Metal Heart
Encyclopedia
Metal Heart is a 1985 release by German heavy metal
band Accept
.
Although the group had recorded before at Dierks-Studios, this was the first album produced by Dieter Dierks
himself. This album was a cautious attempt to crack the lucrative American market with more accessible songcraft and emphasis on hooks and melodies. Although critically panned at the time, today Metal Heart is often considered by fans as one of the band's best records.http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/yeold_archives/accept.html
It contains several of their classic songs such as "Metal Heart" and "Living for Tonite". The band also makes a detour into jazz
territory with the unusual song "Teach Us to Survive".
Wolf Hoffmann
explained the concept behind the album: "We had read an article that someone was working on an artificial heart and that one day everybody is going to have a computerized heart. It talked, in general terms, about how more and more of humanity gets sucked out of the daily life and more and more replaced by machine. It's not a new thing now, but then it was new. Humans versus machine, was the general vibe of the record." The original cover concept was for a hologram
metal heart image, until budget considerations resulted in a traditional cover. But fittingly for the futuristic theme of the album, Metal Heart was the first Accept album to be digitally recorded
.http://web.archive.org/web/20020215044049/wolfhoffmann.com/html/metalheart.html
Wolf recalls Dieter Dierks as a very demanding producer: "We would do some pieces several dozen times trying to capture what he had in his mind for a specific section," adding: "Each song we tried different combinations of guitars, mic'ing and even strings!"
http://web.archive.org/web/20020215044049/wolfhoffmann.com/html/metalheart.html
The song "Metal Heart" is well known for containing the cover of two famous classical themes:
Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March
(in the intro) and Beethoven's Für Elise
in the main riff and solo. This song was covered in 1998 by Norwegian Black Metal band Dimmu Borgir
. "I had no idea it would become as popular as it did," Wolf remembers of his contribution to the song.http://web.archive.org/web/20020215044049/wolfhoffmann.com/html/metalheart.html
"Midnight Mover", about a drug dealer, is one of the more commercial songs on the album and was selected for a memorable music video
that anticipates the bullet time
filming technique by a full decade. "Just ahead of our time again!" jests Wolf.http://web.archive.org/web/20020215044049/wolfhoffmann.com/html/metalheart.html
Despite the more commercially appealing sound of the album, it fell short of the sales figures of its predecessor Balls to the Wall
in America. Udo remembers the Breaker through Metal Heart era as the time when the band got along best together.http://www.getreadytorock.com/pure_metal/udo_interview.htm Thus this would turn out to be the last album of Accept's golden era, as cracks were soon to appear in the band's solidarity.
The digitally remastered CD edition includes two live bonus tracks "Love Child" and "Living for Tonite", both taken from the album Kaizoku-Ban
.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Accept
Accept
Accept is a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, originally assembled by former vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and bassist Peter Baltes. Their beginnings can be traced back to the late 1960s...
.
Although the group had recorded before at Dierks-Studios, this was the first album produced by Dieter Dierks
Dieter Dierks
Dieter Dierks is a German record producer mostly known for his collaboration with the rock band Scorpions.- Youth :...
himself. This album was a cautious attempt to crack the lucrative American market with more accessible songcraft and emphasis on hooks and melodies. Although critically panned at the time, today Metal Heart is often considered by fans as one of the band's best records.http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/yeold_archives/accept.html
It contains several of their classic songs such as "Metal Heart" and "Living for Tonite". The band also makes a detour into jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
territory with the unusual song "Teach Us to Survive".
Wolf Hoffmann
Wolf Hoffmann
Wolf Hoffmann grew up in Wuppertal. He is primarily known as guitarist in the German heavy metal band Accept since 1976. In 1997, he released the album Classical with rock versions of classical pieces...
explained the concept behind the album: "We had read an article that someone was working on an artificial heart and that one day everybody is going to have a computerized heart. It talked, in general terms, about how more and more of humanity gets sucked out of the daily life and more and more replaced by machine. It's not a new thing now, but then it was new. Humans versus machine, was the general vibe of the record." The original cover concept was for a hologram
Holography
Holography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present...
metal heart image, until budget considerations resulted in a traditional cover. But fittingly for the futuristic theme of the album, Metal Heart was the first Accept album to be digitally recorded
Digital recording
In digital recording, digital audio and digital video is directly recorded to a storage device as a stream of discrete numbers, representing the changes in air pressure for audio and chroma and luminance values for video through time, thus making an abstract template for the original sound or...
.http://web.archive.org/web/20020215044049/wolfhoffmann.com/html/metalheart.html
Wolf recalls Dieter Dierks as a very demanding producer: "We would do some pieces several dozen times trying to capture what he had in his mind for a specific section," adding: "Each song we tried different combinations of guitars, mic'ing and even strings!"
http://web.archive.org/web/20020215044049/wolfhoffmann.com/html/metalheart.html
The song "Metal Heart" is well known for containing the cover of two famous classical themes:
Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March
Slavonic March
The Marche Slave in B-flat minor, Op. 31 is an orchestral composition by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.-Background:In June 1876, Serbia was at war with the Ottoman Empire. Russia openly supported Serbia...
