Balls To The Wall  by Accept

Balls To The Wall, the fifth album by Accept, came in 1983 to confirm the fact that the German heavy metal rockers could take a leading role in the European heavy metal scene of the 1980s.

The record was recorded in Cologne at the Dierk Studios of producer Dieter Dierks, but the production was undertaken by the members of the band themselves. The ten songs that make up Balls To The Wall are compositions by Accept and Gaby Hauke - the band's manager at the time - who signed as Deaffy. The album sparked intense discussions in the United States of America due to the cover but also the songs Love Child and London Leatherboys for allegedly promoting homosexuality. The cover was the work of American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who was known for his black and white works. The title of the photograph used was "Patrice, N.Y.C."

Balls To The Wall is the first album by Accept that managed to have a presence in the charts of some countries - even in low positions - and to bring sales as it went gold in Canada and the USA. In any case, Balls To The Wall stands among the masterful heavy metal albums of the entire 1980s, and there were quite a few to compare it with at that time.