"Fast as a Shark" is a song by German heavy metal band

Accept Accept may refer to: * Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc. * Accept (band), a German heavy metal band ** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979 * ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970 * ACCEPT (or ...

and a single from their 1982 album ''

Restless and Wild ''Restless and Wild'' is the fourth studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, released in 1982 in Continental Europe and in 1983 in the US and UK. It was the first Accept album not to be recorded at Delta-Studio, since the band had moved t ...

''. Its fast

double bass drumming The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

is recognized today as reaching a new level in the development of the subgenre of

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (ma ...

and

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

. The intro to the track is a snippet from a crackly old children's recording of a traditional German tune titled " Ein Heller und ein Batzen" ("A Farthing and a Penny"). The band thought it would make a humorous contrast with their heavy metal sound, and the fact that a young

Dieter Dierks Dieter Dierks (born 9 February 1943) is a German record producer, sound engineer, music publisher, studio owner and musician. He became well known as producer of the rock band Scorpions who were signed to him between 1975 and 1988. Before that ...

(in whose studio the album was recorded) was singing on the recording made it even more of an inside joke. The band soon found themselves in an unintended controversy, however: even though the song dated from 1830, it was a popular

marching song A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's ...

during the Nazi era and still held that connotation for many listeners, a fact the band was unaware of at the time. "So out of a funny little idea we created somewhat of a monster",

Wolf Hoffmann Wolf Hoffmann (born 10 December 1959) is a German musician, primarily known as the guitarist and last remaining original member of heavy metal band Accept since 1976. His work in Accept influenced the development of speed metal genre. He is als ...

recalls. "Fast as a Shark" was ranked number 33 in

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionall ...

's book ''

The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time ''The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time'' is a book by Martin Popoff who is the editor in chief and writer of the Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles magazine as well as the senior editor of bravewords.com. He also wrote The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albu ...

''. The song has been covered by

Witchery Witchery is a Swedish blackened thrash metal band formed by former members of Satanic Slaughter in 1997. The current lineup consists of guitarists Patrik Jensen and Rickard "Rille" Rimfält, bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, vocalist Angus Norder, a ...

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Wei ...

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...

, Rage and

Altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

Track listing

In popular culture

*The song is featured in the Italian horror film ''

Dèmoni ''Demons'' ( it, Dèmoni) is a 1985 Italian horror film directed by Lamberto Bava, produced by Dario Argento, and starring Urbano Barberini and Natasha Hovey. Its plot follows two female university students who, along with a number of rando ...

''. *The song is featured in an episode of the Swedish sitcom ''

Hjälp! ''Hjälp!'' ( sv, Help!) was a Swedish situation comedy television series, broadcast on the TV4 network. It revolved around a psychologist, Jeanette Placzycks, played by Stina Ekblad, who treated patients with a variety of problems. The series ...

'' (''Help!''). *The song is featured in the action video game ''

Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, ...

''. *The song is featured in the drama film '' People Like Us''. *The song is featured in the music biopic '' Lords of Chaos''.

Personnel

Udo Dirkschneider Udo Dirkschneider (born 6 April 1952) is a German singer and songwriter who rose to fame with German heavy metal band Accept. After leaving the band in 1987, he formed U.D.O., with which he has also enjoyed commercial success. Biography F ...

– vocals *

– guitar *

Herman Frank Herman Frank (born 20 January 1959) is a German heavy metal guitarist best known for his work with Accept and Victory. In 2009, he released his first solo album called ''Loyal to None''. Frank has also recorded with Hazzard, Sinner, Moon'Do ...

– guitar * Peter Baltes – bass guitar * Stefan Kaufmann – drums

References

* {{authority control Accept (band) songs 1982 songs 1982 singles Speed metal songs