(July 2024) Episode 589 of the “opus project” is ACCEPT. Accept was my entry into heavy metal, when a high school classmate gave me a mix tape of metal bands (it also included “Whiplash” which was my initiation into Metallica.) The song was “Fast as a Shark.” The children’s song, the record scratch, the scream, the thrash, the double pedals, the hooks, the fills, the lightning guitar solo – that song has EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, that (still) amazing song was the exception, not the rule. While some of their earlier stuff resembled Judas Priest (that’s a good thing), most of the rest is banal headbanging, which bores me. And there’s a lot: 17 albums up to the present year. But their influence on speed and thrash metal will always stand.
Favorite album: Restless and Wild
Favorite song: Fast as a Shark
Compared to expectations: ↓
Recommendation: Restless and Wild and Balls to the Wall are the only albums you need to know.
Opus Project 