«Metal Heart» is Accept’s sixth album and it was released on 4 March 1985 by RCA in Europe and by Portrait/Epic in the United States. The recordings took place from October to December 1984 at Dierks Studios in Stommeln, with Dieter Dierks producing. The line-up was Udo Dirkschneider on vocals, Wolf Hoffmann and Jörg Fischer on guitars, Peter Baltes on bass and Stefan Kaufmann on drums. It was the first time an Accept album went through digital mastering.
“`Country: Germany
Style: Heavy Metal
For fans of: Scorpions, Judas Priest, U.D.O.
The album was made with the American market in mind: more accessible melodies, louder choruses, cleaner production. Hoffmann has explained that the idea came from an article about an artificial heart and that the «man versus machine» motif runs through the whole record. The title track «Metal Heart» quotes classical themes: Tchaikovsky’s «Slavonic March» in the intro and Beethoven’s «Für Elise» in the main riff and the solo.
«Metal Heart», «Midnight Mover», a more commercial track that got a video, and «Living for Tonite» stand out. Beside them are «Up to the Limit», «Screaming for a Love-Bite» and «Teach Us to Survive», where the band tries out a more jazzy approach.
The album reached number 13 in Germany, number 4 in Sweden and number 94 in the United States. Although it took its share of criticism at the time, over the years «Metal Heart» has come to be seen by many fans as one of Accept’s best records, and it closes the band’s golden period. In 2002 a digitally remastered edition came out with two live tracks from the «Kaizoku-Ban» EP.
See also
See also: Accept: The story of the German heavy metal band, Udo Dirkschneider: Record Labels «Do a Lot of Things Wrong» and Judas Priest – Invincible Shield.
