The Last Rites crew picked Accept’s finest cuts, and I wrote a few words about “Dogs On Leads”:
The Dieter Dierks produced Metal Heart was their shot at the top of the pops, with hooks that burst out of the speakers and production that verges on mid-80s parody. It’s also a classic Accept record, where the ambiguous and the catchy live in perfect harmony. Is “Dogs On Leads” about actual dogs (easily read that way) or is it Spinal Tap’s Smell the Glove in musical form? Or is it about some men who are prowling, lusting animals best kept leashed? Does it matter, when Accept kicks it off like it’s a cover of AC/DC’s “Squealer”, complete with Udo doing his best sprechgesang before rasping up the power as only he could do? “Dogs On Leads” was never a single, but it quickly and deservedly became a fan favorite. The appeal is all in the build, with its slow rise and held tension. The chorus is a limp noodle, “Balls to the Wall” writ small. But it doesn’t matter; “Dogs On Leads” already has its hooks in deep and strong long before it finally appears halfway through the song.
