- advertisement -

DIRKSCHNEIDER
Back To The Roots-ACCEPTED!
AFM Records 2017

Review By Ruben Mosqueda

Udo Dirkschneider, the former ACCEPT vocalist, has had a lengthy solo career. It wouldn’t be stretch to say that his solo career has been more successful in Europe than it has been in North America. Dirkschneider and his solo band U.D.O. has had a revolving door of musicians over the years. The current incarnation of U.D.O., dubbed DIRKSCHNEIDER for the ‘Farewell To Accept’ tour, features Dirkschneider on vocals, Sven Dirkschneider [his son] on drums, Fitty Wienhold on bass, and Andrey Smirnov and Kasperi Heikkinen on guitars.

It has been well documented over the past year that Dirkschneider will bid farewell to the ACCEPT catalog. He’s not quitting the business. No, he’s merely putting ACCEPT music in his setlist to rest. Dirkschneider, who has a vast solo back catalog, could perform a European gig and not include a single ACCEPT song in the set and the audience wouldn't bat an eye. In North America however, I don’t think this would fare as well, simply because Dirkschneider doesn’t play here that often and his solo albums haven’t been as celebrated as ACCEPT records have been in recent years.

Dirkschneider recorded a double live album titled Live – Back To The Roots that was issued in the winter 2016. Dirkschneider has followed this up less than a year later with Back To The Roots--ACCEPTED!, which might cause some confusion with similar artwork, titles and setlists. The difference being that the latest offering also has a companion DVD which adds some more bang for your buck.

Dirkschneider and Co brilliantly execute the ACCEPT classics. The collection was well thought out and is a career spanning series of songs that includes “London Leather Boys”, “Midnight Mover”, “Breaker”, “Head Over Heels”, “Princess Of The Dawn”, “Son Of A Bitch”, “Monster Man”, “Metal Heart”, “Fast As A Shark” and the ACCEPT signature track “Balls To The Wall”. There isn’t a brick on this album — it makes you realize just how many monster cuts Dirkschneider and ACCEPT were responsible for. Live – Back To The Roots is fantastic but Back To The Roots--ACCEPTED! edges the previous compilation due to the inclusion of the DVD. There's no question this collection will be ‘accepted' by the North American audience and what a stellar marketing tool for the upcoming second leg of the North American tour.

5.0 Out Of 5.0

Pick up your copy of Back To The Roots--ACCEPTED! in the KNAC.COM More Store right HERE.