The Present

After quite a few years away from the visible hard rock scene, Germany’s legendary Accept have returned to the metal forefront with an elated new singer, a euphoric new album and global tours. Yes, Accept are back to carry on the timeless tradition of the infectious, immediately identifiable Accept sound, but with fresh ideas and a matured outlook on music and life. A new era begins!
ACCEPT The Success Story of the Past and Present!

Eddie Trunk, the US hard rock and TV icon has just announced that Blood Of The Nations is the Highlight of the Year. He called it: “A huge comeback for ACCEPT and we all agree. This is definitely the metal album of the year. It is amazing!” Eddie Trunk is joined in this sentiment by most music media reviews of the last few months, all of whom have nominated Blood Of The Nations to be the Metal Album of the Year!

But let’s talk numbers: Blood Of The Nations was released in late summer 2010 and has elevated ACCEPT to new heights in the hard rock universe. The album reached the highest chart debuts in the band’s history. It debuted at #187 on The Billboard 200 chart, #170 on the Top Current Albums chart, and on the #41 Independent (Current) Albums chart. In Canada, the album debuted at #53 on the Nielsen Soundscan Top Hard Albums chart.

With 2,900 CDs sold in the U.S. since its September 14th release, Blood Of The Nations marks ACCEPT’s largest first week sales numbers since the inception of SoundScan. ACCEPT fans have spoken and have turned this comeback album into the resurgence of a career! In addition, the album debuted as the #21 Rock Album on iTunes and debuted at #28 with a bullet on the CMJ Loud Chart for college radio and has climbed to the #7 position.

Worldwide debut numbers for Blood Of The Nations are:
#4 – Germany
#7 – Sweden
#7 – Hungary
#9 – Finland
#12 – Billboard European Chart
#19 – Austria
#27 – Czech Republic

In just a few short months, ACCEPT have experienced a meteoric rise in the metal community and have amazed the entire world; the media, the music industry and the fans! Every known rock publication had nothing but praise for Blood Of The Nations. It is rare that all the media outlets rave so in unison about a band and a record.

What makes ACCEPT such an astonishing success? The formula seems uncomplicated: As a band, they are a well oiled and hungry machine forging on with unbridled power and passion. It all started with the making of a great hard rock album. By involving master producer Andy Sneap, all the pieces fell into place. After just a couple days in the studio, all involved were in synch and knew right away: something big was brewing.

This could be a lesson for all budding metal bands…. Don’t think too much, just do and do so with all the might you can muster!

ACCEPT is back…. In a world where metal has become imitative and stale, ACCEPT once again press forward with honest, visionary musical vigor and a dose of Teutonic Terror. Like a caged animal set free at last, they once again belong to the oligarchy of the worldwide hard rock and heavy metal scene! See them on Tour in 2011.
Early Years (The 70s – 1982)

The band’s career began in 1976, when the initial stable and professional line-up of Accept (vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarists Wolf Hoffmann and Gerhard Wahl, bassist Peter Baltes and drummer Frank Friedrich) was invited to play at one of the first rock and roll festivals from Germany — Rock am Rhein. Following the festival, the band received their first recording deal. It was the self-titled Accept album. Friedrich and Wahl quit the band after the release of of the debut record, as they did not intend to pursue a professional career in music. They were soon replaced by new drummer Stefan Kaufmann and guitarist Jörg Fischer. This line-up proceeded to record the sophomore record, I’m a Rebel in 1980. The title track originally was written for AC/DC but they never released it. This was the album that finally brought initial media attention to the band.

1981 saw three major events in the early history of Accept. First, the acclaimed album Breaker was released. Second, a contract with manager Gaby Hauke was signed, an agreement that is still in effect today. Third, Accept joined Judas Priest’s world tour and obtained a fair amount of success, making the band known outside of Europe.

