Band:

ACCEPT

Biografie

Before the 70's:

“It all started with a guitar, a guitar that I had bought with the first self-earned money in 1962. I was 13 years old, and I made my first musical steps, together with UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER in a band that later turned into Accept. The name was taken from the 1970 release by the British blues band Chicken Shack.” – Michael Wagener

 

The 1970s:

Before that – Udo, Michael and Drummer Birke Hoe were 'experimenting' in a band called “Band X”. But as life goes – It all came to a halt when Udo and Michael were both called up to serve in the German Army.

1972: After the military service, Michael started working as an electrical engineer at Stramp Audio in Hamburg. Udo returned to Wuppertal where he met Student/Guitarist Gerhard Wahl and decided to form a band. Soon they added Hansi Heitzer on Guitar, Frank Friedrich on Drums and Dieter Rubach on Bass. This was the very first incarnation of the Band Accept.

1975: 16-year old Wolf Hoffmann was added as a second guitar player to replace Hansi Heitzer, drastically changing the sound of the band.

1976: Dieter Rubach left Accept and was replaced by 18 year old bass player Peter Baltes. The musical chemistry and styles brought in by Hoffmann & Baltes was starting to influence the “Accept Sound”. Playing at the “ Rock am Rhein” Battle of the Bands Contest in Düsseldorf, Accept got the attention of Manfred Schunke, the owner of Delta Studios in Wilster by Hamburg. Ever though the band did not win the contest, Schunke offered them a Contract to record an Album at his Studio.

1977: Gerhard Wahl decided to leave the band, as he did not intend to pursue a professional music career. A replacement was found in Jorg Fischer.

1978: Accept entered the Studio for the first time September/December. With Frank Martin as producer, the band recorded their debut album ACCEPT. Shortly after its release, Frank Friedrich decided to leave the band, as he also did not intend to pursue a professional music career. A replacement was found in young drummer Stefan Kaufmann.

1979: The first Accept album, ACCEPT, was released through the German label Brain Records. Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann later remembered the debut as simply a collection of songs the band had worked up during their formative years, with no real focus as of yet: “We were just playing songs that we had always played. It was material we had gathered up over the first few months and years of our existence and it was a mixture of all kinds of stuff.” Interestingly enough bass player Peter Baltes was featured singing 2 of the songs on this debut album “Sound of war” and “Seawinds” … more to follow later.

No one in the band spoke proper English at the time, hence the lyrics sounded somewhat naive. Wolf: “Days before we entered the studio we discovered there where no lyrics for the songs. Since Udo did not speak any English, he was just singing some sort of gibberish. So we tried to make sense of it using a dictionary.” But debut was an important early step that opened the doors to play the neighboring countries of Belgium and the Netherlands for the first time.

In October, the band returned to Delta Studios in Wilster to begin recording their second album titled I'm a Rebel. With Dirk Steffens producing, the band spent the next two-month in the studio. At the same time, Alex Young, older brother of AC/DC’s Angus & Malcolm Young was looking for an artist to play one of his songs. AC/DC had recorded the track in Hamburg as a demo. It so happened that Rudi Holzauer from Schacht Verlag Hamburg, Accept's Publishing Company, heard about the song and invited Alex to the Studio to play the song for Accept. “I'm a Rebel” ended up becoming the title track as well as the band's first music video.

1980: I'm a Rebel becomes the first Accept album released internationally through the Logo Label in the UK and Passport Records in the US.

 

The 1980s:

1981: This was a major milestone year in the Band's career. Dec 1980/Jan

1981 the Band went back to Wilster to record their 3rd album Breaker. The album was produced by Dirk Steffens and engineered by longtime friend Michael Wagener. Breaker produced instant classics like “Starlight”, “Breaker” & “Son of a Bitch”. Also that year, Accept signed a Management Deal with Gaby Hauke, who subsequently signed the band to Dieter Dierk's Publishing & production company BREEZE MUSIC – the Band's international career was established. Accept soon got the opportunity so support Judas Priest on their European Tour that gained them a lot of international attention. Gaby also introduced the band to Robert Smith-Diesel to help the guys write their lyrics. Jorg Fischer left the band after the Tour. Accept quickly found Jan Kommet from their hometown Solingen to replace Fischer. Jan spent several months with the band but in the end it did not work out.

