European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 19, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes wednesday March 19,1986 cd Rcpt the inevitable Story by Anita Gosch staff writer it was 1984. The new wave of heavy Metal was sweeping across America like a swarm of hungry locusts. Countless bands from the West coastland British Isles rocked their Way to the top. An obscure quintet called accept born in Germany s Industrial heartland managed to Cut through the mass and emerge As one of Europe s leading hard Rock exports. Accept had Little in common with the bands that soared to stardom during the Metal heyday. The Sleazy Shock Rock image of Motley Crue and the Glam Rock Appeal of Ratt were As foreign to accept As Judas priest s penchant for leather and studs and Iron Maiden s satan Stic inclinations. And certainly accept s barely 51/a feet tall Lead Singer Udo Dir Schneider was no match for heartthrob David Lee Roth. So How was accept Able to leap from relative obscurity in their Homeland to the Peak of the International Rock scene according to drummer Stefan Kaufmann the band s Success was inevitable. We worked so hard for so Long that every Little step up every Little Success really did t come As a great Surprise he said in an interview during the band s current european tour. Kaufmann agrees that the accomplishments of his accept Lead Singer Udo Dir Schneider belting out heavy Metal with heavy lyrics. Is photo by Anita Gosch fellow countrymen the scorpions helped pave the Way for accept s entry into the american Market. But a look at the band s track record bears out the musicians dedication to their Craft. Singer Dir Schneider formed accept in Cologne in 1977, recruiting Kaufmann guitarists Wolf Hoffmann and Jorg Fetcher and bassist Peter Baltes. Ignoring the then popular new wave of German music which emphasized songs Sung in the German language accept adhered to their gut wrenching heavy Metal with English lyrics. The English language belongs to Rock music just As much As a distorted guitar explained Kaufmann. Just As you would t use a trumpet to play heavy Metal so you would t sing heavy Metal songs in German. It just does t sound  the self produced third up breaker brought the musicians a modicum of recognition in Europe and through import sales in the United states. The next album restless and wild became the band s american debut late in 1982, followed in 1984 by balls to the Wall. That year accept embarked on their first american tour opening for such luminaries As Ozzy Osbourne kiss and the Cree. On Metal heart accept teamed up with heavy Metal Maestro Dieter Dierks producer of the scorpions breakthrough album love at first sting. By this time accept had Fine tuned their Metal style toning Down some of the rawness and had begun accept Peter Baltes left Stefan Kaufmann Wolf Hoffmann Udo Dir Schneider Jorg Fischer. Tackling weighty subjects in their songs. On the first few albums we wrote about the typical ridiculous things the Middle Ages sex Rock n Roll and motorbikes said Kaufmann. Then we realized it s much More difficult to write such fantasy lyrics than it is to write about everyday situations. Besides these fantasy songs have nothing to do with reality so the audience can t relate to  russian Roulette the band s newest album deals with conflict said Kaufmann. The title track compares the arbitrariness of the game with that of the military somewhere up there Are a few big people who have the Power to Send the Little people to War to kill others and to be killed he explained. Other tracks on the album Are monster Man which deals with euthanasia t. V. War on the violence shown daily in the news and Man s increasing indifference toward it and heaven is hell which deals with religious wars. Kaufmann is Quick to Point out that the band would never offer solutions to the world s problems. We simply want to Tell it like it is he said. However we re a pretty popular band perhaps even idols for some kids. So maybe if we represent certain ideals we can influence these kids in a positive  accept s stage garb Dir Schneider appears in full Blu s and the others Wear combat boots and Black fatigues decorated with Multi National military insignia is meant to be ironic to ridicule the idiocy of having All this military stuff which should t even be necessary in the 20th Century said Kaufmann. The concerts Are High powered 90-minute aural assaults during which the band members never let up. Chatter with the audience is minimal As the band churns out the Metal anthems that have become their trademark. Props and elaborate Light shows Are unnecessary the musicians typical heavy Metal poses flying v s held High in the air or aimed at the crowd like machine guns and the fast paced two Steps at times perhaps a bit too perfectly choreographed Are gimmicks enough. Off stage too accept will never let up said Kaufmann. For the time being the band will continue its non Stop schedule of recording and touring. Following the european tour accept will attack the . Once again and then hit the far East and eventually Australia. Music keeps us alive said Kaufmann. And As Long As we can play music Well never  accept will perform in Germany with special guests Dokken through March 25, followed by performances in Italy the u.k., Spain France Scandinavia and the Eastern bloc countries. Check stripes Magazine for the tour dates