Accept: Objection Overruled

ACCEPT: OBJECTION OVERRULED (1993)

1) Objection Overruled; 2) I Don't Wanna Be Like You; 3) Protectors Of Terror; 4) Slaves To Metal; 5) All Or Nothing; 6) Bulletproof; 7) Amamos La Vida; 8) Sick, Dirty And Mean; 9) Donation; 10) Just By My Own; 11) This One's For You.

The little blunder is over: Reece is out, Udo is back, having lost neither his honour nor his powers: six years without Accept haven't impacted his singing in the least (actually, he'd been doing pretty much the same old thing with his own band, U.D.O.). Nor has anything else been impacted: Objec­tion Overruled sounds as if neither hair metal nor grunge ever happened. Just more of the old supertight metallic rock'n'roll, crisply produced and sounding quite close to you, without the echoey effects of Metal Heart; as if the Metal Gods finally decided to come down from above and have fun with their fans on the small stage of a local bar — without ever forgetting that they're Gods and the fans are scum in their faces, though.

As far as "reunion" efforts go, Objection Overruled is excellent, and since no one expects any more musical revolutions from Accept anyway, perfectly enjoyable as simply more classy mate­rial from these guys — classy and uncompromising. Brutal riffs, catchy choruses, passion and power above pathos, and Udo and Hoffmann battling for attention as usual. There are misfires: the power ballad 'Amamos La Vida' is somewhat boring, the marching anthem 'All Or Nothing' is somewhat silly, and the instrumental 'Just By My Own' is somewhat excessive. But if we are studying Accept in chronological order, this little weakness they have for over-the-top ballads and anthems is well-known to us, and as long as it doesn't overwhelm the album, it's possible to live with it like it's possible to live with a hump on your shoulders or smallpox traces on an other­wise beautiful face.

On the other hand, the rockers are a ton of fun — like the title track, where Udo pleads not guilty to an unforgiving chorus jury of his guitar players over blinding speed riffs, or like the traditional fuck-you hate peon of 'I Don't Wanna Be Like You', or the double-edged macho slash of 'Protec­tors Of Terror' (that's them others) and 'Slaves To Metal' (that's the band).

A minor surprise is 'Donation' — which sounds exactly like prime time AC/DC in terms of lyrics, music, and singing; although I'm not sure, I think it was consciously intended as a tribute to the band, given the line 'there she was, shaking more than my foundation' (cf. AC/DC's 'Shake Your Foundations'). Actually, ano­ther nod to their Aussie brethren can be found on 'I Don't Wanna Be Like You', whose main riff bears an uncanny similarity to 'Sin City' and whose lyrics include lines like 'the walls can be shaking, the earth could be quaking'. This may be upsetting to people who prefer Accept as a much more refined, and maybe even much deeper, version of AC/DC, but there's no question that the German band, from the start, owed quite a bit to the Young brothers, and I find nothing wrong about doing a song or two directly in the AC/DC style, especially if they do it well, which they do. No one would probably want to see them put out another Eat The Heat instead — right?

Of course, they already sound a bit out of time, no longer as sincerely menacing as before, but time slowly levels these effects, and for today's listeners, Objection Overruled may easily kick as much ass as Balls To The Wall. My rock'n'roll heart was perfectly happy with it, anyway, and thumbs up were always guaranteed.