Balls to the Wall

Even though German power metal band, “Accept” received quite some recognition after releasing their first 4 albums they did not appeal to the masses. But after the release of this single, “Balls To The Wall” which is taken from the album of the same name this changed drastically. This single was very controversial and the name of the song had the band titled as gay metal but it was later that it was found out that lyrically the song was about how the oppressed will one day rise against the oppressors.

There are 2 tracks on this single, both of the same album, “Balls To The Wall” and, “Losing More Than You Ever Had”. The title track would eventually become the bands most famous track and would remain so even after many of new releases. The song follows the basic German style power metal song structure i.e. a guitar intro followed by drums and the vocals coming in with the verse which is followed by the chorus. This track is amazingly catchy and even more amazingly simple in every aspect, be it the riffs or the drumming. So catchy is the track that once you are half way through the track you’ll be humming to the most famous chorus is power metal history. There is a breakdown in the middle of the track where there is nothing but a bass line and Udo’s vocals. This track is a perfect example that if a band gets the basics right then they do not need to be the fastest or the most technical to achieve fame.

The other track “Losing More Than You Ever Had” follows the same song structure as in the above track and is almost similar is very aspect except that there is a guitar solo after the breakdown instead of a bass line after the breakdown as was the case with the previous track Also the production of the songs is top-notch, almost hard to believe that it was recorded in the early 80's.

Now the reason why I have called this track one of the most important tracks in power metal history is because of the fact that before the release of the track “Balls To The Wall” power metal never appealed to the majority of the masses and the genre was almost ignored. It was after this track that more and more people got into power metal. This track laid down a strong base on which the empire of power metal now stands.

(Revised and redone)