Russian Roulette [Import]

Russian Roulette [Import]

Track Listings

1. T.V. War

2. Monsterman

3. Russian Roulette

4. It's Hard to Find a Way

5. Aiming High

6. Heaven Is Hell

7. Another Second to Be

8. Walking in the Shadow

9. Man Enough to Cry

10. Stand Tight

11. Metal Heart [Live][*]

12. Screaming for a Love-Bite [Live][*]

Tracks:

T.V. War
Monsterman
Russian Roulette
It's Hard To Find A Way
Aiming High
Heaven Is Hell
Another Second To Be
Walking In The Shadow
Man Enough To Cry
Stand Tight

Customer Reviews:

As Good as "Restless & Wild" and "Balls to the Wall".......2006-09-27

Accept was a German metal band that sounded like a cross between Judas Priest and AC/DC with a troll as lead singer who sounded like an over-the-top mesh of Bon Scott and Brian Johnson.

Accept released ten studio albums during their career; most cite "Restless & Wild" (1983) and "Balls to the Wall" (1984) as their best recordings. This is true but I feel 1986's "Russian Roulette" stands on a par with these two earlier releases.

Here's a run down of the songs on "Russian Roulette:"

1.) T.V. WAR (3/5 Stars): This is an energetic and fun metal rocker reminiscent of "Fast as a Shark" but not quite as good.

2.) MONSTERMAN (5/5 Stars): "Monsterman" is brief at a mere 3:24, but it's catchy as heck. The bridge is melodically potent and the chorus is uniquely inspired. You'll never hear anything else like it. Who knows what the lyrics are about, who cares?

3.) RUSSIAN ROULETTE (4/5 Stars): This titular song eerily starts off with a militaristic drone and riff before kicking into a mid-paced slice of 80's non-hair-band metal. In light of the chorus lyrics, one wonders why they didn't call the song "Wargames."

4.) IT'S HARD TO FIND A WAY (4.5/5 Stars): This is a catchy pop rocker with an incredibly hook-laden chorus. It should have been a hit on the radio. Some cried "Sell out!" but, come on, it's just ONE song.

5.) AIMING HIGH (3/5 Stars): This isn't a bad piece of filler between the better songs.

6.) HEAVEN IS HELL (5/5 Stars): This is the second masterpiece of the album. It's structure is very reminiscent of "Balls to the Wall," although it doesn't sound like that song. The lyrics are an intriguing commentary on religion and religious people with the conclusion that we experience (or make our own) heaven or hell during our life on this earth. I strongly agree with some of their points and disagree with others but, regardless, the lyrics are not presented in an offensive way. Here's one stanza that I agree with:

I'm sure we all know them
Those perverts, they're everywhere
Mmh, we're talking straight about facts
You know deep inside what's right or wrong
And the world stinks, and the paradise is now a sewer
And they sell sh*t for gold
And you have to take what you've got

As you can see the words are honest, overt, slightly ambiguous and completely brilliant all at the same time.

7.) ANOTHER SECOND TO BE (3/5 Stars): Another brief enjoyable ditty.

8.) WALKING IN THE SHADOW (4/5 Stars): Emotionally potent and intriguing tune that deals with a person struggling to live on in face of the 58,000 that died during the Vietnam conflict. Whether the guilt is over one combat victim or all 58,000 is a mite unclear.

9.) MAN ENOUGH TO CRY (4.5/5 Stars): Great short piece! The title somewhat reveals the mature subject matter, but the lyrics maintain an esoteric element.

10.) STAND TIGHT (5/5 Stars): This is a creative and aggressive number with a melodic bridge and ultra-catchy chorus with cool backgound vocals. It has militaristic vibe and is the third masterpiece of the album.

Some have criticized that Accept were trying to go pop rock on this album but nothing could be further from the truth. "Russian Roulette" features the same diverse song-writing of both "Restless & Wild" and "Balls to the Wall." Yeah, one or two songs would've fit well on the radio, so what?

One thing this CD proves is that Accept had perhaps the best background vocals in all of metal at the time and even to this day (!).

"Russian Roulette" is quite a bit better than the good-but-not-great "Metal Heart," which was released in 1985. The song-writing on "Metal Heart" just wasn't as good, plus Udo (the singer) went overkill with his irritating screaming, which no doubt turned off potential life-long fans. Hence, when "Russian Roulette" was released the next year not many took notice. They should have.

My five favorite Accept albums are as follows:
"Restless & Wild," "Balls to the Wall" and "Russian Roulette"
"Predator" (1996) -- their last studio album, inexplicably underrated.
"Metal Heart"

Check 'em all out.

