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Accept - Russian Roulette Track
Listing: Line-Up: Website: hem.passagen.se/jeroma Horatio's Rating: C Also be sure to read:
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Horatio's
Review: 'Metal Heart' was a reasonable effort for all its melody and lessening of overall heaviness, but 'Russian Roulette' saw Accept starting to pick up where they had left off with 'Balls To The Wall'. The only problem? It was too late. While it never comes close to nearing the excellence of 'Breaker' or 'Restless And Wild' it contains various classics in 'T.V. War', 'Monsterman', 'Aiming High' and 'Stand Tight'. There's a couple of time wasters in 'It's Hard To Find A Way' and 'Man Enough To Cry', both verging on AOR, not what you want from Accept. What you want is a 'Down And Out' and 'Fast As A Shark', the latter never approached in terms of overall heaviness here. Accept probably should have released this as a six song e.p. as much of side two is tepid to say the least. Song summaries include: T.V. War - A frantic opener in the tradition of 'Fast As A Shark', minus the thrash like riffs. Rather heavier than much of the previous two albums, as if Udo had convinced the others to go all out on his last stand.Monsterman - A massive anthem, with trademark melodies and a chantable chorus. Accept might have been German, but they always rose above the usual 80's German sound which came across as amateurish as certain bands struggled to get to grips with the English language and American styled heaviness. Only Accept and The Scorpions truly got to grips with it. Russian Roulette - Memorable for the line, 'wargames, shanghai!'. Aside from that, another competent anthem and a great vocal from Udo. Not overly heavy, but fairly dramatic, and a nice bridge to boot. It's Hard To Find A Way - On the surface very well composed, as Accept prove their AOR worth, with some fantastic harmonies and melody lines, but at this point it should have been all out metal. This might have been a hit for The Scorpions. Aiming High - I could listen to this all day. Brutally relentless with self confident lyrics involving the words 'hard and heavy!'. The chorus sticks in one's head instantly, proof of Accept's mastery of the unifying metal anthem that brings one and all together! You can do it! Heaven And Hell - Side two is shambolic opposed to the first, this starting the proceedings in earnest. Dull Euro metal that erases the positives of side one. Plodding and melodically very drab. Another Second To Be - Galloping gonads aplenty thanks to a chugging riff, and the hook isn't too shabby. Somehow I could imagine dozing off listening to this, however. You know, drifting off, mid evening, wake up, got a headache, have to take a shower, throw up, feel better, eat a toasted cheese sandwich and ice cream and get diarrhea. What, that never happened to you? Walking In The Shadow - Tedious. It's all going wrong. The melodies are so uninspired. Definitely going through the motions. Man Enough To Cry - Maybe it's because I'm tired writing this or perhaps it's due to the tragic chorus Accept created that I feel this way. Whatever the case another flop, and suddenly 'Metal Heart' seems like the equivalent of 'Restless And Wild'. Stand Tight - The only reason to wade through side two, as Udo-era Accept goes out on a high note with another defiant anthem that sounds like a leftover from 'Balls To The Wall'. It could be said the line 'we all stand together' sounds fairly gay, especially the way they say it, but that's part of the parcel with Accept. Like 'Youthanasia' this album would have been better trimmed to six songs. Sad to see an album fall apart the way this does. Horatio's Rating: C Discography (last updated 6.22.06): |
