Accept

A heavy metal band from Solingen, West Germany, led by the guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, whose 1982 song "Fast as a Shark" opened Restless and Wild and is often cited as a forerunner of thrash.

Origin: Solingen, West Germany
Years active: 1976-1989, 1992-1997, 2005, 2009-present
Genres: heavy metal, speed metal
Labels: Brain, RCA, Nuclear Blast, Napalm

Solingen

Accept grew out of Band X, formed in 1968 by Udo Dirkschneider and reformed as Accept in 1972 after his military service, named after the Chicken Shack album Accept. The professional career began in 1976 at Rock am Rhein, with Dirkschneider, Wolf Hoffmann on guitar, Peter Baltes on bass, Gerhard Wahl on rhythm guitar and Frank Friedrich on drums; Jorg Fischer replaced Wahl and Stefan Kaufmann replaced Friedrich before the debut, which gave the first stable line-up. Hoffmann, born on December 10, 1959 in Mainz, is the only constant member and co-wrote most songs with Baltes; his wife Gaby Hauke, the band's manager, wrote under the pseudonym Deaffy.

The albums were Accept (1979), I'm a Rebel (1980), Breaker (1981) and Restless and Wild (1982) on Brain. Balls to the Wall (1983, RCA), the only gold album in the US and Canada, came with Herman Frank on guitar, and they opened for Iron Maiden on the World Slavery Tour in 1984 and played Monsters of Rock. Metal Heart (1985) was produced by Dieter Dierks and Russian Roulette followed in 1986. Dirkschneider left in 1987, and Accept made Eat the Heat (1989) with David Reece before disbanding.

Restless and Wild

Restless and Wild was released on October 2, 1982 in continental Europe, in 1983 in the US and UK, recorded in February, March and June 1982 at Dierks Studios in Cologne, 43:58 long, with Michael Wagener engineering. It was the first Accept album not recorded at Delta-Studio, the first with Dirkschneider singing every track and the first to credit Hauke. Hoffmann recorded the guitar on "Princess of the Dawn" at half speed and played it back at normal speed for a mandolin-like sound. It reached 7 in Sweden and 98 in the UK, and AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia gave it four and a half stars, calling it a creative breakthrough. Dirkschneider called it surely the most important Accept album, and Hoffmann just another record. Cannibal Corpse covered "Demon's Night" on Worm Infested.

Non-German releases used a live band photograph instead of the burning-guitars cover. The singles were "Fast as a Shark" and "Restless and Wild".

Reunions and since

They reunited in 1992 with Dirkschneider for Objection Overruled (1993), Death Row (1994) and Predator (1996), and for a festival tour in summer 2005 that ended at Kaliakra Rock Fest in Kavarna, Bulgaria on August 27. In 2009 Mark Tornillo, formerly of T.T. Quick, became the vocalist, and Blood of the Nations (August 20, 2010, produced by Andy Sneap) reached number four in Germany; they played their first US show in 15 years at the Gramercy Theatre in New York on May 8, 2010. Blind Rage (August 15, 2014) was their first number one in Germany. Baltes left on November 27, 2018 after 42 years, Martin Motnik joined, and Too Mean to Die came in 2021 and Humanoid on April 26, 2024 on Napalm.

They played Wacken Open Air on August 3, 2017 with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, released as Symphonic Terror: Live at Wacken 2017. A 50th-anniversary album, Teutonic Titans 1976-2026, was released on September 4, 2026. Setlist.fm logs 1,354 setlists, with "Balls to the Wall" the most played song. Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, Testament and Anthrax are among the bands said to cite them.

Members

Wolf Hoffmann lead guitar (1976-present)
Udo Dirkschneider vocals (1976-1987, 1992-1997, 2005)
Peter Baltes bass (1976-2018)
Stefan Kaufmann drums (1979-1989, 1992-1994)
Mark Tornillo vocals (2009-present)

Records

Restless and Wild 1982 · Brain
The fourth album, which begins with "Fast as a Shark".

Songs

Fast as a Shark Restless and Wild · 1982
The opening track of Restless and Wild, with a folk-song intro and double bass drums throughout.

Queensrÿche

Where to go next

Official

Accept Tour dates and music.

Reference

Accept on Wikipedia The band's history.

Discography and data

Accept discography on Wikipedia Albums and charts.

Live performance archives

setlist.fm: Accept 1,354 setlists.