This particular album by Germany's Accept, marked a major turning point in their career. They had released 3 albums up to this point, Accept, I'm A Rebel and Breaker but this one, Restless And Wild was the first to receive worldwide distribution that included North America. They had been accused in the past of copying the sounds and style of both Scorpions and AC/DC with their first 3 albums although Breaker showed a slightly different and more harder edge than their previous efforts. With Restless And Wild, Accept chose to move in an even heavier direction, using a more Judas Priest style and created a heavy metal masterpiece full of classic metal anthems which had a major influence on the Power and True Metal music to emerge in the 90's and today as well as being a major influence on the Thrash and Speed metal that became so popular in the mid to late 80's

The opening of this album is, quite simply, the best intro ever to any album ever made hands down. It begins with an old scratchy 78 rpm record of a German folk tune complete with the obligatory accordion. After about 10 seconds, you here the sound of someone ripping the needle off of the record followed by a blood-curdling scream by Udo Dirkschneider. The guitars come crashing in and when the drums join the fray, you're listening to one of the fastest, meanest Heavy Metal tunes I'd ever heard in my life up to that point and the birth of what was to become Speed and Thrash Metal. Fast As A Shark is one of the most classic Accept tunes of all time and has been covered by numerous bands. Awesome fast guitar riffs and pounding double bass drums are heard throughout as well as the trademark raspy wail of Udo. The man's voice sounds like that of an evil troll! Wolf Hoffmann rips into a mean solo mid-song and by the end of it, you realize you've just heard a masterpiece. While you're catching your breath, the fast gallop of the title track Restless And Wild kicks in. Udo once again delivers a vocal performance that sounds like he swallowed broken glass. This track uses the classic "gang style vocals" that this band soon became known for and once again, another metal masterpiece. The first time I heard these 2 songs, with the combination of a guitar sound that was pure Heavy Metal (Gibson Flying V guitars through stacks of Marshall amps that sound like they're ready to explode) and Udo's voice, I knew I was listening to some of the heaviest music I had ever heard.

The rest of the album really never lets up. Ahead Of The Pack has a very chunky heavy and driving tempo and Shake Your Heads is a metal anthem very much like United or Take On The World by Judas Priest. It uses a very heavy and pounding double bass drum riff to propel the song and features razor sharp riffing by Wolf Hoffmann and Herman Frank. You can just picture the crowd headbanging in unison to this song in concert. Neon Nights is about as close to a power ballad as you get on this album. It starts with a very gnarly and nasty guitar passsage by Wolf in which he uses a phasor and octave divider. It plows into the main riff and the chorus features some more melodic (?) vocals by Udo. This band, despite it's muscular sound, really did pay attention to song arrangements and melodies, not just the guitar riffs.

Get Ready is a more fun, rollicking, bluesy type number and lightens things up a bit. The next track, Demon's Night, is another classic and starts with a slow bouncy heavy feel with thick guitar riffs which then speeds up for the chorus. Flash Rockin' Man is a kick-ass metal tune that maintains a fast driving tempo and the way that it flows into the great chunky heavy interlude after the second chorus is nothing short of heavy metal genius. Don't Go Stealing My Soul Away, although being a decent song, is probably one of the more weaker tracks on the album. It's a three chord AC/DC style of party metal music and Udo once again shows that he can sing with emotion and feel.

The album closer, Princess Of The Dawn is another Accept classic that was always a concert favorite. It's not a particularly heavy tune but with the slower hypnotic pace, use of orchestration and awesome vocal delivery by Udo, it creates a mood that's felt throughout the entire song. The ending of this song is truly amazing. Wolf Hoffmann plays a flurry of leads which take on more of a classical music tone to them with the style and use of minor keys, something that the band became known for. Throughout this album, the lead guitar playing of Wolf Hoffmann doesn't take on the typical heavy metal style. It's more crafty and melodic and in most songs, the key will change for the solo part. This is a very effective way to draw more attention to the leads and also to break up the song a little bit.

This album was one of my favorites from the 80's and has everything that I love about metal music. It has thick, fast and heavy guitar, a hard and fast driving sound and vocals that were aggressive and sometimes abrasive but could also be very emotional and melodic. Those aspects combined with a very clever and catchy songwriting style made this band very special to me. On first listening to this album, one could've easily dismissed these guys as just a Priest clone, but when you get past the obvious comparisons, there was something special and unique about this band. This album was released in 1983 in North America about 6 months before Balls To The Wall and really solidified this band as a force to be reckoned with in the world of Heavy Metal. If someone were to ask me what I think are the best and most influential Heavy Metal albums from the 80's, this one would be somewhere near the top of my list for sure.