1982: Accept decided to start working on their fourth album with Wolf laying down all the guitar tracks. This time they went to Dierks Studios in Stommeln, Germany, outside of Cologne. Again Dirk Steffens produced and Michael Wagener engineered. Even though the departure of Jorg Fischer was a setback Accept locked themselves into the studio for three month and wrote the album that would forever alter their career. Still to this day, the track “Fast as a Shark” is regarded as the first Speed Metal Song ever. Other songs like “Princess of the Dawn”, “Neon Nights”, “Flash Rockin' Man” and “Restless & Wild” became instant classics and inspired young guitar players and heavy metal bands all over the world.

1983: Restless & Wild was released in the early months of the new year and became the signature album for Accept. The band was ready to tour again and found in Hermann Frank a replacement for Jorg Fischer.

In July and August, the band once again immersed themselves in the studio. but before that the song writing team included someone new: DEAFFY. However the identity would be disclosed decades later – DEAFFY was Gaby Hauke, surprisingly staying the best kept secret of the band. This time Accept decided to hire Judas Priest engineer Lois Austin and produce the album on their own. The resulting Balls To The Wall became Accept's biggest selling record and received Gold Status worldwide incl. the US. The title track, “Balls to the Wall” became Accept's trademark hit and its guitar riff earned a place in the top 40 best Metal Riffs of all time… Of course, the album is considered by many the Heavy Metal Album of the 80ss, became a hit in the Guitar Hero Game and was featured in the Darren Aronofsky Film “ The Wrestler “ with Mickey Rourke in 2010.

1984: Accept embarked an a extensive world tour in support of Balls to the Wall, with, once again, Jorg Fischer replacing Herman Frank on guitar. The tour took the band all over the world and finished up at the Monsters of Rock Festivals with AC/DC, Van Halen , Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue and others…

During October through December, Accept went back into the studio, this time with Scorpions producer Dieter Dierks at the helm. Metal Heart was an album where classical elements were introduced for the first time. The members of Accept had grown as songwriters and felt ready to expand their musical horizon. “Metal Heart”, “Midnight Mover”, “Up to the Limit”, “Wrong Is Right” and “Living for Tonight” became instant classics and part of the permanent live set.

1985: Accept decided to record their September 19th concert in Nagoya, Japan. Later that year the live album from that show was released as Kaizoku-Ban. Accept then spent October until after the New Year at Dierks Studio recording their next album, Russian Roulette.

1986: The new album returned Accept to the darker, heavier sound of their earlier releases and away from the more commercial-sounding predecessor Metal Heart. Wolf Hoffmann: “Maybe we were trying sort of go back to our natural and not polished Accept sound with that record “.
After the Russian Roulette tour Udo Dirkschneider and the band decide to split amicably as it was obvious that the band members went through some personality as well as creativity changes. To assure a career for Udo, the name U.D.O. was created by ACCEPT's Management – working his career for 12 month to assure that he could continue seamlessly. U.D.O.'s first album called Animal House, has been composed by the band for Udo and was ultimately released by ACCEPT's Record Company RCA in 1987.

1988: The remaining members started to look for a new singer. Many months were spent listening to hundreds of demo tapes. Finally they brought in young singer Rob Armitage from the British band Baby Tuckoo. After several weeks rehearsing in Vermont, everybody headed back to the studio to meet with Dieter Dierks and make a final decision. After days of deliberations, it was decided that Rob was not the perfect fit and the search began again. Many singers send tapes or came in person, singers like Ken Templin or Michael White. But in the end it was David Reece who got the job. Eager to be creative again Accept entered the Studio in September. They spent the next four months recording the first album without Udo Dirkschneider.

1989: Eat The Heat was released in February and a world tour followed. Accept found British Guitarist Jim Stacey to fill Jorg Fischer’s shoes who left the band once again. It was during this tour that Stefan Kaufmann had to give up drumming due to a serious back Injury. Accept recruited Alice Cooper drummer Ken Mary to continue the tour. Unfortunately major differences between the band and David Reece cut the tour short. With Udo and now Davis gone, plus Stefan not be able to play anymore, Wolf Hoffmann and Peter Baltes decided it was time to recess.

 

The 1990s:

1990 The double album, Staying A Life, recorded in Osaka Japan in 1985, was released. To this day, Accept considers this live album one of their greatest accomplishments since none of the recorded tracks was re-recorded or replaced. After its release, the demands from Accept Fans around the globe for a reunion grew stronger and stronger.

