Customer Reviews

Russian Roullette

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

 

 

Accept was a German metal band that sounded like a cross between Judas Priest and AC/DC with a troll as lead singer who resembled an over-the-top mesh of Bon Scott and Brian Johnson.

Accept released ten studio albums during their career; most cite "Restless & Wild" (1983) and "Balls to the Wall" (1984) as their best recordings. This is true but I feel 1986's "Russian Roulette" stands on a par with these two earlier releases.

Here's a run down of the songs on "Russian Roulette:"

1.) T.V. WAR (3/5 Stars): This is an energetic and fun metal rocker reminiscent of "Fast as a Shark" but not as good.

2.) MONSTERMAN (5/5 Stars): "Monsterman" is brief at a mere 3:24, but it's catchy as heck. The bridge is melodically potent and the chorus is uniquely inspired. You'll never hear anything else like it. Who knows what the lyrics are about, who cares?

3.) RUSSIAN ROULETTE (4/5 Stars): The titular song eerily starts off with a militaristic drone and riff before kicking into a mid-paced slice of 80's non-hair-band metal. In light of the chorus one wonders why they didn't call the song "Wargames."

4.) IT'S HARD TO FIND A WAY (4.5/5 Stars): This is a catchy pop rocker with an incredibly hook-laden chorus. It should have been a hit on the radio. Some cried "Sell out!" but, come on, it's just ONE song.

5.) AIMING HIGH (3/5 Stars): This isn't a bad piece of filler between the better songs.

6.) HEAVEN IS HELL (5/5 Stars): This is the second masterpiece of the album. It's structure is very reminiscent of "Balls to the Wall," although it doesn't sound like that song. The lyrics are an intriguing commentary on religion and religious people with the conclusion that we experience (or make our own) heaven or hell during our life on this earth. I strongly agree with some of their points and disagree with others but, regardless, the lyrics are not presented in an offensive way. Here's one stanza that I wholeheartedly agree with:

I'm sure we all know them
Those perverts, they're everywhere
Mmm, we're talking straight about facts
You know deep inside what's right or wrong
And the world stinks, and the paradise is now a sewer
And they sell sh*t for gold
And you have to take what you've got

As you can see the words are honest, overt, slightly ambiguous and completely brilliant all at the same time.

7.) ANOTHER SECOND TO BE (3/5 Stars): Another brief enjoyable ditty.

8.) WALKING IN THE SHADOW (4/5 Stars): Emotionally potent and intriguing tune that deals with a person struggling to live on in face of the 58,000 that died during the Vietnam conflict. Whether the guilt is over one combat victim or all 58,000 is unclear.

9.) MAN ENOUGH TO CRY (4.5/5 Stars): Great short piece! The title somewhat reveals the mature subject matter, but the lyrics maintain an esoteric element.

10.) STAND TIGHT (5/5 Stars): This is a creative and aggressive number with a melodic bridge and ultra-catchy chorus with cool backgound vocals. It has militaristic vibe and is the third masterpiece of the album.

Some have criticized that Accept were trying to go pop rock on this album but nothing could be further from the truth. "Russian Roulette" features the same diverse song-writing of both "Restless & Wild" and "Balls to the Wall." Yeah, one or two songs would've fit well on the radio, so what?

One thing this CD proves is that Accept had perhaps the best background vocals in all of metal at the time and even to this day (!).

"Russian Roulette" is quite a bit better than the good-but-not-great "Metal Heart," which was released in 1985. The song-writing on "Metal Heart" just wasn't as good, plus Udo (the singer) went overkill with his irritating screaming, which no doubt turned off potential life-long fans. In addition, as another reviewer rightly points out, by 1986 Accept's style of metal had passed its expiration date; more extreme forms of the genre had usurped the hearts of fans. Don't get me wrong, Accept were excellent at what they did, but they refused to deviate from their basic style (nothing wrong with that -- "to thine own self be true"). Hence, when "Russian Roulette" was released the next year not many took notice. They should have.

`Russian Roulette' could be seen as the beginning of the end for German metal monsters Accept but it is still a fine record. Not on par with `Restless & Wild' or `Balls to the Wall' but just as good as its predecessor `Metal Heart', the band's seventh LP was the end of an era as founding member and vocalist Udo Dirkschneider left the band soon after to begin his solo career. Dissatisfied with the growing commercial elements in the band's sound, Udo was making a statement and unfortunately for me personally, Accept ceased to be a serious player in the truly global world of heavy metal. `Russian Roulette' is still pretty heavy and shows that the band ended their golden age fighting all the way - "Aiming High" as it were. Is there redundancy or a sense of - been there done that with this record? Yes but I would say that `Russian Roulette' rewards the listener with repeated spins and the first three songs are great - "TV War", "Monster Man" and the title track all keep the tradition alive of pulverizing political metal. And yes "Heaven Is Hell" is very similar to "Balls to the Wall" but it is still an enjoyable ditty. Maybe the one complaint that I would say is legit is that much of the second half of this LP is filler or at the very least very formulaic and that does drag it down (though "Man Enough to Cry" sticks in my brain like a hypnotic suggestion. Regardless of the album's shortcomings, `Russian Roulette' is a hell of a lot better than most commercial metal of 1986 and for that the goofy troll and fatigues should be celebrated.

1986 would be known for two trends in hard rock music. Thrash metal would hit the mainstream as Metallica and Slayer would release two of the classics of the genre, Master of Puppets and Reign in Blood, respectively. Megadeth would also breakthrough with their excellent release, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying. It would also be the year where European metal bands really started to streamline their sound to find success in America. This was often met with disappointing results as evidenced by Judas Priest's poppy and mediocre Turbo release and Saxon's weak Rock the Nations album. Accept would follow a somewhat similar path with Russian Roulette. They tried to keep their heavy sound while softening things up a bit on a few songs. The result revealed a once strong band that had passed their creative peak. The quasi-thrash of "T.V. War", the galloping "Another Second To Be", the melodic "Man Enough To Cry", and the title track were all good but not great. "It's Hard to Find A Way" was an attempt at the big power ballad and while the song isn't bad, it's just not Accept. Further tracks like "Monsterman", "Aiming High", and the Balls to the Wall rewrite "Heaven is Hell" all leave the same feeling; they've done songs like these before but better. After this album, Udo Dirkschneider would leave the band and while the original lineup would reunite in the `90s, their early to mid-80's magic never quite returned.

this is sadly the last of a string of classic albums put out by these heavy metal pioneers! yes it is their most melodic album but is still very heavy and fast i dont understand the negative opinions out there about this album seems to me they took all the best elements of their past work and crystallized it down to its finest point on this release a heavy metal melodic masterpiece in my opinion!

'Metal Heart' and 'Balls to the Wall' were the first hit albums that brought this German hybrid version of Judas Priest and AC/DC into the spotlight and this is the album that followed the two. I listened to this album a lot when it came out and I still like Accept but this is really not their best stuff. Like a lot of other metal from the mid-80s, it has just passed its expiration date.

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. The title track is pretty good along with 'Aiming High' and 'Heaven is Hell' but the rest is pretty forgettable.

This is not the album you want to start with if you're going to listen to Accept though. 'Balls to the Wall' and 'Metal Heart' are better albums but 'Restless and Wild' and 'Breaker' are their best albums in my book: heavier and more original.