Accept's the best release!!!!.......2005-05-09

Frankly, the best of the rest. I am longing for Accept's past especially Metal Heart and Russian Roulette. This is military strong CD!!!

Mature Work by the Masters.......2005-04-17

I love this album, it brings back many memories of my turbulent youth!

"Killed in action".......2005-04-15

Russian Roulette (1986) was Accept's sixth album. It supposedly marked a move toward a more aggressive sound after the attempt at a more mainstream album in 1985's Metal Heart (produced by Dieter Dirks who had also produced fellow German band the Scorpions). It also was the last Accept album with vocalist Udo Dirkschneider of the 1980s. The screeching little metal maniac would leave to start his own band U.D.O. Accept is one of my favorite metal bands, but Roulette does not come close to their previous masterpieces Restless and Wild & Balls to the Wall and is a big drop from the excellent Metal Heart.

Although Russian Roulette is a disappointment, it is still a decent 3-star album. Half the tracks are excellent. The rest are really bad which surprised me when I first heard it because Accept's previous 3 albums are very solid. First the good stuff: The cover artwork is awesome. I love Cold War imagery. I have a promotional poster featuring this cover and the slogan "Face the Music. Dare to Play Russian Roulette." on my wall as I am typing this. Though Udo and the gang may not have been the most attractive metal gods in the world, their photo definitely makes for a more appealing album cover than Balls to the Wall. Now the best of the music: "T.V. War" is an excellent opening track. It is typical blistering, fast metal fans expect of Accept and works well with the cover imagery. The title track and "Heaven and Hell" have that "Balls to the Wall" intensity. I like the lyrics to these as well. From "T.V. War": "enemy missiles have penetrated our airspace. Impact is estimated in a matter of minutes. Good evening!" "Another Second to Be" is a fast and furious track. The last song "Stand Tight" has an anthem quality to it. Just these tracks on an EP would be 5-star.

But, this album offers more...unfortunately. While Metal Heart was supposed to give Accept a more commercial sound, I think Roulette puts forth more of an attempt at a mainstream sound and it turns into a sappy mess. There is no "Screaming for a Love Bite" here but there is "It's Hard to Find a Way." The opening sounds like "Hysteria" by Def Leppard. The rest of the song has a hair band quality (ugh!). The chanting chorus on "Aiming High" is just bad. "Monsterman" and "Man Enough to Cry" are difficult to listen to. They are just junk. I recommend Roulette only to the serious 1980s metal completest (and fans of Accept, of course). Selective 1980s metal collectors should probably skip this one and just get Restless and Wild, Balls to the Wall and, maybe, Metal Heart.

Great!!!.......2004-10-07

Well I guess I should pay my respect to this
awesome album, I own it both on vinyl and CD
and it was my first Accept album, it quickly became
my favourite. So today I returned to it after maybe
5 years and I have to say that it still holds up.
And I just love the gang backing vocals it just sounds great.
So I rate it pretty high maybe nr 1...hm well I don't know.. it's one of their finest, in my mind anyway!!

Average customer rating:

One Overlooked Gem and Last Hurrah for Hollies
The last GREAT Hollies album.
It's About Time

Russian Roulette
The Hollies
Manufacturer: Polydor
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

5317704
Buddy Holly
Out on the Road
Crazy Steal
Another Night

ASIN: B000JJRVK4
Release Date: 2006-11-06

Tracks:

Wiggle That Wotsit
Forty-Eight Hour Patrol
Thanks for the Memories
My Love
Lady of the Night
Russian Roulette
Draggin' My Heels
Louise
Be With You
Daddy Don't Mind

Customer Reviews:

One Overlooked Gem and Last Hurrah for Hollies.......2007-01-25

After this record came out around 1977 available as an import only I recall buying multiple copies. Every time I found it either in the import or cutout bin I'd buy it because I always thought it would be difficult to find if I ever needed to replace it. Well, I was partly correct. It did subsequently become difficult or impossible to find once we entered the CD era. This, I believe is the first official CD release with the exception of the limited edition 4 CD box set released many years ago.

The couple earlier reviewers of this CD pretty much nail it. It is indeed the lost Hollies masterpiece. It deserved a much better fate. Never before or after did they achieve the creative water mark reached here. The songwriting overall is very strong and the performances are tight and dynamic. The added textures created using keyboards and horns add a dynamic element not previously heard from the Hollies where more often than not, heavy orchestration was the standard.