The next album, Restless and Wild, was released in 1982. Restless and Wild saw an evolution in the band’s personality and sound, which incorporated several characteristics of a revolutionary new genre which would later be called “speed metal”. This recording however, did not include Jörg Fischer, who quit the band a short time before the studio sessions took place. Jan Koemmet was hired as Accept’s new guitarist, but departed from the band before the recording sessions for the album. The line-up was eventually completed with Herman Frank on second guitar.
Mainstream Success (1983 – 1987)

Accept became hugely successful with their next release, the now legendary Balls to the Wall album (1983). The new album would prove to be quite different from their earlier works. The album was conceptual in nature, and included songs that spoke about politics, sexuality and various human relationships. For example, the classic title track “Balls to the Wall” refers to slaves revolting against oppressing masters. “Fight It Back” is about the social misfits, fighting against conformity. All songs were credited to Accept and “Deaffy”. Deaffy was later exposed to be their manager Gaby Hauke’s pseudonym for her contribution to the band’s lyrics. She proceeded to compose the lyrics of all of the songs, with a few exceptions, from that album on. She did not officially reveal authorship of the songs until much later.

During a show in their hometown of Solingen in 1983, the band ran into Jörg Fischer by chance. On Gaby Hauke’s insistence, Fischer was asked to rejoin the band once again. A world tour followed which would take them through all of 1984 — with the historic Monsters of Rock festival as a mid-year highlight.

Metal Heart was released in 1985. Produced by Scorpions producer Dieter Dierks, it presented the creative career high for the band. Accept went on to tour around the globe in front of packed houses, soon documented by the live album Kaizoku-Ban. A year later, in 1986, Russian Roulette continued the series of critically acclaimed albums. But in 1987, in spite of their tremendous success, Accept and Udo decided together that Udo would embark on a solo career to pursue his own happiness. Supporting this decision, the songwriting team of Accept wrote an entire album for him. Accept and their management were eager to help Udo launch this solo career. That album was released in 1987 with the title Animal House under the band moniker U.D.O., a band that Udo Dirkschneider continues to tour with to date.
David Reece Period & First Hiatus (1988 – 1991)

During the work on Animal House, Accept had already started to search for and audition for a new vocalist. They soon found David Reece and so Peter, Wolf and Stefan set to work once more on new music. Udo’s solo career was having a good start, and guitarist Jörg Fischer again decided to leave Accept. Accept and their record company felt excited and confident with this new line-up and came out with the worldwide release, Eat the Heat.

The career of Accept, unfortunately, came to a sudden halt when Stefan Kaufmann sustained a serious injury to his back in the middle of a tour. He was briefly replaced by drummer Ken Mary for the remainder of the short US tour. By its end, Hoffmann, Baltes and Hauke decided that without Stefan and with differences surfacing between the band and Reece, it was time to re-evaluate their next steps. Stefan, always a vital part of Accept, needed a long recovery time. So, by the end of 1989, the band had ceased its activities.
Reunion with Dirkschneider (1992 – 1996)

The live album entitled Staying a Life that was recorded back in 1985, was released in 1990 as a souvenir from their career. During a visit to Germany a few years later, the musicians from Accept and Dirkschneider met and spontaneously decided to relaunch the band with the core members Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider and Baltes.

The album Objection Overruled was released worldwide in 1993. The band’s reunion was a qualified success in Europe and the USA. A world tour followed. Another album, entitled Death Row, was released in 1994, but Kaufmann became unable to play once more due to his recurring back injury. The band invited Stefan Schwarzmann as a temporary replacement and commenced plans for their next tour.
A sense of finality was in the air when the band entered studios to record Predator in 1996, this time with Michael Cartellone (from Damn Yankees) on the drums. Predator was recorded in Nashville, TN with Udo’s long time (school)friend and producer Michael Wagener at the helm. In spite of genuine efforts by everyone, the chemistry between Accept and Udo was again strained. Accept’s final tour, supporting Predator, went through America, Europe and Asia, with their last concert in Tokyo, Japan, one of the world capitals of heavy metal. Udo couldn’t wait to return to his own solo project U.D.O.
Second Hiatus & Brief Resurrection (1997 – 2005)

The future of Accept was uncertain between 1997 and 2005, as all members continue working on their own projects. However, in 2005, Accept received an invitation from European promoters to embark on a short summer European Festival tour with Accept’s classic line-up (Hoffmann, Baltes, Dirkschneider, Frank und Schwarzmann). Everyone agreed to do these festivals, which turned out to be a stunning success. The last show was held on August 27, 2005, in Kavarna, Bulgaria – at