Every artist or band has to get their start somewhere. Sometimes, those first efforts are surprisingly good, to the point that future releases are held to that standard.

And then, there are cases such as Accept, the debut album from Udo Dirkschneider and company. There’s a reason this one was difficult to find for the longest time—and that’s because it’s just not good. Granted, it’s not the worst debut album I’ve ever listened to, but it’s definitely not one I’ll be looking forward to pulling out of the Pierce Memorial Archives again anytime soon.

Even for 1979, this collection of 10 songs is disjointed, veering all over the musical map stylistically. Less a “heavy metal” effort, this one would be more correctly classified as harder-edged rock. On the eight songs where Dirkschneider handles lead vocals, he definitely had not come into his own as a vocalist at this time, and while not unpleasant, his efforts don’t set him apart from other singers in the genre. Bassist Peter Baltes handles the vocals on two of the tracks, but there is little that separates him from Dirkschneider (aside from the rare screech that Dirkschneider would later become famous for).

Similarly, the guitar duo of Wolf Hoffmann and Jorg Fischer essentially goes through the motions on Accept; there is precious little that makes the listener sit up and take notice. And, making his only recorded appearance with the band, drummer Frank Friedrich just doesn’t sound like his style of playing fits in with the band.

Accept also falls prey to a paper-thin sound in its overall production, and underdeveloped songwriting. “Take Him In My Heart” sounds at times like a story put to slightly harder-edged music, only neither is strong enough to carry the other. And while tracks like “Lady Lou,” “Helldriver” and “Sounds Of War” aren’t terrible, they also are nothing special.

Long-time fans of Accept might argue that anyone listening to this album expecting Balls To The Wall-style songwriting and playing are setting themselves up for disappointment. And, to that extent, they’re absolutely correct. Although they had been together as a band for some time prior to recording Accept, the band was still very much developing their playing and songwriting skills. Unlike some groups, though, this initial effort left more to be desired than showed potential promise or inklings of the greatness they would eventually achieve.

Rating: D+

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