As for specific songs, one could say Wiggle That Wotsit is kind of a silly stab at disco. But, you know what? It's a lot more fun to listen to than the standard disco crap that was common place at the time. The title song, Russian Roulette and 48 Hour Parole nail the Hollies harder rocking sound perfectly. I never get sick of them. Draggin My Heels has aged very well and is still one of their best sounding contemporary pop creations. It has hit single written all over it, but as we know that was not to be for a record that was barely available in America. My Love is a very credible stab at their classic 1960's sound that you could very easily see being a huge hit in that past decade. For me, Lady Of The Night has always been the most mesmerizing Hollies song ever. Alto sax and clarinet are very prominent in this song and work very well to craft a hauntingly beautiful melody. Daddy Don't Mind is a good song though I never understood why it was chosen as a single. The trombone adds an unique sound to this song though I think possibly the song would have worked better as a straight forward guitar driven rock song.

I'm sure the relative failure of this record didn't bode well for the future aspirations of the group members. While confirming their day in the sun was truly gone, as a life long fan I found it extremely frustrating the lack of appreciation for this effort and subsequently had to resign myself to the fact that the future recording career of this great band was soon to end except for a brief reunion endeavor with Graham Nash in the mid 1980's. Though sporadic recording did continue throughout the 1980's, to appreciate some of these efforts one must hunt down some rarities CD or the excellent 6 disc box set, The Long Road Home. For 1970's era Hollies, Russian Roulette is indeed the high point of their full length LP releases. Though enjoyable, I would rate Another Night and Write On slightly lower. Their other releases during that decade including the 3 that came after Russian Roulette are not up to this quality standard.

The last GREAT Hollies album........2007-01-19

After several albums ("Hollies", "Another Night" and the UK-Only "Write On") the Hollies decided on a different approach for "Russian Roulette". Get rid of the heavy orchestration and get back to basics (with some horns and keyboards helping out). To my ears, this was the Hollies last great album with Allan Clarke on lead vocals and one of the best albums featuring the classy 69-72/74-80 Hollies lineup.

Instead of big ballads, the band tries their hand at Disco (the silly but fun "Wiggle That Wotsit" - proof they weren't going to change like the Bee Gees did), Salsa, and a very convincing try at Hard Rock "48 Hour Parole". "My Love" (not the McCartney song) is pure classic Hollies pop with some country-rock touches. The formula that worked so well in their 60's heyday still worked wonders in 1976, and it should have been a single. After several albums with spotty songwriting the Clark-Hicks-Sylvester team clicked and wrote some great songs that could have been big hit singles and album rock tracks. The Hollies don't sound tired or bored at all on "Russian Roulette", in fact they hadn't rocked out this convincingly for several years. I remember James Spina in Hit Parader raving about this album, and Rolling Stone gave it a good review in their "Imports" section.

It's just a shame nobody at any record company wanted to give this fine effort a chance. Punk was starting to break loose in the UK, and again Polydor botched the promotion of this album and it's singles overseas. As usual, Epic in the USA didn't give a damn about the Hollies and gave Americans a tossed together compilation of tracks from this LP and "Write On" with "Sandy" from "Another Night" tacked on and re-released again as a single (which tanked). Had someone at Epic had the foresight to get "Russian Roulette" released and promoted, get the right singles to radio, it could have revived the Hollies career in the USA when records with basic relaxed production styles like "Hotel California" and "Fleetwood Mac" were selling millions here.

The Hollies survived another weak selling album by scoring a huge hit catering to their old UK fans with the fine "Hollies Live" album. The Hollies last two original albums for Polydor unfortunately retreated back to a ballads and adult contemporary pop formula to little success despite some good songs.

Magic Records has been very hit and miss with the sound quality of their reissues - many have used inferior vinyl dubs. But on this CD they found great sounding master tapes for all tracks. The bonus cuts are a nice touch, including the USA-Only dance mix version of "Draggin' My Heels" which is a highly sought after Epic 12 inch single by Hollies and disco fans. My only gripe is they omitted the original liner notes and lyrics from the vinyl version.

To get this rare jewel on CD is a treat, so dont miss your chance.

It's About Time.......2006-12-20

In the late 70's I was a very big Hollies fan.I bought each album as it was released.While "Russian Roulette" was released in Europe,it wasn't released in the U.S.Epic,in their infinite lack of wisdom,released a combination of "Write On" and "Russian Roulette" called"Clarke,Hicks,Sylvester,Calvert and Elliot".That compilation only included a few of the songs from "Russian Roulette" and left off the title track.I ended up buying all of their albums on import.A very expensive proposition.I have been looking for this on CD since I bought my first CD player.Finally,here it is.My favorite song is the title track.Both"Russian Roulette" and "48 Hour Parole"(not patrol,as the track listing says) are pretty uncharacteristic rockers for the normally popish Hollies.The opening, almost heavy metal,guitar riff on "Russian Roulette" let's you know that you're in for a good time.From there it just gets better.The entire album is better than most of their late 70's output and well worth the price of admission.

