Ok second outing for this German band. ACCEPT I’m a Rebel opens up with a the title track “I’m a Rebel”. Interestingly enough this song was written by Alex young (older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young) for use in AC/DC. ACDC originally recorded it but never released it, so it was re-farmed out to Accept. It’s was some potential chart candy for the band but something about it feels a bit cheesy in my humble opinion. “Save Us” is the next track on the album and has more of that Accept guitar crunch and grit on the vocals we’ve come to love. The song has a bit of Kiss influence and even some funk influence in there (Sounds weird, I know but you’ll get it when you listen to the song). It’s at this point I have to say I still think this album is a little undercooked but definitely an improvement over their first release.
The Third song is really bringing some 70’s rock vibes, it’s a good song but so far after three songs into the album this is struggling to be labelled metal by my reckoning. Great soloing and musicianship though, so maybe we can let it pass? Next track “Thunder and Lightning” brings the loud guitars back so things are still starting to cook a little here, but this is not the Accept that I really remember, I wasn’t hugely into them as a kid so never heard their early albums.
One thing I’ve learned from going back and listening to some really old stuff that crossed the bridges between Metal and Rock is that a lot of these bands open up with softer songs up front and then get into the more raucous material. While a lot of this is still fairly tame by today’s standards I have to wonder if the softer songs would allow them to be taken more seriously by radio stations or magazines? The songs towards the end of the album have a bit more grit to them, “China Lady” and “I wanna be no hero” have that kind of Kiss vibe again.
Overall, I’m going to say I don’t mind this stuff but this isn’t the Accept I thought I knew but it was interesting to go back and listen to how this stuff evolved. I also have to say by this second album the band are sounding great, Udo’s vocals are great, and the guitar players have really established themselves as great players. Definitely worth a listen but it might catch a few of you that haven’t heard early Accept off guard a little.
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