Restless and Wild" is a really good album, and if you want a basic "best of" Accept collection, it's a good buy. If you are starting to get quite an ear for Accept and plan to get a thorough collection of their music, the extra concert tracks on this particular album are quality enough to shell out the extra dollars for this CD separate from "Restless & Wild." If you haven't listened to this band before, this CD is the perfect introduction!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"They're gonna break their chains", April 14, 2005
Accept's fifth album Balls to the Wall is their most well-known album due to the popular title track whose music video played often on MTV in 1984; a time when MTV actually played music videos. While the title track is classic and there is a lot of other excellent metal power tracks on this album, I believe that their previous 1983 release, Restless and Wild, is Accept's best. Still, Balls is a solid 4 ½-star album. It is, lyrically, a harsher, more sexually-charged album than any of Accept's other releases. It is also perhaps their most controversial release with sexually ambiguous numbers likes "London Leatherboys" and, especially, "Love Child."
Germany's answer to Judas Priest begins this album with their most famous and one of their best tracks. "Balls to the Wall" kicks well what the title suggests or, in my case, something else entirely (I'm a metal chick). While I favor "Restless and Wild" as their best track, "Balls" is incredibly intense. "London Leatherboys" got some attention back in the day, especially coupled with the cover artwork and the band photo on the inner sleeve (in vinyl terms). The cover, of course, has a seductive (well, it depends on what you're into) look at a leather-clad man's hairy leg. The inner sleeve shows Udo in his customary military garb surrounded by his shirtless bandmates (I don't think very many people in the world wanted to see a shirtless Udo). Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and drummer Stefan Kaufmann even have their arms linked. I'm not speculating on anything here, but hearing the German metal demons chanting "London Leatherboys" is a bit unnerving. Still, the song, musically, is good. Moving on, the rest of the tracks on side one are amazing. "Fight It Back" is a killer, blood-rushing track and, in this case, the lyrics enhance rather than distract: "Always been the prophets who make the world evolve. Always been the average breaking it down." "Head Over Heels" is a catchy song. The music doesn't follow the lyrics which are very sexually-driven about a man needing to peep at a couple getting hot and heavy in a dark alley. "Losing More Than You Ever Had" is a slower, more accessible track.
Unlike Restless and Wild, which is solid from first track to last, the first half of Balls is much better than the second. "Love Child" probably has the most peculiar lyrics: "Feeling the power of lust when the guy's passing by" and more directly "Don't know what I am a woman or a man." "Turn Me On" is just a straight up, raw shot to the groin ("I can't wait to get you down on the dirty floor"). "Losers and Winners" is another odd track. It is very harsh lyrically. It is about a man pining after a woman. Udo advises him to write her a letter expressing his feelings. It is a little comical hearing the German metal gods chanting "Write a letter!" Then the tables are turned: "You should give me the letter I'll use it for my own (haha)" and later "Why don't you take it easy and sc**w the girl who's next to you." Wow, rough stuff. While the music takes center stage on side one, the lyrics seem to overpower the music for most of the songs on side two. It ends with two interesting tracks, although they are not as memorable as the two epic tracks on Restless ("Neon Nights" and "Princess of the Dawn"). "Guardian of the Night" offers a beautiful guitar intro and is nice, especially the melody at the line "Can't you hear it always trembling in my voice." "Winterdreams" also has a nice guitar intro and offers a pleasant, calming mood. It is a slow track but with a more uplifting sound than other slow Accept numbers that are almost always dark. It is a nice way to end the metal brutality of Balls to the Wall. While many probably consider this the "must have" Accept record, I think that Restless and Wild is. Still, all fans of 1980s metal need Balls to the Wall, it is a solid #2 in the Accept discography.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic 80s Metal -- Judas Priest + AC/DC + Troll as Lead Singer, September 11, 2006
I remember in 1984 when I first heard the song "Balls to the Wall" on the radio. The song was by an intriguing German band I never heard of: Accept. Needless to say the song utterly blew me away! It sounded like AC/DC but way more sophisticated and with a vocalist that, while reminiscent of both of AC/DC's singers, was even MORE over-the-top, if you can believe that. Anyway, I immediately went out and purchased the album "Balls to the Wall."
