It's hard to consider a disc featuring the vocals of anybody other than
Udo Dirkschneider an actual
Accept record. Released after the legendary frontman's departure from Germany's second greatest '80s metal outfit,
Eat the Heat proves
Dirkschneider's personification of the band. After picking up Minneapolis metal-club veteran
David Reece,
Wolf Hoffman and the rest of
Accept decided to modify their sound and songwriting enough to fit the replacement singer's more commercial metal style. Filling in for a legend, especially one as unique as
Reece's predecessor, is a risky business, and the American wailer doesn't do much to help his cause as he never injects a personality of his own into this 1989 Epic release. While the substitute's vocal abilities are considerable, it's hard to differentiate his delivery from that of many singers of his era fronting secondary metal outfits. Making matters worse, the songwriting and production on
Eat the Heat often sound stale when compared to the consistently raw yet musically tight delivery of the group's best work. To understand and admire
Accept's quirky appeal is to appreciate the insane rantings of
Dirkshneider and the chemistry of his chaos offset against the band's particular musical order.