1992: During a Visit to Germany, Wolf & Peter met with Udo and Stefan and decided to work together once again. But – Udo's Band U.D.O. had a life of their own and Udo might have left his heart with them, while searching for the spark with his band mates. They went back to the Studio and started working on Objection Overruled. Stefan Kaufmann – against all odds – was able to play again and so Accept moved full steam ahead. In contrast to some of the other Accept albums, Wolf Hoffmann recalls Objection Overruled as an easy one to record: “That was great! I mean, making up and having reunions are always great in a way because you feel that sort of spirit or fresh wind again. It was great!” He then added, “We had a ball back then, we just really pretty much made records like we always did and felt like we should use the old formulas with no more experiments and just pretty much do what Accept is known for; and that's what we did.”

1993: Objection Overruled was released on February 1st and followed by a world tour. It is noteworthy that this was also the first Accept record for which the band created the cover.

1994: While in the middle of recording their next album, Death Row, Stefan Kaufmann's back problems returned. Accept brought in many drummers including the legendary Carmine Appice, but eventually settled with Stefan Schwarzmann to finish the record. Death Row was released in the fall and another tour followed.

1995: This time around, Accept went to 16th Avenue Sound Studios in Nashville to record the next album to be produced by Michael Wagener. Damn Yankees drummer Michael Cartellone was brought in for these sessions. But during the making of “Predator”, it became very clear that the chemistry between Udo and Accept was not there and again, everybody agreed, that Udo should stay with Stefan and his U.D.O.

1996: After Predator was released, ACCEPT and Udo went on their final world tour which took them all through the United States, Europe and Asia. The tour and Accept’s activities ended in Tokyo, Japan, July '96.

 

2000 to present:

2005: Accept – & Udo came together for a brief time to play Summer Festivals across Europe. Udo Dirkschneider, Wolf Hoffmann, Peter Baltes, Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann let it all out this summer and enjoyed a huge success on stage – knowing that after that, their ways would part for good.

2009 – present: Since the month of May, Wolf met Peter, the two of them met Mark & Andy Sneap, who than became much more than a producer oder the next months – they called Stefan and Hermann, recorded the album Blood of the Nations, made a video, went to In-and-Out Burger, drove across the country, returned to Nashville, met Frank, fed the dogs, created a new set-list, booked a tour, drove Gaby crazy, practiced the set day and night, sounded great, went to New York, played a sold-out Show and stunned the World.
Today: Accept is currently hiding in an undisclosed location preparing for what's to come. Long live Accept….
ACCEPT 2010 – a massive storm is coming!

Summer 2009 – some great news reached the media, the fans and the labels: “ACCEPT are back with a new singer!”. In the beginning, the reactions were reserved and the people started to discuss. How shall ACCEPT function with a new singer But very fast, as ACCEPT started their activities, the news became more and more like a tidal wave.

The messages came big and fast!

ACCEPT signed worldwide record deal with Nuclear Blast.

ACCEPT cripple Twitter worldwide! International press like CNN, BBC World, The Independent, New York Times, Spiegel Online are talking about “Twittergeddon”. A German hard rock legend is responsible for one of the biggest traffic in internet history.

ACCEPT – the new video „Teutonic Terror” achieves number 1 on the myspace video charts in the categories “All Genres” and “Hard Rock / Metal” worldwide. The video also achives Top 5 rankings in the national myspace video charts of UK, Japan, New Zealand, France, Germany, Mexico, South Korea etc..

ACCEPT rocked the Rock Hard Festival into the ground and become the secret headliner!

ACCEPT – main support at the AC/DC arena shows in Hannover and Stuttgart (Germany).

ACCEPT – Headliner of the SONISPHERE festivals in Bucharest and Istanbul, where RAMMSTEIN and METALLICA performed the headliner slot on the other days.

Result: ACCEPT proceed with a velocity, which is possibly record-breaking! And who believes, this is the climax, will wonder in the next month! The ACCEPT battle ship is on the high seas and converges to the mainland. Be aware!

Quelle: http://www.acceptworldwide.com/23-0-BIOS.htmlDiscografie

1979 - Accept

1979 - Lady Lou (Single)

1980 - I'm A Rebel

1980 - I'm A Rebel (Single)

1981 - Burning (Single)

1981 - Breaker

1981 - Breaker (Single)

1981 - Starlight (Single)

1982 - Restless And Wild

1982 - Fast As A Shark (Single)

1982 - Restless And Wild (Single)

1983 - Demon's Night (Box-Set)

1983 - Best Of (Compilation)

1983 - Midnight Highway (Compilation)

1983 - Restless And Wild / Fast As A Shark (Single)

1983 - Balls To The Wall

1984 - + Heavy (Split)

1984 - Heavy Metal Killers (Split)

1984 - Metal Masters (Compilation)

1984 - Balls To The Wall (Single)