After digesting it I concluded that, although "Balls" was indeed the best song on the recording, there were about four or five other songs of premium quality. As for the rest, they were decent; I certainly wouldn't call them 'filler,' like a lot of songs on just about every Iron Maiden release.
As for the lyrics, they were generally intelligent and covered a good spectrum -- politics on a social, sexual and global level, but some left me baffled like "Love Child" where singer Udo states: "Feeling the power of lust when the guy's passing by" and "Don't know what I am, a woman or a man." It helped later when I found out the lyrics were written by their female manager Gaby Hauke (i.e. "Deaffy").
Here's a run-down of the songs:
1.) BALLS TO THE WALL (5/5 Stars). This is nothing short of a masterpiece -- musically kick-a$$ and lyrically profound. It's a paean for the rights of the oppressed and a call to revolution.
2.) LONDON LEATHERBOYS (4/5 STARS). This one has riffs reminiscent of Judas Priest's "Killing Machine," but the song itself is arguably better. The lyrics detail the tragic story of a London bike gang.
3.) FIGHT IT BACK (3/5 Stars). This is a likable, aggressive number that addresses freedom from conventional social drudgery (e.g. 'punching in' and doing your time).
4.) HEAD OVER HEALS (5/5 Stars). Starts out with a lonely bass riff followed by a creative guitar accompaniment. This is one of the best songs on the album. The lyrics interestingly deal with going to a park late at night and stumbling upon people having sex (!), subsequently becoming entranced.
5.)LOSING MORE THAN YOU'VE EVER HAD (5/5 Stars). This song shows that Udo can do much more than scream in an irritating manner. The mature lyrics personally address the ex-boyfriend of an abused woman (as in 'give it up, you've lost her'). This song is emotionally potent and is one of the highlights of the CD.
6.)LOVE CHILD (3/5 Stars). Decent number about a charismatic dude that oozes sexuality and incites lust.
7.)TURN ME ON (3/5 Stars). This one has an infectious chorus and a smoking lead guitar solo; the subject matter is obvious.
8.) LOSERS AND WINNERS (2/5 Stars). I'm not a big fan of this ditty; the lyrics are inoffensive but dumb. Example: "Write a letter (What's the matter) You'll feel better (Write a letter)." Without a doubt the least of the numbers on the album.
9.) GUARDIAN OF THE NIGHT (4.5/5 Stars). Starts out with a nice acoustic piece and then gets ultra-heavy (for that era, at least). The lyrics deal with a night-loving misfit that is unable to fit into conventional society.
10.) WINTERDREAMS (5/5 Stars). This one begins with a moody, plodding bass followed by an acoustic guitar, leading to some power chords in the distant and UDO's great singing voice. The chorus is melodic and acoustic in nature. The lyrics deal with a person experiencing a beautiful and surreal moment of magic in the middle of a winter snowfall.
BONUS SONGS: Live versions of "Head Over Heals" and "Love Child" are included. These songs prove one thing: Accept are perfectly capable of recreating their songs in a live setting; in fact, both songs sound even better than their studio counterparts. Udo is nothing short of magnificent live!
As for the heavily criticized cover art/photo: I like it and think it's completely fitting to the themes covered on the disk. I say this with an unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality, I might add. Interestingly, Motley Crue's debut album "Too Fast for Love" had a very similar cover (albeit inferior) and was released about the same time.
The sleeve features the best close-up picture of the band ever taken. It's just a great picture (and, yes, I say that with an unmarred record of heterosexuality as well).
FINAL ANALYSIS: This 1984 metal recording is a mandatory purchase if just for the song "Balls to the Wall;" fortunately there's so much more. Needless to say, I refuse to even take calls from metal friends that don't have this in their listening arsenal.
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