Shortly after
Accept's inaugural split in 1990, Epic dusted off some live tapes and issued the group's first live full-length,
Staying a Life. Although not the group's first-ever live release (it was predated five years earlier by the EP Kaizoku-Ban),
Staying a Life does a faithful job of capturing
Accept at the peak of their arena metal powers, circa their
Metal Heart era. The proof why the German band was handed opening slots on quite a few popular mid-'80s tours (
Kiss,
Iron Maiden, etc.) is evident throughout -- rocking versions of "Metal Heart," "Screaming for a Love Bite," "Restless and Wild," and "London Leatherboys" surely got a few mullets headbanging on this fateful night. And of course,
Accept's two best-known tracks -- "Fast as a Shark" and "Balls to the Wall" -- are included, as they close out the set. They may never have reached arena headlining status Stateside, but
Staying a Life proves that
Accept was on equal footing with just about any metal chart-topper from around this time -- especially when it came to the concert stage. ~ Greg Prato