Search - Accept :: Breaker

Munchy...Crunchy!

Daniel Pinto | Brooklyn, NY USA | 08/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Since there are really no in depth critiques of the early Accept releases on the web I'll start here with BREAKER!



Like so mary Americans, I also caught onto Accept when Restless and Wild was reasonably new, April of '83. So, I had to backtrack and also save money (15 y/o at the time) to buy the older realeases.



My 1st copy of BREAKER was the USA pressing on PASSPORT records, a small indy record company that also pressed the big Wendy O Williams LP in 1983.



It is interesting to note that this version of the LP has a bizzare version of Son Of A Bitch, with gobbledegook lyrics (Born to be rich, kiss my arm, born to be rich....born to be rich, you are so....born to be rich), so the song was so good that I initially went nuts over this version. It wasnt until I found the BRAIN records version that I relized the song actually made sense! LOL!



The production of the album itself, while not as crisp as RESTLESS, is very compressed, I'm still not sure if the slight flanging of the guitars in the Title Track and FEELINGS is intentional or not. Yet sometimes underproduction is the best production.



In somewhat of a bridge between pre and post BREAKER LP, there are some interesting things to note:



Like Pre BREAKER:



Peter Baltes sings a very heavy handed ballad that is a nice composition.



A few of these songs are not Heavy Metal at all, just hard rocking tunes (ala BURNING, MIDNIGHT HIGHWAY)



The guitars are clean and crunchy, and the snare drum still has that thumpy tom tom sound, just like on I"M A REBEL



Udo/Peter Duet (Midnight Highway vs. Sounds of War and SAVE US)



LIKE POST BREAKER:



The song BREAKER is a bonafide metal classic and while much credit is givin to FAST AS A SHARK, this song is probably the definitive ACCEPT song, and crafted quite better as well. Be careful not to drive into that brick wall!



There is a ton of groundbreaking material here,most notably the twin guitar solo in STARLIGHT, which later on was copied in FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE on Metallica's Ride The Lightning. Listen to 'em back to back!



Metal with melody (Run If You Can, FEELINGS)



And of course UDO was starting to really discover the high register with his voice was the way to go ALL THE TIME!



So to sum it all up?



THE VERDICT:



While Restless and Wild is Accept's equivilant to AC/DC Back in Black, the music before it is no slouch either, dig?



Much like Highway to Hell, BREAKER is a testament to a band that was on the edge of world wide success!



Danny



[...]"

The Beginning of a Great Run of Albums

William Geurdes | 666 Mockingbird lane | 08/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is where Accept began to hit their stride. A damn fine early 80's metal album. 'Son of a Bitch' is a classic rocker, while 'Can't stand the night' is one of their better ballads. If you like the four that followed ("Restless&Wild", "Balls to the Wall", "Metal Heart", and "Russian Roulette"), I can't see a reason for you to not enjo this one. \m/"

One Of The Best Metal CDs Of All Time

C. Hunt | grantville pa | 12/08/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In my opinion Breaker is one of the best heavy metal CDs of all time. Accept has a very unique sound and on this CD they just about hit perfection. This CD along with "Balls To The Walls" is the ultimate Accept. The songwriting is top notch, the musicianship is outstanding and Udo's voice is in peak performance. If you are already a fan of Accept, this CD should already be in your collection, if you are new to the band then this is the one you should buy along with Balls To The Walls in order to get a complete overview of the band. The self titled debut had horrible production (in my opinion) and was very unbalanced,the follow-up "I'm A Rebel" had hints of greatness and an improved sound,but this is where they truly show what they can do. The album after this "Restless And Wild" is even a further step forward in sound quality,however,songwriting on "Breaker" in my opinion is superior.



The Pros:The songwriting is outstanding,the songs that really stand out are "Son Of A Bitch", "Breaker","Starlight","Midnight Highway" and "Run If You Can"



The Cons:There really are none.Even the ballads are not too bad (on the previous 2 albums the ballads tended to unbalance the feel in my opinion).



The Bottom Line:This is a very strong album. Great production,great songwriting,and a perfect place to start if you are just getting into Accept or even 80s style hard rock/metal in general. It doesn't get much better then this.Donutman says so!"