1985 - Metal Heart (Single)

1985 - Screaming For A Love-Bite (Single)

1985 - Kaizoku-Ban (EP)

1985 - Midnight Mover (EP)

1985 - Stand Up And Shout (Live) / Balls To The Wall (Live) (Split)

1985 - Midnight Mover (Single)

1985 - Metal Heart

1985 - London Leatherboys (EP)

1986 - A Compilation Of The Best Of Balls To The Wall / Restless And Wild (Compilation)

1986 - Russian Roulette

1986 - T.V. War (Single)

1987 - Hungry Years (Compilation)

1989 - Eat The Heat

1989 - Generation Clash (Single)

1990 - Staying A Life (Video)

1990 - Staying A Life (Live)

1991 - The Collection (Compilation)

1991 - Top Heavy Metal Music Video (Split-Video)

1992 - No Substitutes (Compilation)

1993 - All Or Nothing (Single)

1993 - I Don't Wanna Be like You (Single)

1993 - Objection Overruled

1994 - Metal Buccaneers - The Best Music Collection (Split)

1994 - Restless: The Best (Compilation)

1994 - Death Row

1994 - Bad Habits Die Hard (Single)

1995 - Steel Glove: The Collection (Compilation)

1996 - Predator

1996 - Hard Attack (Single)

1997 - Loud & Proud - Six Pack - Six Great Hits (Split)

1997 - Six Great Hits (Compilation)

1997 - All Areas - Worldwide (Live)

1998 - Breakers On Stage (EP)

1999 - Accept Box: The Story (Box-Set)

2000 - Take 2: Accept & Quiet Riot (Split)

2000 - Classics, Rocks 'n' Ballads: Hot & Slow (Compilation)

2002 - Rich And Famous (EP)

2002 - Metal Blast From The Past (Video)

2003 - 2 Originals Of Accept (Box-Set)

2003 - 2 Originals Of Accept (Box-Set)

2010 - The Accept Collection (Compilation)

2010 - The Abyss (Single)

2010 - Blood Of The Nations

2012 - Stalingrad: Brothers In Death

2013 - Playlist: The Very Best Of Accept (Compilation)

2014 - Stampede (Single)

2014 - Blind Rage

2017 - Restless And Live (Blind Rage - Live In Europe 2015) (Live)

2017 - The Rise Of Chaos (Single)

2017 - The Rise Of Chaos

2018 - Balls To The Wall (Live) (Single)

2018 - Symphonic Terror - Live At Wacken 2017 (Live)

2019 - Life's A Bitch (Single)

2020 - The Undertaker (Single)

www

Interviews

Samstag 09.04.2005
Wenn ein Udo Dirkschneider mit seiner Band U.D.O. in der deutschen Metal - Szene absoluten Kultstatus genießt, dann liegt das mitunter daran, dass er einst Frontmann einer Jahrhundertcombo namens ACCEPT war, die sich nun anschickt, im Rahmen einiger Festivals ein paar Reunion - Shows zu spielen.

Reviews

Accept - Cover
So hat "alles" begonnen. "Alles" heißt in diesem Fall nicht nur ACCEPT, sondern es bedeutet auch die Geburt des vielzitierten "Teutonenstahls".
Blood Of The Nations - Cover
Das Fazit nehme ich gleich vorweg: auch wenn zig Tausende Udo-Fans skeptisch waren, wie die „neuen“ ACCEPT wohl klingen würden, und viele davon die Besetzung mit Neuzugang Mark Tornillo (E
TIPP
Breaker - Cover
Nachdem ACCEPT mit ihrem selbst betitelten Debüt und dem schon sehr guten "I’m A Rebel" vorgelegt und zahlreiche Metal - Fans auf sich aufmerksam gemacht hatten, folgte 1981 die New Wave Of German Hea

Seiten

Tourdaten

Band Termin Land / Ort / Location
Accept
ACCEPT
2014-09-19
2014-10-04
2014-10-06
2014-10-07
2014-10-18
2014-10-20
2014-10-21
2014-10-22
2014-10-24
2014-10-25
2014-10-26
2014-10-28
2014-10-29
DK-Amager Bio, Copenhagen
Docks, Hamburg
Hyde Park, Osnabrück
B-Trix, Antwerp
Tonhalle, München
Langen / Frankfurt, Neue Stadthalle
Huxleys, Berlin
Live Music Hall, Köln
Stadtgarten, Erfurt
CZ-Euronics, Zlin
HU-Petöfi Hall, Budapest
CH-Z 7, Pratteln
Filharmonie, Filderstadt