Album · 40 years old this year
Russian Roulette
Russian Roulette is Accept's seventh studio album, released in May 1986 on RCA. It was recorded once more at Dierks-Studios, but this time the band produced it themselves rather than bringing back Dieter Dierks. The move was a reaction to Metal Heart, whose polished, cleaner sound had left them less than happy. Wolf Hoffmann has said the aim was to get back to their natural, unpolished sound.
The result is a darker, heavier record, and it carries strong anti-war themes. Peter Baltes has explained that the title and cover present war as a silly game of Russian roulette, where someone is certain to die. It is also the last Accept album with Udo Dirkschneider on vocals until the 1993 reunion, Objection Overruled, which makes it a notable closing chapter for that line-up. Later reissues add live tracks as bonus material.
Russian Roulette: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 43:04Tracklist
- 1T.V. WarAccept and Deaffy3:27
- 2MonstermanAccept and Deaffy3:26
- 3Russian RouletteAccept and Deaffy5:21
- 4It's Hard to Find a WayAccept and Deaffy4:18
- 5Aiming HighAccept and Deaffy4:18
- 6Heaven Is HellAccept and Deaffy7:12
- 7Another Second to BeAccept and Deaffy3:18
- 8Walking in the ShadowAccept and Deaffy4:26
- 9Man Enough to CryAccept and Deaffy3:13
- 10Stand TightAccept and Deaffy4:05
- Produced by
- Accept
- Recorded at
- Dierks Studios, Dierks (Stommeln, Germany)
- Recorded
- October 1985 – January 1986
- Mixed by
- Mark Dodson
- Mixed at
- Dierks Studios
- Engineered by
- Michael Wagener
- Label
- RCA
- Length
- 43:04
Line-up
- Peter Baltes · electric bass guitar
- Jörg Fischer · electric guitar
- Wolf Hoffmann · electric guitar
- Stefan Kaufmann · drums (drum set)
- Udo Dirkschneider · lead vocals
Singles
- “T.V. War” · June 1986 (Japan)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1986 | 80 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1986 | 114 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1986 | 3 |
| German Albums · 1986 | 5 |
| Swedish Albums · 1986 | 9 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1986 | 16 |
| Swiss Albums · 1986 | 23 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1986 | 26 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1986 | 93 |
From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.
51.8
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
573
ListenBrainz listeners
22k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
4.2k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 21 May
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Full discography →
Accept
1979
I’m a Rebel
1980
Breaker
1981
Restless and Wild
1982
Best of Accept
1983
Balls to the Wall
1983
Midnight Mover
1985
Metal Heart
1985
London Leatherboys
1985
Kaizoku‐ban
1985
Generation Clash
1989
Eat the Heat
1989
Staying a Life
1990
I Don't Wanna Be Like You
1993
Slaves to Metal
1993
All or Nothing
1993
Objection Overruled
1993
Bad Habits Die Hard
1994
Death Row
1994
Predator
1996
All Areas - Worldwide
1997
Rich and Famous
2002
The Abyss
2010
Blood of the Nations
2010
Stalingrad
2012
Blind Rage
2014
Restless and Live
2017
The Rise of Chaos
2017
Too Mean to Die
2021
Humanoid
2024
Accept Losers and Winners 2026
Losers and Winners
2026
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How we know the release date musicbrainz 1986-05-21 vs wikidata 1986-04-21
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 21 May 1986 | ignored lone early release dated 1986-04-21 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 1986 | |
| Wikidata | 21 April 1986 | |
| US release | 1 July 1986 | earliest US date |
14 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | RCA | 0035627537721 | other |
| 1986 | DE | RCA | other | |
| 1986 | DE | Bertelsmann Club | other | |
| 1986 | US | Portrait | other | |
| 1986 | DE | RCA | 0035627097225 | other |
| 21 April 1986 | FR | Magnetic Records | 5099924050517 | original |
| 21 May 1986 | JP | Portrait | 4988010208813 | other |
| 1 July 1986 | US | Portrait | 07464403542 | other |
| 1 August 1986 | JP | Portrait | 4988010205751 | other |
| 1995 | FR | Antisocial Le Label | 3307511491325 | other |
| 21 May 2002 | DE | RCA | 743219321220 | other |
| 20 July 2005 | JP | Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. | 4571191053411 | remaster |
| 26 August 2009 | JP | Epic | 4547366048087 | other |
| — | — | Epic | 074644035421 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 3715x3722 to 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 3715×3722 | cropped: cropped from 3715x3722 to 3000x3000 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |