Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Accept - Restless and Wild (1982)

The reality is that Accept where virtually untouchable at the time of this release.  Coming one year after the general good reception to Breaker, their fourth album had a great foundation to build from and Restless and Wild summed up perfectly the flavour of this record.  It is a fine display of brooding and rampant metal/hard-rock from a band brimming with confidence.  This is reflected in the quality of the songwriting and the arrangement of the album as a whole.  It's all on here from memorable anthems to slow-burning numbers that writhe and slither like hungry serpents.

Within fourteen months of this release the band would push on again in their quest for metal royalty status with the equally barnstorming Balls to the Wall showing that they were truly hitting their stride.  The level of intensity that was now delivered on Restless & Wild had a maturity and control that made it more potent and compelling.  The vigorous and authoritative poise of the playing showed this was a band firmly in the driving seat of their own destiny and they had their foot to the floor.

The title track alone with its rampant gallop stamps enough authority on proceedings to let the listener know Udo and the boys weren't here to fuck around.  The real hook of the album though is how they maintain that intensity but manage to vary the pace of tracks, switching from chanting choruses and blistering leads to more moody atmospheres effortlessly.  Always there is a feel of there being something on the boil here, simmering with a passionate and unwavering flame beneath.

Udo as ever is superb and it is he who steals the limelight on this record intermittently as he jousts for supremacy with the excellent leads of Hoffmann.  The band as whole though are a tight and unified front, charging mercilessly forwards and delivering my favourite record of the Udo era.