Accept - Predator (1996) CD-Rip

Predator is probably right next to the Self-Titled album in the race for most ignored Accept album. It's no mystery as to why: when compared to its predecessors - Death Row and Objection Overruled - it certainly comes out of left field. That isn't to say that this album is in any way a poor effort, though. It just takes some time to sink in.

Wolf Hoffmann is clearly the chief creative force, here. His Classical and Country influences are very apparent, particularly on 'Crossroads', which may actually be the strongest track on the album. The main Achilles' Heel of 'Predator' is Peter Baltes' completely unwelcome melodic singing. Yes, Accept's bassist has a very nice singing voice, the problem here is that he seems to sing during parts that would sound much better with Udo growling them out. Lay it Down is a perfect example of one such missed opportunity. Just picturing in your mind Udo singing the chorus, it becomes immediately apparent just how misplaced Peter's melodic singing is on this album. In small doses, like on 'Crossroads', the contrast of clean singing and Udo's growls really works in the music's favour, but the frequency of Peter's intrusion in the proceedings is really distracting and out-of-place, ultimately, and 'It Ain't Over Yet' is a perfect example of this.

The record flows extremely well, otherwise, and actually succeeds in many ways that Death Row and Objection Overruled failed, mainly by finding its own sound, and somehow bringing the band's diverse musical influences together while maintaining the Accept sound, somehow. That diversity probably reflects the fact that the band was pulling in different directions at this point, but oddly enough, I think that works in Predator's favour. It opens up with an exceptionally strong track (Hard Attack), and ends on a slightly awkward note, with a song that probably shouldn't even have made it into the final mix (Primitive). Really, though, the good and exceptional material on this album outweighs the bad by alot. And certainly, if given a choice of another Accept album in this new (and very good) style, or the band breaking up, I'll take the former every time. Recommended.