Accept is a German heavy metal band from Solingen, formed in 1976 with their first consistent lineup featuring lead singer Udo Dirkschneider, lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, bassist Peter Baltes, rhythm guitarist Jörg Fischer and drummer Stefan Kaufmann. Their current lineup consists of Hoffmann, vocalist Mark Tornillo, guitarist Philip Shouse, drummer Christopher Williams and bassist Martin Motnik. Accept has undergone numerous lineup changes, with Hoffmann being the only constant member. To date, the band has released seventeen studio albums, five live albums and ten compilation albums.
Accept played an important role in the development of speed"Accept : Biography". Spirit of Metal. Retrieved 11 December 2008. "In many ways, this album [Restless and Wild] was a milestone in Accept's career. With the thundering double bass drum attack of the song 'FAST AS A SHARK,' they helped to spark a genre which would soon be called 'Speed Metal.'" and thrash metal,Rivadavia, Eduardo. [ "Accept Biography"]. AllMusic. Retrieved 8 August 2013. and they were part of the German heavy metal scene, which had emerged by the early to mid-1980s. Accept achieved its first commercial success with their fifth studio album Balls to the Wall (1983), which is the band's only album to be certified gold in the United States and Canada, and spawned their well-known hit "Balls to the Wall".
Accept has disbanded and reformed multiple times. They first broke up in 1989, several months after the release of Eat the Heat (which was their only album with Dirkschneider's initial replacement David Reece), but reformed in 1992 with Dirkschneider and released three more albums before disbanding again in 1997. After briefly reuniting in 2005, Accept announced their third reunion in 2009, with former T.T. Quick frontman Mark Tornillo replacing Dirkschneider (who declined to participate), and the band has recorded six albums with him: Blood of the Nations (2010), Stalingrad (2012), Blind Rage (2014), The Rise of Chaos (2017), Too Mean to Die (2021), and Humanoid (2024). Those albums renewed Accept's popularity in Germany and each reached the top ten of the German album charts. As of 2024, Accept has sold more than 17 million albums worldwide.
History Early years (1968–1982) Accept evolved from an earlier group called Band X, formed in 1968 by lead vocalist Udo Dirkschneider. After Dirkschneider finished his military service in 1972, he reformed the band changed its name to Accept, influenced by the album Accept by the British blues band Chicken Shack. For many years, Accept went through numerous line-up changes. This instability essentially kept the band on an amateur level, making sporadic appearances in festival concerts. Accept's professional career began in 1976, with Dirkschneider, along with Wolf Hoffmann (lead guitar), Peter Baltes (bass), Gerard Wahl (rhythm guitar) and Frank Friedrich (drums), when they were invited to play at one of the first rock and roll festivals in Germany — Rock am Rhein. Following the festival, the band was offered a recording deal. Wahl would soon after leave the group and was replaced by Jörg Fischer. Their first recording was the self-titled Accept album, which was released in 1979, but did not achieve much commercial success. Friedrich quit the band before the release of Accept and was replaced by Stefan Kaufmann, making it the bands first stable lineup. This line-up recorded I'm a Rebel in 1980. "I'm a Rebel" was originally written for AC/DC and recorded by the band but never released by them.Dome, Malcolm and Ewing, Jerry. The AC/DC Encyclopaedia. Chrome Dreams, 2008, pp. 101–102. The album brought some media attention, and the band was invited to make a televised appearance.
In 1981, Accept's third studio album, Breaker, was released, and the band employed manager Gaby Hauke. The same year, Accept served as a supporting act on Judas Priest's World Wide Blitz Tour, and obtained attention outside of Europe for the first time.
The band's fourth studio album, Restless and Wild was released in 1982. Fischer left before the recording of the album began, as did his intended replacement, Jan Koemmet."Accept Interview". Metallian. Retrieved 7 August 2013.Answer in the Ask Udo section of . Restless and Wild saw an evolution in the band's sound, which incorporated characteristics defining the genre later dubbed speed metal. One of the most notable tracks on the album is the opening track "Fast as a Shark", to which Kaufmann's kick drumming on the song is considered a precursor of thrash metal, predating the debut albums of Metallica and Slayer by a year. Gaby Hauke was credited as "Deaffy" on two of the album's tracks.
Mainstream success (1983–1987) Accept's fifth studio album, Balls to the Wall, was released in 1983, now with guitarist Herman Frank (ex-Sinner). Udo Dirkschneider had left the band at this time but returned when the album was being recorded. The album was more conceptual and included lyrical themes about politics, sexuality and human relationships.
During a 1983 show in their hometown, the band met Jörg Fischer by chance and on Hauke's insistence, Fischer rejoined the band. A world tour followed through 1984, including the Monsters of Rock festival. By this time, the band was supported by Bad Steve, a band which was led by former Accept and Band X members Dieter Rubach, Jan Koemmet and Frank Friedrich. The band also opened for Iron Maiden on their World Slavery Tour.
Metal Heart was released in 1985. Produced by Dieter Dierks (then-known for working with Scorpions), it presented the band's creative peak. Accept toured the world supporting the album, and documented the live shows with the live mini-album Kaizoku-Ban.