(in the intro) and Beethoven's Für Elise
Für Elise
Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor for solo piano, commonly known as "Für Elise" , is one of Ludwig van Beethoven's most popular compositions. It is usually classified as a bagatelle, but it is also sometimes referred to as an Albumblatt.- History :The score was not published until 1867, 40 years after...
in the main riff and solo. This song was covered in 1998 by Norwegian Black Metal band Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. Dimmu borgir means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The name is derived from a volcanic formation in Iceland, Dimmuborgir...
. "I had no idea it would become as popular as it did," Wolf remembers of his contribution to the song.http://web.archive.org/web/20020215044049/wolfhoffmann.com/html/metalheart.html
"Midnight Mover", about a drug dealer, is one of the more commercial songs on the album and was selected for a memorable music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
that anticipates the bullet time
Bullet time
Bullet time is a special and visual effect that refers to a digitally enhanced simulation of variable-speed photography used in films, broadcast advertisements, and video games...
filming technique by a full decade. "Just ahead of our time again!" jests Wolf.http://web.archive.org/web/20020215044049/wolfhoffmann.com/html/metalheart.html
Despite the more commercially appealing sound of the album, it fell short of the sales figures of its predecessor Balls to the Wall
Balls to the Wall
Balls to the Wall is the fifth album by the German metal band Accept. European label Lark Records released the album in December 1983, but its US release was delayed until a month later as to not compete with the band's then-current album Restless and Wild, which had arrived in the US in early 1983...
in America. Udo remembers the Breaker through Metal Heart era as the time when the band got along best together.http://www.getreadytorock.com/pure_metal/udo_interview.htm Thus this would turn out to be the last album of Accept's golden era, as cracks were soon to appear in the band's solidarity.
The digitally remastered CD edition includes two live bonus tracks "Love Child" and "Living for Tonite", both taken from the album Kaizoku-Ban
Kaizoku-Ban
Kaizoku-Ban is a live mini album or EP by Accept. It was recorded in Nagoya, Japan September 19, 1985, and released on vinyl the same year. It was later re-released as Live in Japan in 1992. Though this is an official release, the title translates as "Pirate Edition"...
.
Track listing
All lyrics and music written by Accept/Deaffy.- "Metal Heart" – 5:19
- "Midnight Mover" – 3:05
- "Up to the Limit" – 3:47
- "Wrong Is Right" – 3:08
- "Screaming for a Love-Bite" – 4:06
- "Too High to Get It Right" – 3:47
- "Dogs on Leads" – 4:23
- "Teach Us to Survive" – 3:32
- "Living for Tonite" – 3:33
- "Bound to Fail" – 4:58
Credits
- Udo DirkschneiderUdo DirkschneiderUdo Dirkschneider is a German heavy metal singer who is best known as the vocalist in German heavy metal band Accept and later U.D.O.After leaving Accept in 1987, Dirkschneider formed the band U.D.O....
– lead vocals, harmony vocals (4, 9, 10), backing vocals (1, 8), finger snapping (8) - Wolf HoffmannWolf HoffmannWolf Hoffmann grew up in Wuppertal. He is primarily known as guitarist in the German heavy metal band Accept since 1976. In 1997, he released the album Classical with rock versions of classical pieces...
– lead & rhythm guitarsGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(all except 9), rhythm guitar (9), acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
(1, 10), backing vocals (1, 6, 7, 10), sitar (1) - Jörg FischerJörg FischerJörg Fischer is a German guitar player, primarily known for his work with Accept. He has also released an album with Billionaire Boys' Club, called Something Wicked Comes....
– rhythm guitar (all except 4, 9), lead & rhythm guitars (4, 9), 8-string bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(3), backing vocals (1, 6, 7, 10), finger snapping (8) - Peter BaltesPeter BaltesPeter Baltes, born April 4, 1958 in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is a German hard rock and heavy metal musician. He is a member of the German heavy metal group Accept, which he played as bassist with on 15 albums, selling more than 17 million records around the world...
– bass, Moog TaurusMoog TaurusThe Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music from 1974 or 1975 to 1981. Commonly called the Taurus I, it has a 13-note organ-style pedal board similar to the pedal keyboard of a spinet organ.-History:...
(1, 5, 7, 10), 8-string bass (1, 8, 10), backing vocals (1, 6, 7, 10), harmony vocals (2, 5), acoustic bassAcoustic bassThe term acoustic bass may refer to one of the following bass instruments:*Double bass - an upright contrabass violin*Acoustic bass guitar - the acoustic version of the bass guitar...
(8) - Stefan Kaufmann – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals (1, 6, 7, 10), timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
(1, 8, 10), cymbals and gongs (1), drum effects and gang vocals (3)
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Billboard 200 | 94 |