Customer Reviews

Mean Machine

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I arrived at my score of four stars for this album like this: Firstly I took it as read that Balls to the Wall was a five star release. Nuff said. I then looked at the mans first solo album and despite it's serviceability it didn't it the bullseye terribly often. So I gave that three stars in my review. So it only remained for me to compare this album to those two benchmarks.

And as far as I'm concerned this is clearly better than Animal House. The musicians on that were good but the songs weren't as sturdy as the ones here. There is more of a feel of weighty importance here and less 'average 80's metal' inflections to the songs and production and Mean Machine seems to benefit from Udo being more attuned to being essentially a solo act. All the incremental improvement means that the straight ahead traditional metal here merits a better score than Animal House.

As to comparisons with Balls to the Wall? Well unltimately this doesn't feel as varied as that meisterwerk. There is some variety here from the heads down metal pounding in some of the tunes but it just doesn't feel as expansive. Almost like where Accept as of '84 could of still ruled the planet, here all involved know that all they can hope to dominate is a chunk of the German metal market. A creditable niche to be sure and one filled with knowledgeable fans who value history etc, but still a smaller world than the one that seemed to beckon for Udo with his previous band.

So there you go, hopefully my reasoning behind my score makes sense to you!

This album is from the former lead singer of Accept. It has a similar vibe to Accept, but not quite as good as the real thing. A few shining moments are there if your an Accept or UDO fan.

This is a good UDO album. It rocks and has good melodic lyrics. I would recommend this CD along with Animal House as far as the solo work of UDO goes.

I have the cassette version of this album so I can't speak for any bonus tracks. I recently burned it to CD and have listened to it several times. One thing about UDO, he can't be mistaken for anyone else! With a voice that sounds like he swallows scrap metal and mellows it out with battery acid, there is just nobody like him.

I saw him with Accept on their Balls To The Wall tour in the 80's in Spain and he almost didn't even need the PA. The guy's voice is powerful!

This is the only solo album I have by Udo and it rocks pretty good. The music is not as memorable as I would like, but it is well played.

Udo's voice is kind of like Lemmy, an acquired taste. If you get used to it, he can rock with the best of them. Highly recommended.

This is one you will weap at. You will cry because you will love this album more than you can imagine. You will have a special safe just to store it in. Mathias dieths guitar wisardry is nothing short of brillance of the ages. I wouldn't sell you my copy if you offerd me $1000 and a crack at your girl-friend. Ok maybe but I'm going to burn it first. Udo is the greatest heavy metal singer of all time. He is heavy metal. The mix on this album is first class. Mark Dodson is a hell of a great producer and engineer. In short one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time.

UDO at his best. This album compares with many of the Accept list and is by far the best solo release. Great add to your metal collection. Break the rules and Painted love rock!