Breaker

Here’s where European metal gets a serious kick in it’s boogie-obsessed, old fashioned, and overly Sabbath dependent ass. To this point in time (meaning since their ’79 debut album) Germany’s Accept had been following the same dull path by as so many on their continent. But along with Mercyful Fate, they soon helped re-align European metal brains towards music altogether more forward thinking. In Fate’s case it was all about darkness, iconography and complexity. For Accept it was about speed, power and purposeful virtuosity. The band always had an aggressive factor in the nasal grunt of singer Udo Dirkschneider (closest cousin: AC/DC’s Bon Scott), easily one of the most distinctive singers in metal history. But the band’s two guitar membership (highlighted by lead player Wolf Hoffman, an always economical and tasteful solo author) is equally important, pushing the envelope away from the syrupy riffing of the seventies and towards music far more urgent.

The title cut itself is a classic among classics managing, amongst it’s hard, heads down pace, to include some remarkable writing, sharp riffing and a previously unheard level of aggression from Udo. Similarly snarling is “Son Of A Bitch,” which uses a churning, slightly ominous riff to great advantage, Udo really sounding unhinged as he belts out the profane chorus. Another important ingredient in the future of this band can be heard on “Midnight Highway,” which blends energetic playing with irresistible melodic riffs. And while the band do revert to boogie format on the long and fast “Burner,” it’s energy is still damn impressive.

This is one of the indispensable records of it’s day, a sign to the metal faithful that ever more diabolical sounds were right around the corner, from all corners of the globe. By all means don’t stop here, jump to ‘82’s Restless And Wild to dig how much further Accept would take this theory.

"Breaker" is a pretty solid album, and the first really classic Accept record. Udo's wails are as high and raw as ever, the guitarwork of Wolf Hoffman is catchy as hell. The rest (bass and drums) is barely noticeable, as the guitars and vocals are way louder in the mix, which I believe was 100% intentional.
These production values are pretty annoying at times, as the guitars don't get the necessary support from drums and bass, and thus loses some punch. Everything on here is really too low, but we have to keep in mind that this was released in 1981, so the crappy production can be overlooked in favour of some great songwriting that can be found on here.

It's a very consistent album, without any songs that stand out as weak. One song is kinda sub-par, which is the opener "Starlight", mostly thanks to somewhat generic riffs and an incredibly dumb and boring chorus. Still, it's not a complete waste, and the solo absolutely slays!
"Run if You Can" is also kinda average, although it does have a killer melodic chorus, which shows Udo's cleaner and more emotional side very well.
The rest is all pretty killer stuff. "Breaker" is pretty damn nifty speed metal with a cool melodic chorus, and one of the definite highlights on here.
"Burning" is another highlight; an energetic and damn catchy heavy metal tune, with a great sing-along chorus and the bass highlighting section as notable standouts. "Feelings" is probably the best song on here, and is just heavy fucking metal all the way. Wolf Hoffman delivers galloping riffs that would make Dave Murray wet his pants, and Udo's vocals are as intense and raw as ever, and the lyrics are just incredibly cool. And for the last highlight we have "Midnight Highway", most notably because of that chorus melody, which reeks of AC/DC worship.

And it's quite obvious that AC/DC was one of the biggest musical influences on the band, at least in the old days. The raw, high-pitched vocals are definitely comparable to Bon Scott at times, although Udo Dirkschneider is far more vicious. And of course, there is the underlying sense of groove in all Accept's material, which isn't too far from some of AC/DC's ideas. Still, Accept carve a very own sound, which would keep evolving for many years to come.
Their early material was a bit underdeveloped at times and don't showcase much melodic depth, and the production isn't what it could be, but albums like "Breaker" and "Restless & Wild" has that completely raw and in-your-face Heavy Fucking Metal attitude, which is sure to rip the ears apart of all poseurs within a ten miles from the site of the turntable or boombox blasting the album in question.

But "Breaker" is not all about kicking ass and heavy metal. There are two ballads to be found here, "Can't Stand The Night" and "Breaking Up Again". The first one features some very nice underlying guitar melodies and solid basswork over it, and Udo shows that he can convey some magnificent emotion into his raw voice. The second features bassist Peter Baltes on vocals, who is not bad but kinda boring and generic. It's a very good and emotional song though, but "Can't Stand The Night" is far superior, and in fact one of the best songs on here.
But basically every song found on here is great in one way or another, and this album epitomizes the raw and aggressive power of Heavy Fucking Metal, which we all know and love.

I just got this album yesterday, and holy fuck does it rock. Yeah, there are hints of Priest throughout, and AC/DC (see "Burning" and "Midnight Highway", the latter of which is comparable to some Back In Black material), but overall they don't come off as sounding derivative at all, it's just pure fucking old school heavy metal, trendy bullshit-free. I can't stop listening to this album, and the attitude is all there, it'd probably make me nostalgic if I weren't just 17. I'm not big on cheesy shlock, but this album is steeped in all the trappings that made good 80's metal so timeless. Wolf Hoffman and Jörg Fischer are truly underrated guitar virtuosos, their solos are fucking brilliant and very impressive whether they're just doing shred runs or whipping out some neoclassical chops or simply wailing on all the right notes. Even the classical-sounding intro to "Breaking Up Again" is actually quite beautiful, even if the song is a little ballad-esque for my tastes. (But hey, at least they remembered diversity, so the album doesn't come off all sounding the same.) And the riffs...the riffs! Meaty fucking riffs that make you throw the damn horns. If you ever heard Tankard's Disco Destroyer album, the song Hard Rock Dinosaur at one point goes "I don't like this beat, it ain't got no meat, need a mean guitar", and this is EXACTLY the solution they were looking for! One of Accept's finest moments, and mandatory for any fans of true 80's heavy metal.

A pretty underrated Accept album, though as with all their releases, the cheese factor is very, very high. A few absolute fucking classics, but it does tail off towards the end a lot. But man, the first few tracks are beasts of the highest order.

Starlight... a midpaced number not out of place for NWOBHM, except for Udo's German accent... then that leads into mother fucking BREAKER!!! Tyrannosaurus Rex!! Total fucking monster speed metal, this song owns pretty much the rest of the Accept catalogue, and that includes Fast as a Shark. Oh man, the album is worth getting just for this one fucking song.

Then, Run if You Can is pretty good as well, but then we have the hideously cheesy Can't Stand the Night. What... the fuck? Just a badly executed song. Oh well, back to Son of a Bitch! Kiss my arse, you asshole, etc etc. What a fun little song, and the main riff is liable to cause lethal fucking headbanging frenzy.

Burning is another insanely fast number with another fucking awesome solo... I cannot begin to describe the quality of the soloing here. Wolf Hoffmann is a genius. Burning! Burning! Burning just like fire!

Then, the album completely fucking dies, unfortunately. Feelings is mediocre, Midnight Highway seems like it was designed to be an adult-contemporary rock staple (read: commercial pop shit), and Breaking Up Again is even worse. Some silly ballad that does nothing and goes nowhere.

But hey, we close on a strong note with Down and Out - starts off as a midpaced number with lots of groove, then increases slightly in speed in the middle section under a brilliant solo and a solid fucking headbanging riff. Yes, the solos here are awesome. Some of the songs are worthless, but there are enough great ones here to merit buying the album, when all is said and done.