Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Release date: February 28th, 2025
Re-releasing cult albums can be very tricky. Either it will be a success or failure. When “Balls To The Wall” was released I was four years old. Naturally, I had no clue what metal is, but six years later, when I started listening metal, at the age of ten, the first Accept song I heard was “Head Over Heels”. The rest is my personal history and the history says that after Udo was thrown out of Accept I didn’ accept the band without him. Stubborn mule didn’t even attend the Accept concert in Belgrade, hometown, but that is now part of my mental condition. Jokes aside…
This album is not just re-recorded. It is refreshed or if you want reloaded or as I would say injected with fresh blood and energy. Some songs are improved and even sound better than the original, some are average but the bottom line is there is no band song or interpretation. Only the songs and duets that suit more or less to your personal taste.
Over the years Udo has collaborated with many musicians, and some of them performed on this album. You will hear singers from different subgenres, different backgrounds, different eras, different energy, vocal range, resonance… Joakim Broden, Biff Byford, Mille Petrozza, Nils Molin, Michael Kiske, Ylva Eriksson, Danko Jones, Dee Snider, Tim Ripper Owens and Doro Pesch had an honour to enrich songs on this classic metal album. Some collaborations are expected, some might surprise you. If we look at the past, you will surely remember HammerFall’s version of “Head Over Heels” which was released on “Masterpieces” (Nuclear Blast, 2008). Maybe naive, my first thought was that maybe that version is on this album, but when you think twice, it makes no sense. This time, “Head Over Heels” Udo sang with Nils Molin (Amaranthe, Dynazty) and this is one of my favorites on this album. Each song has its attributes, but when it comes to “Head Over Heels”, “Losing More Than You’ve Ever Had” and “Love Child”, you can recognize the pure emotion in Molin’s, Eriksson’s and Kiske’s interpretation. Each song has its own energy, new dimension, but somehow, those three vocals are simply flowing and are offering the biggest contrast in vocal interpretation if you compare it to Udo’s singing style. While already mentioned songs along with “London Leatherboys” (feat. Biff Byford), “Turn Me On” (feat. Danko Jones), “Losers And Winners” (feat. Dee Snider) and “Winter Dreams” (feat. Doro Pesch) are more gentle, as expected, the songs on which Broden, Petrozza and Owens are contributing are more aggressive when it comes to the interpretation and emotion. Each collaboration is perfectly planned, or better to say, vocals and energies are very intelligent combined, and the product is the album you surely need to have in your collection.
Udo’s raw, raspy vocals are recognizable in the metal world. His influence is enormous, his energy inspiring. Those collaborations show that he is highly respected and loved among his colleagues and I am sure fans could say the same.
