Here is compilation of pictures from the 'Eat The Heat / David Reece' era of the German heavy metal band Accept, combined with music from the 'Eat The Heat' album. After Udo left the band in 1987 to form his own band U.D.O., the remaining members continued on without him, trying out a few new singers, including Rob Armitage, who they recorded several demos with, and whom even ended up in a few promo photos for metal magazines in 1987/88. During this period Accept's classic 2nd axeman, Jörg Fischer, decided to leave the band, so only Wolf Hoffmann (guitar), Peter Baltes (bass) and Stefan Kaufmann (drums), remained from the classic Accept lineup, that had toured the world a few years earlier with successfull albums such as 'Russian Roulette', 'Metal Heart' and 'Balls To The Wall'. In 1988 however, the band found their new frontman, American David Lynn Reece, a typial glamrock/80-s rock frontman from Oklahoma. Before being taken into the warmth of Accept, he played with band such as Dare Force and Sacred Child. With Reece, the band started recording what was to become the follow-up to their 1986 success 'Russian Roulette'. The band had no 2nd guitarist at this point, so Wolf recorded all the guitarparts himself. A few months before the release of the new album, titled 'Eat The Heat', the band found their new 2nd guitarist, to replace Jörg, Englishman James (Jim) Stacey. James didn't contribute to the album, apart from being credited as 2nd guitarists, and being pictured on the frontsleeve, as well as in public promo photos. Unfortunatly the album was not very well-recieved by the fans of classic Accept, but the album did sell well enough for the band to do a tour, starting in the U.S. The band played quite smaller venues that previously, and shorter sets that on previous tours with Udo. Some shows were played at local rock bars etc. with poor audience numbers. After the U.S. tour, the band went to Europe for a short tour. It was during this leg of the 'Eat The Heat' tour, that drummer Stefan Kaufmann sustained a serious back injury, which needed months to heal, so he could not continue to tour. Alice Cooper-drummer Ken Mary replaced Kaufmann, so the band could continue their European tour. About halfway through the tour in Europe, a fistfight broke out between Peter Baltes and David Reece. Apparently Reece wanted more control and leadrole in the band, than Peter and Wolf would allow, and acted as it was his band at times. Almost emediatly after this incident, the tour was cancelled, and Accept was disbanned by Peter and Wolf... This video/picture slideshow does unfortunatly not contain complete songs off 'Eat The Heat'. This is due to copyright issues, so I present extended samples of what I consider the strongest and best tracks the David Reece-era of Accept recorded. Here is the order of the songs.... 1. Hellhammer 2. X-T-C 3. D-Train 4. Prisoner 5. Generation Clash 6. Minstreated ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- During the 'Eat The Heat' tour, the band (as mentioned), played much shorter sets that on any previous tour that Accept had done, and they played in much smaller venues, such as small auditoriums and rock clubs/bars. Here is the typical setlist the Reece-fronted Accept did Live during the 'Eat The Heat' tour in 1989: 1. Intro ('Starlight' Intro) 2. Turn The Wheel 3. Livin' For Tonite 4. London Leatherboys (with extended Wolf and Peter jams) 5. Hellhammer 6. Princess Of The Dawn 7. Generation Clash 8. D-Train 9. Metal Heart 10. Screaming For A Lovebite 11. Up To The Limit 12. X-T-C 13. T.V. War 14. Balls To The Wall Often much shorter sets than this too. This one was from Ryan's Corner in St. Paul '89. Tour lineup: David Reece: Vocals Wolf Hoffmann: Lead Guitars / Backing Vocals Peter Baltes: Bass / Backing Vocals Stefan Kaufmann: Drums Jim Stacey: Rythm Guitar Ken Mary: Drums (after Stefan left due to back-injury) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you like it. I'm a die-hard Udo-era Accept/U.D.O. fan, and didn't think much of this incarnation of Accept for years, until recently, when I gave the album a few listens and started to enjoy some of the songs. I wish more Accept fans would give this album a second chance. It's not classic Accept, far from it indeed, but it has it's moments. I'm still glad Udo returned for the brilliant 1993 reunion album 'Objection Overruled' though. Enjoy!

• published: 12 Nov 2010
• views: 29823