ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

UDO - Animal House (1987) Review

Updated on May 14, 2017

Introduction/My History with the Album

I got to exploring Udo Dirkschneider's solo career before getting into ACCEPT; thinking that UDO was a band to itself; separate from ACCEPT. Only after hearing "Mean Machine" (UDO album) from 1988 did I realise that both bands are connected. UDO impressed me more than ACCEPT's earlier material for their more upbeat and aggressive tracks with fewer ballads to the albums. Hearing ACCEPT's early material later on, (before Marc Tornilo's era) I started to make the connection.

UDO went on to create some of the most varied yet consistent discographies of traditional heavy metal which transitioned from decade to decade; picking up elements from all genres of metal as they progress.

Line-Up

Udo Dirkschneider - Vocals

Mathias Dieth - Guitar

Peter Szigeti - Guitar

Frank Rittel - Bass Guitar

Thomas Franke - Drums

Track Listing

1) Animal House

2) Go Back To Hell

3) They Want War

4) Black Widow

5) In The Darkness

6) Lay Down The Law

7) We Want It Loud

8) Hot Tonight

9) Warrior

10) Coming Home

11) Run For Cover

Significance

Around the late 1980s, ACCEPT released the album "Russian Roulette" and were enjoying critical and commercial success; going on world tours in support of their albums; with the "Metal Heart" tour in 1985 and a performance at "Monsters of Rock" festival in 1984. In 1987, the vocalist Udo Dirkschneider decided to embark on a solo career (possibly due to creative differences) and "Animal House" was born; written by ACCEPT's songwriter as a parting gift. Today, UDO (the band that effectively started as a side project of the veteran vocalist Dirkschneider) is a powerhouse in modern heavy metal with 22 albums, several tours and more announced for late 2017. The band in question has a varied discography which includes speed metal, traditional heavy metal, power metal, and some thrash metal.



The Last Album with Udo Dirkschneider

The Review

The ACCEPT album that could have been but done by the former frontman as a side-project instead, Animal House has lot's of hints/nods to the original lineup; be it spine-chilling guitar stings that Wolf Hoffmann invented and perfected or the thumping rhythm seen in prior ACCEPT offerings; all the good albums combined. That said, I think that slower, ballad tracks are hit or miss when done by ACCEPT or Udo himself for that matter since they hamstring the mostly fast collection of tracks which have elements of speed metal to them. Unfortunately, the ballad here wasn't written up to ACCEPT standards.

The record kicks into high gear on side A with highlights galore; from the loose and roaring title track with Udo's vocals harmonising perfectly with the piercing guitar solo as the track picks up speed and gallops to a satisfying climax; right to another standout "They Want War" which for me is the track I enjoyed the most for its sincerity and sense of melody with a melancholic start and nerve-pulling flow that never gets old and would be in your head to kingdom-come. "Go Back to Hell" is another standout where the slower overtures fit the galloping rhythm perfectly with tandem leads from the guitar that compliments the aggressive message Udo tries to present. Production quality-wise, the record is reasonably metallic with clarity on music but lo-fi and gritty on bass and rhythm guitars; sounding like most good classic metal records do.

The weaker tracks, as said at the start are ballads such as "In the Darkness" which may be musically high-quality but just didn't click with me as it felt out of place and more like filler than a track that the band cared about. "Black Widow" is another such track but not a ballad; the catchy guitar solos and galloping choruses but still feels like filler albeit a fun one. Overall, this is a good album that I had fun listening to since it has the ACCEPT flavor with the legendary frontman's own input to have its own identity. Sure it has some filler but one track won't stop me recommending this record highly to not only ACCEPT fans but also other metalheads who enjoy traditional heavy metal and speed metal.

They Want War

Conclusion

Overall, this is a fun album which is a combination of all the classic ACCEPT musical sensibilities with some unique elements to give the album its own sonic identity. While it was technically written by ACCEPT, Udo has a lot of creativity of his own which staked his claim in the world of heavy metal; a push which furthered the vocalist's career. "Animal House" is a must-listen for fans of not only ACCEPT but classic heavy metal because it leads to the works of one of the most talented vocalists of the classic period of the genre.

© 2017 Jake Clawson

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)