Average customer rating:

The Complete Duke Recordings
Johnny Ace
Manufacturer: Hip-O Select
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | R&B | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Memorial Album
The Chronological Johnny Ace: 1951-1954

ASIN: B000BQOVZ8
Release Date: 2006-11-13

Tracks:

My Song
Follow the Rule
Angel
Ace's Wild
Cross My Heart
Burley Cutie
Clock
Saving My Love for You
Yes Baby
Please Forgive Me
Still Love You So
Pledging My Love
So Lonely
You've Been Gone So Long
Anymore
No Money
I'm Crazy Baby
Don't You Know
Never Let Me Go
How Can You Be So Mean

Product Description

50 years ago, Johnny Ace entered pop history for all the wrong reasons. Playing a game of Russian roulette backstage in Houston on Christmas Day of 1954, Ace was felled by a single shot. Ace had a great number of reasons to want to live, foremost among them being his career, which couldnt have been much hotter. Hed had a chart-topper with the song The Clock, and had scored several Top Ten R&B chart hits as well. Among his musical cohorts were such notables as B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, and Johnny Otis. One can only wonder what Ace might have become, had he lived to be older than 25. Poised as he was at the junction of R&B and rock and roll, he might have joined Little Richard and Chuck Berry as one of the founders of rock. Instead, we are left with a few great sides, some dimming memories, and a lot of questions.

Average customer rating:

An awful album
Wrong Track-list
Triumvirat: Not An ELP Clone

Russian Roulette
Triumvirat
Manufacturer: EMI Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Mediterranean Tales
A La Carte
Illusions on a Double
Old Loves Die Hard
Pompeii

ASIN: B000068QEP
Release Date: 2002-09-30

Tracks:

Party Life
You Can't Catch Me
Come With Me
Games
Cooler
The Ballad Of Rudy Toerner (German Intro)
We're Rich On What We've Got
Twice
Rien Ne Va Plus
Roxy
Russian Roulette
The Ballad Of Rudy Toerner (English Intro)

Album Description

2002 remastered reissue of the German progressive rock act's 1980 album.

Album Details

DIgitally remastered progressive rock classic.

Customer Reviews:

An awful album.......2003-03-07

This is by far the worst thing Triumvirat has ever made. "A La Carte", the former album, was a solid pop-rock effort. But this album has nothing to offer to a Triumvirat fan. The band was only keyboard wizard Jürgen Fritz and lead singer Arno Steffen. All other instruments were played by session men (including members of Toto). Nothing wrong with the instrumental, but the vocals are terrible, and all songs are uninspired. Buy it only if you are a completist.

Wrong Track-list.......2003-01-13

The list of tracks in this section is from the "A La Carte" album. The song titles from "Russian Roulette" are as follows,
1. Party Life
2. You Can't Catch Me
3. Games
4. Cooler
5. The Ballad Of Rudy Torner
6. We're Rich On What We've Got
7. Twice
8. Rien Ne Vas Plus
9. Roxy
10. Russian Roulette

It's an interesting album (I have the vinyl copy), but it's definitely not the Triumvirat that I love listening to. I have the 'essential' Triumvirat CD's - Illusions, Spartacus, Old Loves Die Hard, and Pompeii. It seems that they have gone in a totally different direction on this album. That's why I only gave it two stars. It's still worth a listen, though.
I hope they release Helmut Koellen's solo "You Won't See Me" on CD as well.

Triumvirat: Not An ELP Clone.......2002-11-10

Triumvirat came roaring out of Germany in the 1970s as Capitol's answer to Emerson Lake & Palmer. The similar instrumentation lineup- organ, drums, bass/vocals- did seem somewhat derivative of ELP, but Triumvirat took the format and made their own unique brand of art rock over four albums. They fell into the trap so many 70s prog-rock bands got caught up in: excellent musicianship, wonderful talent but not much in the way of sales. But with "A La Carte" Triumvirat attempted to diverge into a more radio-friendly pop sound. This album is miles away from "Spartacus" or "Pompeii", but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Their cover of Brian Wilson's "Darlin'" on this album should have gotten some airplay, but didn't. This is an interesting illustration of what happens when a band deliberately departs from their original established style specifically to pick up some radio action. Such strategies hardly ever work, but "A La Carte" is a noble experiment towards that end.