Accept consists of Peter Baltes (bass), Stefan Kaufmann (drums), Udo Dirkschneider (vocals), Wolf Hoffmann (guitar).
Accept is a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, originally assembled in the early 1970s by Udo Dirkschneider. It is considered by many the most influential German band from the genre and one of the godfathers of speed metal and European power metal.
For many years after its founding, Accept suffered constant changes to its line-up and was essentially kept on an amateur level, making sporadic concerts on festivals. Their professional career began in 1976, when they were invited to play on one of the first rock 'n roll festivals from Germany — Rock am Rhein. After the festival took place, the band received a recording deal and entered a professional studio for the first time, in order to record the self-titled Accept, an album which despite the band's efforts didn't archieve much success.
The first stable line-up of Accept was composed by vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarists Wolf Hoffmann and Gerhard Wahl, bassist Peter Baltes and drummer Frank Friedrich. Friedrich and Wahl quit the band after the release of Accept, since they didn't intend to pursue a professional career in music. They were replaced by Stefan Kaufmann and Jörg Fischer, with this line-up, the band proceeded to record I'm a Rebel in 1980. This was the album which brought media attention to the band, which was subsequently invited to make its first televisioned show.
There were three important facts which took place in 1981. First, the album Breaker was released. Second, a contract with manager Gaby Hauke was signed, an ageement which lasted throughout the entirety of the band's career. Third, Accept joined Judas Priest's world tour and obtained a fair amount of success, making the band known outside of Europe.
The next album — Restless and Wild — was released in 1982, but didn't have the presence of Jörg Fischer, who quit the band a short time before the recording took place. All of the guitars from this album were recorded by Wolf Hoffmann. Restless and Wild saw an evolution in the band's sound, which incorporated several characteristics of the genre which would later be called speed metal. An extensive tour followed, and guitarist Herman Frank was hired so that the songs could be properly executed on stage.
