Reviewed - 11/12/04

Thunderball
[AMF/The End Records]

Back in the late 80's when vocalist Udo Dirkschneider left the legendary metal band Accept, I feel as though he left them at the right time because after releasing "Russian Roulette", Accept was at the top of their popularity. Going out on a high note is the only way to go, if you ask me, and Udo did that when left to pursue his solo career with U.D.O. Even though he came back to sing for Accept every so often, no one seemed to pay attention anymore.

Now I gotta say that I never did keep up with Accept much after the 80's, and after U.D.O. released their debut album "Animal House", I never paid much attention to them, either. The only Accept album I've gotten in the last ten years was "Objection Overruled", which was horrible in my opinion. There just was none of the old spark in the band that they had back in the day, even though Udo was on board for vocal duties again. I was highly skeptical after getting the promo for U.D.O.'s new album "Thunderball" based on these past let downs with the newer Accept and U.D.O. albums. Well, to be honest I never have given all of U.D.O.'s albums a listen. I bought "Animal House" when it came out and loved it, but a few of their albums I listened to after that didn't appeal to me for some reason. Anyway, I put this album in not expecting to like it very much, and was surprised as hell to not only like it, but love the damn thing! The music on "Thunderball" is very much like the music Accept put out in the mid to late '80's. It sounds like an exact cross between "Balls To The Wall" and "Russian Roulette" while adding some unique elements to make it all seem fresh and new and not a total rip off of those great Accept albums. While my favorite Accept album was, is, and probably always will be "Restless And Wild" because of that album's sheer speed and velocity, I also loved the two aforementioned albums that were released after "Restless And Wild" as well as "Metal Heart". While U.D.O.'s "Thunderball" doesn't reach the speed of "Restless And Wild" it is fairly fast in spots and is very epic in others. One of the coolest songs I've heard in a long while is "Trainride In Russia". It has this great Russian traditional folk melody to it, and Udo is singing it in this very arrogant and cool way that makes the song just a pleasure to listen to. The song's sometimes very comical lyrics showcase how much Udo loves touring and traveling in Russia. Russia seems to be a theme in Udo's recordings for some reason. Who would have guessed U.D.O. would have one of the best folk metal songs of 2004 with "Trainride In Russia"? All the songs on this album are great, but this song alone is worth the purchase price of the album.

The lyrics are written in English and they deal with mostly political themes. Songs are about America's obsession with guns, military scenarios, etc.. And one extremely well written song has a theme about going back through time and basically partying with historical figures. Anyone that's heard Udo sing before can expect pretty much the same thing here. He has one killer voice and he puts a lot of sneering emotion behind what he sings about. He's one of those vocalists that you can hear his voice anywhere and immediately recognize who he is. One of metal's best frontmen, period.

The overall sound on this album is great and the production values are sky high. This is the one thing that sets apart the old Accept material from this album is the production is a lot cleaner. Stefan Kaufmann's guitars sound just like they did on "Balls To The Wall". I don't know how they accomplished getting that old fuzzy guitar sound on this new modern equipment, but it worked. Even with the crystal clear production, the guitar sound still screams "1980's" to me.

The packaging and layout of the album is well done, indeed. The cover is sort of bland showing a steel plate and molten lava filled Earth, but it looks cool nonetheless. All of the lyrics are included and are printed in a real easy to read font style. The entire booklet is in full color and there's also a photo of each band member and a two page photo of the entire band.

Fans of 80's metal need to run out and get this right now! Not many bands after this many albums will release an album that can match the music they put out early in their careers, but U.D.O. has done just that with "Thunderball". Accept fans that have never given U.D.O. a listen will want to pay special attention to this because I guarantee if you loved Accept you'll love this album. Now I shall fulfill my quest to see if the last few U.D.O. albums can compare to the greatness of "Thunderball".