The follow-up album, Russian Roulette, was released in 1986. In 1987, Udo Dirkschneider was fired from the band, and later decided to embark on a solo career. According to Wolf Hoffmann, Dirkschneider was never fired but it was rather a mutual decision within the band to part ways. Supporting this decision, the songwriting team in Accept wrote his entire solo album, released in 1987 as Animal House under the band moniker U.D.O.
David Reece period and first hiatus (1988–1991) Parallel to work on Animal House, Accept started to audition vocalists. The band tried out a few singers, including Ken Tamplin and Baby Tuckoo singer Rob Armitage, whom they even featured in promo photos and metal magazine interviews, and also recorded demos with. Armitage also performed live with the band and one of the shows with him was reviewed by Metal Hammer magazine. However, American vocalist David Reece was chosen and this new lineup recorded and released Eat the Heat in 1989. Fischer left again before the recording of the album. Jim Stacey joined on rhythm guitar for the album's promotional tour. Accept toured in support of the album that year with bands like Metal Church, W.A.S.P., Danzig and Armored Saint.
Accept's career came to a sudden halt when Stefan Kaufmann sustained a serious injury to his back during the tour in support of the album. He was briefly replaced by House of Lords drummer Ken Mary for the remainder of the US tour. By the time the tour ended in late 1989, the band decided that without Kaufmann, and with differences surfacing with Reece, it was time to cease their activities for the time being.
Reunion with Dirkschneider (1992–1996)
The live album Staying a Life, recorded in 1985, was released in 1990 as a souvenir celebrating their career.
A few years later the ex-members met with Dirkschneider and decided to relaunch the band with core members Dirkschneider, Hoffmann, Baltes and Kaufmann.
Their comeback album, Objection Overruled, was released in 1993 and was a qualified success in Europe and the United States. Arjen Lucassen of Vengeance was hired as touring guitarist but ended up leaving before the tour started. A world tour followed, and another album, entitled Death Row, was released in the following year. Kaufmann became unable to play once again due to his recurring back injury and Stefan Schwarzmann became the temporary replacement.
Predator (1996) was recorded in Nashville, with Udo's long-time (school) friend and producer Michael Wagener at the helm and with Michael Cartellone (from Damn Yankees) on drums. Accept's tour supporting Predator took place in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, with their last concert in Tokyo, Japan.
Second hiatus and brief reunion (1997–2005) Between 1997 and 2005, all the members continued working on their own projects. In 2005, Accept received an invitation from various European promoters for a short summer European Festival tour with Accept's line-up featuring Hoffmann, Baltes, Dirkschneider, Frank and Schwarzmann. These festivals turned out to be a stunning success, with the last show on 27 August 2005 in Kavarna, Bulgaria, at the Kaliakra Rock Fest.
Asked in May 2007 by Lords of Metal if Accept was planning on writing and recording new music in the future, Dirkschneider replied:
On 14 May 2009, Udo Dirkschneider officially announced that he would not be participating in the rumoured Accept reunion.
Return with Mark Tornillo and Blood of the Nations (2009–2011)
At the end of May 2009, rumors again surfaced of a possible Accept reformation, when bassist Peter Baltes revealed he spent a weekend at his house in Pennsylvania "shredding away" with guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. "Something amazing is in the works", Baltes explained. "As soon as I can, I'll let everybody know. Let's make the 'Metal Heart' beat again."
A coincidental meeting between Accept and former T.T. Quick singer Mark Tornillo at this informal jam session occurred shortly after Tornillo was announced as the new vocalist.
A new album was written and recorded with Andy Sneap (of Megadeth, Sabbat, BLAZE, Exodus, Testament, Arch Enemy and Onslaught fame) as producer. Titled Blood of the Nations, it was the first original Accept album in fourteen years.
The new line-up made their live debut on 8 May 2010 at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City, their first American concert in fifteen years.
On 21 May 2010, the video for "Teutonic Terror" was number 5 on the worldwide video charts in all genres on MySpace, topping such artists as Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Christina Aguilera. The video also topped the MySpace Global Metal Charts at number 1.
On 13 June 2010, Accept opened for AC/DC in Stuttgart, Germany, and on 25 June 2010, they headlined the Sonisphere Festival in Romania and Turkey. With a set of over two hours, classics like "Balls to the Wall", "Metal Heart" and "Princess of the Dawn" were played along with the new album material. Blood of the Nations was released in Europe on 20 August 2010 and made a chart debut at number 4 in the official German Media Control Charts, the band's second-highest chart debut in their career.
Blood of the Nations was released on 4 September 2010 in Japan, and on 18 September in the United States. Accept spent 80 days on a summer tour traveling over 65,000 km and playing for over 450,000 fans. In October, the band appeared at the prestigious Japanese festival Loud Park outside of Tokyo to 40,000 fans along with Ozzy Osbourne, Motörhead and Stone Sour.
Within a month of the release of Blood of the Nations, Wolf Hoffmann told "Metal Asylum": "We are already thinking about and writing for the next record. We've all missed doing Accept and we realized we missed doing this. Of course, we are not 20 years old anymore and not ready to do just anything to be successful, we're not that desperate. [laughs] We are looking to do what makes sense and that's fun."
Stalingrad and Blind Rage (2012–2014)
Accept worked with Andy Sneap again to produce their thirteenth studio album, completed in early 2012. Entitled Stalingrad, it was released in April 2012.