Flashback Album Review: Accept

I’m a Rebel is the second studio album of the German heavy metal band, Accept.

The album wasn’t a commercial hit, but it has a 70s-ending hard-rock feeling. Lyrics deal mostly with rebellion, speed, and heartbreak. The songs have catchy guitar riffs and solos. The album is short but powerful.

The line-up was Udo Dirkschneider (vocals), Wolf Hoffmann (guitars), Jörg Fischer (guitars), Peter Baltes (bass guitar and vocals on “No Time to Lose” and “The King”), and Stefan Kaufmann (drums).

The album starts with I’m a Rebel, the track that gave its name to. It was written by George Alexander, whose real name is Alex Young (brother of Angus and Malcolm Young from AC/DC). This song was for the Australian band, but they didn’t want it, so Accept recorded it.

Another hard rock song with a killer riff and guitar solo is Save Us. Same with Thunder and Lighting, a perfect song for driving down the highway.

A couple of ballads, sung by the bassist Peter Baltes, are No Time to Lose, about feeling lonely after a breakup and The King, that tells the story of a man that chose the wrong path, the criminal life. He is no longer the king. He lives outside the society, ostracized. Peter has a lovely voice that works perfectly for these types of songs.

China Lady, an equivalent to Iron Maiden’s Charlotte the Harlot, is about a lady of the night, dirty love.

Two rock love songs are I Wanna Be No Hero and Do It. This last one is my favorite track of the album, sick riff.

The album wasn’t a commercial success, according to his former singer Udo Dirkschneider, because the band hadn't found his identity yet. Their situation improved major with their next album, Breaker. However, I think that I'm a Rebel has some great tracks.

Rating: 6/10

Release Date: June 2nd, 1980

Released By: Brain Metronome GmbH

FFO: Grave Digger, Running Wild, Primal Fear

Track Listing