Accept - I'm a Rebel (1980)^{Release ID: 3478}

Nine months after the release of their debut self-titled record, German heavy metallers Accept returned to the studio to record the follow-up album, “I’m A Rebel”, which would hit the shelves in June 1980. Much like its predecessor, “I’m A Rebel” sits somewhere between heavy metal & traditional 70’s hard rock however it features a different sound to the debut with the classic Accept guitar crunch coming to the fore & Udo’s vocals being transformed into the more aggressive shriek he became renowned for on a few songs. That being said, there is definitely a more blatantly commercial edge to some of the material that we didn’t hear as much on “Accept” & the production is a step up from its older sibling too. 

As with the debut, bassist Peter Baltes performs the vocals on a couple of tracks & proves himself to be a very solid singer in his own right while the drumming seems to have taken on a more minimal approach similar to the one Judas Priest took on “British Steel”. Accept wear their influences on their sleeve here with AC/DC, Van Halen, Scorpions, KISS & Judas Priest all making an appearance.  

There are a few really great songs to be found on “I’m A Rebel” & you can certainly hear those big anthemic choruses that were a staple of the classic Accept armory however they aren’t enough to save the album from the weaker inclusions with the horrible “I Wanna Be A Hero” being the clear low point. It was an obvious attempt to clone the disco sound of KISS’s “I Was Made For Loving You” & it failed dismally. I read somewhere that the title track was actually written for AC/DC but they rejected it & Accept ended up taking it on here & it sounds pretty much exactly like something AC/DC would do to be honest. 

I’d give “I’m A Rebel” a miss unless you’re a really big fan of Accept. It’s certainly a step up from the debut but it’s glaringly obvious that the band have succumbed to record label & producer pressure by including a fair chunk of material that they might not have felt altogether comfortable with. In fact, the various band members has been fairly open about this fact in the media over the years.