Accept Album: “I'm a Rebel”

Originally released in 1980, I'm a Rebel was the second album from German heavy metal masters Accept. It's also the least-favorite album of just about every Accept fan, since record company pressure pushed the band away from the heavy metal sound of their debut and towards a more commercially-accessible AC/DC-style hard rock sound.

There's a reason I'm a Rebel is barely considered a "real" Accept album. As soon as the upbeat title track kicks in you know you're not getting the kind of heavy metal seen on the Accept debut. This is a band that works best when they can cut loose, and this album sounds like there was a record company suit saying "too much, guys, too much" every step of the way. It's not a bad album at all, but it still sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the Accept discography. Fortunately the band was able to soldier through and get back to a more metal direction the following year with Breaker.

I'm a Rebel is actually a pretty solid hard rock album, but sandwiched between the classic metal of the

and

albums, of course it's going to look like the weakest link. If you're a serious fan of the late `70s and early `80s hard rock sound, there's a lot to like in I'm a Rebel. Metal fans and Accept die-hards are probably only going to want this album to finish off their Accept collections.

Edition Notes: I'm a Rebel was reissued by SPV in 2005. The album hasn't been remastered, nor are there any bonus tracks. It does have expanded liner notes and some rare photos, which is cool. The only reason to pick up this reissue is the same reason you'd be buying I'm a Rebel in the first place - to finish off your Accept collection.

I think Accept were not quite sure of where they were headed at the time they made this album. It takes a weird turn from the straight ahead (but occasionally boring) metal from the first album into the realm of disco. Their next album was a strong return to metal, suggesting they realised that they were a few years out of step with music fashion. I'm A Rebel is an interesting experiment - probably not the best place to be musically but worth a listen all the same.

The title track is an outrageous anthem that should really be appalling, but it's strangely catchy. I've been trying to work out if it actually has a bass line for many years (it lacks bottom end for some reason). "Save Us" is a very neat disco metal track, with strong riffs competing with a disco high-hat and bass line. "China Lady" uses simple, blues based riffing, but very addictive. "I Wanna Be No Hero" is so seriously disco it's funny, yet (once again) it is still a reasonable tune.

Overall I give the album a 3/5, as it gets old rather quickly, plus there are two dud tracks ("No Time To Lose" and "Do It").

A much different sound than their later albums, this is still an amazing piece.From the melodic The King and No Time To Loose, to I Wanna Be No Hero with its heavily compressed distortion, the abum is solid. Thunder And Lightning and China Lady show the sound the band went towards and used in later albums.A must for Accept fans or early 80's metal fans.

This CD gets a bad rap which I feel is unfair. Accept is one of my favorite bands, so I would have really liked to give this a higher rating than a 2 star, I would have probably given a 2 and a half but they don't have half star ratings. I'm a rebel is a huge leap forward from the self-titled debut. The title song "I'm A Rebel" is truly excellant and is the highlight of the CD. There is also another fantastic song on here sung by the bass player, the song is called "The King" and it reminds me both musically and lyrically of classic Dio fronted Rainbow.Unfortunately I couldn't rate it higher because it is just too unbalanced. You can definitely hear the 'classic' Accept sound on songs like I'm A Rebel,China Lady,and Do It but you can also tell the band is still trying to find it's sound.

The Pros - If you are an Accept fan, you need this for your collection. It has the beginnings of the classic sound. I'm A Rebel,China Lady,The King,Do It.It even has some cool disco style bass riffs (trust me,it works) on Save Us and I Wanna Be No Hero

The Cons - It just feels a little unbalanced. The production isn't very good either

The Bottom Line - If you are a fan of Accept, definitely pick this up,the title cut and The King make it worthwhile. However,if you are new to Accept start with the classics "Breaker" and "Balls To The Wall" Donutman says so!

i have the tape version somewhere and it totally frickin ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!my favorite song off this tape/cd is thunder and lightning, which pretty much sums up what this metal band is about.