ACCEPT's WOLF HOFFMANN Names His Five Favorite Albums Of All Time

In the video below, which was originally uploaded to TikTok, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann names his five favorite albums of all time. He says (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm gonna use 'British Steel' by JUDAS PRIEST as number one. Number two's gonna be 'Highway To Hell' by AC/DC. Number three, '[Made] In Japan' by DEEP PURPLE. And number four, yes, THE BEATLES, The White Album; I used to a lot of THE BEATLES when I was young. And last [but] not least, there has to be one favorite or one classical album, and in this case representing all the other great classical pieces that are out there. I'm gonna use [Antonín] Dvořák the 'New World Symphony'.

"So, anyhow, there you have it. Five albums for that island. If we're all going to that island soon and we're gonna live happily and heavily ever after. So those would be my five albums that I would take."

In a 2022 interview with VWMusic, Hoffmann named DEEP PURPLE's Ritchie Blackmore, JUDAS PRIEST's Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, and AC/DC's Angus Young as some of his earliest influences. "So, out of those, I think I've sort of formed a little element from all of them," he said. "Uli Jon Roth has always been one of my heroes as well, of Strat players, basically, that I've really admired most. And then for songwriting and the bluesy aspects, I've always liked AC/DC as well. So, I guess, as I was growing up, I listened to all the bands of the '70s, and we formed our own style out of it. My guitar playing was always kind of influenced by classical music. I don't know why, but I like these sorts of classical touches in my guitar solos and in my songwriting."

Back in 2016, Hoffmann said that Tipton and Downing influenced his "way of thinking and playing a tremendous amount. We toured with [PRIEST] in the early '80s, and that tour was sort of the 'coming of age' tour for us, where we toured for the first time with professional musicians," he added. "And those two guys really were our heroes; the way their guitars sounded and the way their riffs sounded on stage was just phenomenal."

As for Angus Young, Wolf said: "He definitely has influenced my style of playing a lot, the way he writes the riffs and the way that he solos in a bluesy style. He's very basic and simple in the way he plays, but he does that really, really well. I've always liked his playing. Out of those elements, I formed my own style, I believe."

Wolf said that Blackmore was "probably" the biggest influence on his playing, and he credited the RAINBOW leader with influencing "a whole generation of bands — especially when I grew up in the late '70s and early '80s. He was the guy in Germany that everybody admired. He was a Strat player, and I always loved Strat players. He also had that classical influence that I liked a lot. He was also very melodic, which I like."

Hoffmann is the sole remaining original member of ACCEPT, which he formed in 1976 in the town of Solingen, Germany with singer Udo Dirkschneider and bassist Peter Baltes.

ACCEPT's latest studio album, "Too Mean To Die", was released in January 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the group's first without Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.