Opening track "Fast As A Shark" takes Judas Priest's proto-speed metal and amps up the tempo. One of the fastest metal songs released by 1982, the song acts as a precursor to the thrash metal soon to come in the following year via Slayer and Metallica. Very fast, and very heavy. A great song. Next is the title track, "Restless and Wild". Easily the best song on the album, the song is my personal favorite by the band. Singer Udo Dirkschneider's vocals are top-notch on the song, and the guitars take the Teutonic heaviness of the Scorpions and Michael Schenker and turn it to 11. A true classic.
"Ahead Of The Pack"obviously reminds me of Judas Priest. The comparison is clear, but the song is rawer and faster than most songs released by Priest at that point. Showing obvious influence from punk, this song shows why Accept have been described as "Speed Metal". Next is "Shake Your Heads", a classic headbanger anthem. A celebration of the said ritual, the song is very fun, albeit lyrically sparse. Like "Metal Health" by Quiet Riot, those looking for introspective lyrics should look elsewhere. But, who cares, this is heavy metal. A great song.
"Neon Nights" bears no relation to the song by Black Sabbath. A cool bass guitar intro comes in first, heavy on effects. The song is much slower than most songs on the album, and thumps along at at mid-tempo. A fairly catch chorus seals the deal in terms of greatness, but my one caveat is that the song is a tad too long. "Get Ready" is very 70s. Instantly reminding me of UFO, it is more similar to the band's pre-1980s songs. A good song, but slightly boring and kind of a step backwards for the band. Creepy "Demon's Night" is fairly standard. Slightly out of character with its occult lyrics, the song is a fairly standard-sounding 80s rocker. Nothing special, let's move on. "Flash Rockin' Man" is my pic for the second-best song on the album. Again bearing the influence of Michael Schenker and Judas Priest, the two influences forge together in a Germanic cauldron of hot metal. Udo is certainly not Halford or Phil Mogg in terms of vocal range, but his singing is more guttural. Great song."Don't Go Stealing My Soul Away" is the most Scorpions-sounding song on the album. Kind of poppy in comparison to most other songs, I find the lyrics somewhat repetitive,but it is certainly not a bad song.Last up is "Princess Of The Dawn". The fantasy-based lyrics are kind of corny and lame, and the song is far too long and quickly lives out its welcome. I'm not a fan of the cheap sounding classic guitars and spoken word voice overs. Not for me.
"Restless and Wild" is a good album. Despite some obvious filler, the album has some killer classics and is an early example of the speed metal genre (but only some songs). If you like German metal, Restless and Wild should not be missed.
Rating-8/10
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