At least once in a lifetime, every person has heard the name of such a direction in music as heavy metal. It is often used in relation to "heavy" music, although this is not entirely true.
This direction is the ancestor of all the directions and styles of metal that exist today. The direction appeared in the early 1960s of the last century.
And Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabath are considered to be its founders. Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple also had a significant influence on the formation of the style.
Birth of a heavy metal legend
In 1968, in the small steel town of Solingen (West Germany), two young men Michael Wagener and Udo Dirkschneider created a small band called Band X.
They performed in clubs with cover versions of Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones.
By 1971, they had decided to take their music career seriously and try their hand at performing their own compositions. So, as a result of the renaming, the Accept group appeared, which later became a prominent representative of heavy metal.
Emphasized brutality, aggressive performance, along with the melody of guitar solos and original vocals have become the hallmark of the German guys.
Their style of performance later received the definition of "Teutonic rock". Their metal, according to critics, is of the highest standard, like the metal of weapons that were produced in the homeland of the group in the Middle Ages.
Group name history
Why Accept? The guys decided after getting acquainted with the album of the same name by the group Chicken Shack. Udo subsequently explained this by saying that this word seemed more suitable to them.
He was understood all over the world, and not just understood, but accepted the style in which young people played.
But at first, the guys' career did not work out. There has been a lot of staff turnover in the group for a long time. As the participants recall, now they themselves will not even remember everyone who played in it then.
This continued until 1975, when only Udo remained among the old-timers. He decided to invite new and more professional musicians to the line-up.
About the composition of the Except group
And his first real discovery was the guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. Raised in the family of a professor, a student at a prestigious college. Artist studying Greek language and architecture, who was to become an outstanding scientist.
But in his youth, he became interested in the music of Cream. And his meeting with guitarist Peter Baltes finally changed Wolf's life. Together they changed more than one school band until Dirkschneider noticed them.
It was with the arrival of Wolf and Peter, who were assigned the role of bass player, and also after the addition of the second guitarist Jörg Fischer and drummer Frank Friedrich, that the direction of music turned into deep hard rock.
In this composition, the guys continued to travel around the country, performing their few compositions and singing the then popular groups Deep Purple, Sweet. They performed in small venues, honing their own style.
And in 1978, fortune smiled on them. They were invited to the festival in Düsseldorf, where, surprisingly, they were received very warmly. The audience greeted them with a standing ovation. From this festival began the triumphal rise of the group.
It was then that they decided to finally finish with the performance of cover versions and work on their own compositions.
Frank Martin, who met them at the festival, became interested in talented guys and offered them help in recording their first album. So the guys ended up with a signed contract with Metronome.
First album failed
The recording of the group's first album, Accept, did not produce any results, and critics smashed it to smithereens, noting the "dampness" of the material and imitation of other popular materials. Only two songs attracted attention.
It was they who became fundamental in the further development of the direction of the group. Raucous vocals, hard attacking guitar chords and melodic guitar solos changed the performance into power metal.
At the end of the recording, Friedrich left the group due to illness. Surprisingly, tour bus driver Stefan Kaufman wanted to replace him.
His joining the group was so successful that he soon took his permanent place in the team. It was then that the legendary golden composition of the Accept group was formed.
The path of the group Accept to world fame
The second album I am a rebel was very popular, thanks to him the guys became famous not only in continental Europe. He let them cross the English Channel.
After releasing the English version, they began a massive assault on the British sites. Over the entire history of their existence, the band has released 15 albums.
It is the period 1980-1984. became the most successful for the German guys. They also managed to conquer the American public, consolidated their popularity in Europe.
Their compositions were played in clubs, and the world tour was a resounding success. This time can be considered the period of the birth of the legend. And they've been playing exceptionally good music ever since.
Accept today
They still remain in good musical form, and their fans are also looking forward to the release of new albums and singles.
Despite the harsh world of heavy metal, the guys were able to maintain their identity and the high standard of their music.
On January 29, 2021, the presentation of the band's next LP took place. The collection was titled Too Mean to Die and was topped by a total of 11 tracks.
Interestingly, fans had the opportunity to pre-order a copy of the studio album, which was accompanied by a bright postcard with autographs of the musicians.
