Shortly after
Accept
's inaugural split in 1990,
Epic
dusted off some live tapes and issued the group's first live full-length,
Staying a Life
. Although not the group's first-ever live release (it was predated five years earlier by the EP
Kaizoku-Ban
),
does a faithful job of capturing
at the peak of their arena
metal
powers, circa their
Metal Heart
era. The proof why the German band was handed opening slots on quite a few popular mid-'80s tours (
Kiss
,
Iron Maiden
, etc.) is evident throughout -- rocking versions of
"Metal Heart,"
"Screaming for a Love Bite,"
"Restless and Wild,"
and
"London Leatherboys"
surely got a few mullets headbanging on this fateful night. And of course,
's two best-known tracks --
"Fast as a Shark"
"Balls to the Wall"
-- are included, as they close out the set. They may never have reached arena headlining status Stateside, but
proves that
was on equal footing with just about any
chart-topper from around this time -- especially when it came to the concert stage. ~ Greg Prato