Restless and Wild

Restless and Wild is the fourth studio album by German heavy metal band, Accept, released in 1982 in Continental Europe and in 1983 in the US and UK. It was the first Accept album not to be recorded at Delta-Studio, since the band had moved to Dieter Dierks' studio in Stommeln. It is also the first Accept album in which Udo Dirkschneider sings every track, as well as the first in which manager Gaby Hauke ("Deaffy") gains credits for songwriting. Michael Wagener, once again, handled recording and mixing duties here.

Restless and Wild
Studio album by Accept
Released	2 October 1982
Recorded	February–March and June 1982
Studio	Dierks Studios, Cologne, Germany
Genre	Heavy metal, speed metal
Length	43:50
Label	Brain (Germany) Heavy Metal (UK) Portrait (US)
Producer	Accept
Accept chronology
Breaker (1981) Restless and Wild (1982) Balls to the Wall (1983)
Singles from Restless and Wild
"Fast as a Shark" / "Get Ready" Released: November 1982 "Restless and Wild" / "Don't Go Stealing My Soul Away" Released: November 1982 "Restless and Wild" / "Fast as a Shark" Released: December 1983
Alternative cover

Album information

Jan Koemmet joined the band briefly before the release of this album, but did not participate in the recording.[1] The guitar on the finished product is done by Wolf Hoffmann alone, although Herman Frank had joined the band by the time the album was released, and is credited on the album cover.[2]

The album is best known for the opening track, "Fast as a Shark". Stefan Kaufmann's double kick drumming is considered among the first thrash/speed metal drumming (preceding first releases of both Metallica and Slayer.

Another well-known track is the album closer, "Princess of the Dawn", a tense song that Udo describes as "a Cinderella story" and "like a Lord of the Rings fantasy" with no deep meaning.[3] Wolf Hoffmann achieved the haunting mandolin-like effect by recording the guitar at half-speed, then having it played back at normal speed.[4] He describes the sudden ending as "an idea that didn't work so well."[1]

Versions of the album released outside Germany were issued with a different cover, replacing the picture of burning guitars with a shot of the band live in concert. American death metal band Cannibal Corpse has made a cover of the song "Demon's Night" on their EP Worm Infested.

On 25 January 2011 the album was performed in its entirety at a special show in Switzerland.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	10/10[6]
Hard & heavy	[7]

Restless and Wild has received mostly positive reviews. Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic praised Restless and Wild with 4.5 out of 5 stars and called it Accept's "creative breakthrough." He then added, "The bottom line here is that this, like its successor Balls to the Wall, is an essential heavy metal album, and any fan worth his salt should own them both."[5]

Restless and Wild was Accept's first album to chart in the UK,[8] Sweden[9] and the Netherlands. The album failed to chart in the United States.

Udo has agreed with the general assessment of Restless and Wild as a landmark heavy metal record, calling it "surely the most important Accept album".[10] Wolf's praise is more reserved, calling it "just another record"[1] and adding, "looking back maybe we think 'Fast as a Shark' was the first speed metal song ever, but at the time we sorta just had fun and we didn't think it was anything dramatically new. Obviously, maybe what was so cool about this time was that we weren't thinking so much. We were just ballsy and tried to do things without having much to lose."[1]

Track listing

All music is composed by Wolf Hoffmann, Stefan Kaufmann, Udo Dirkschneider, Peter Baltes.

Side one

No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
1.	"Fast as a Shark"	Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes	3:49
2.	"Restless and Wild"	Robert A. Smith-Diesel and Accept	4:12
3.	"Ahead of the Pack"	Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes	3:24
4.	"Shake Your Heads"	Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes	4:17
5.	"Neon Nights"	Deaffy, Smith-Diesel and Accept	6:01

Side two

No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
6.	"Get Ready"	Smith-Diesel and Accept	3:41
7.	"Demon's Night"	Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes	4:27
8.	"Flash Rockin' Man"	Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes	4:28
9.	"Don't Go Stealing My Soul Away"	Smith-Diesel and Accept	3:15
10.	"Princess of the Dawn"	Deaffy, Smith-Diesel and Accept	6:15
Total length:			43:49

Russian and AFM Records bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Flash Rockin' Man" (Live)
2.	"Neon Nights" (Live)

Credits

Band members

• Udo Dirkschneider – vocals
• Wolf Hoffmann – guitars
• Herman Frank – guitars (credited, but didn't actually perform)
• Peter Baltes – bass
• Stefan Kaufmann – drums

Production

• Michael Wagener – engineer, mixing
• Stefan Böhle/Studio Icks – photography and design

Charts

Chart	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11]	47
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12]	7
UK Albums (OCC)[13]	98

References

1. "Accept - interviews". Metallian.com. 17 June 2002. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
2. Hoffmann, Wolf. "Restless & Wild". Wolf Hoffmann official website. Archived from the original on 2 May 1999. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
3. "UDO - interviews". Metallian.com. 23 May 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
4. Hoffmann, Wolf. "Frequently Asked Questions". Wolf Hoffmann official website. Archived from the original on 5 December 1998. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
5. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Accept Restless & Wild review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
6. Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-1894959315.
7. Hervé Picart, "Accept", Hard & heavy - Les dieux du rock lourd (french book with an entire chapter dedicate to Accept), Jacques Grancher, 1985, p.9
8. "Accept". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
9. Hung, Steffen. "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
10. Henderson, Tim (2005). "Hard News Page 2". Hard Radio.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
11. "Dutchcharts.nl – Accept – Restless And Wild" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
12. "Swedishcharts.com – Accept – Restless And Wild". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
13. "Accept | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 10 June 2014.