"Balls to the wall" used as an expression comes from the world of military aviation. In many planes, control sticks are topped with a ball-shaped grip. One such control is the throttle—to get maximum power you push it all the way forward, to the front of the cockpit, or firewall (so-called because it prevents an engine fire from reaching the rest of the plane). Another control is the joystick—pushing it forward sends a plane into a dive. So, literally pushing the balls to the (fire)wall would put a plane into a maximum-speed dive, and figuratively going balls to the wall is doing something all-out, with maximum effort. The phrase is essentially the aeronautical equivalent of the automotive "pedal to the metal."

Balls to the Wall is the fifth album by the German metal band Accept, released in 1983 in Germany and 1984 in the United States. It is the band's best known and highest-selling album, selling about two million copies worldwide,archives/accept.html" target="_blank">http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/yeold_archives/accept.html and is Accept's only record to attain _Gold certification in America.blank">http://www.riaa.com

Some of the album's success can no doubt be attributed to the publicity generated from the minor "gay metal" controversy that broke out upon its American release, due to the record's title and front cover being deemed by some as homoerotic, as well as the lyrics to "London Leatherboys" and "Love Child" appearing to concern homosexuals.http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/yeold_archives/accept.html Guitarist _Wolf Hoffmann was dismissive of the controversy, saying years later that "You Americans are so uptight about this. In Europe it was never a big deal...we just wanted to be controversial and different and touch on these touchy subjects, because it gave us good press and it worked fabulously, you know".blank">http://www.fullinbloommusic.com/wolfhoffman.html Drummer _Stefan Kaufmann explained that many of the themes on the album were about oppressed minorities in general. "London Leatherboys" was really about bikers, for example: "They're normal people, they just look different and they behave different. But they're normal people, another minority. And 'Love Child' was about gays, true, but it's basically about people who are suppressed." http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/yeold_archives/accept.html

Hoffman's wife and lyricist Gaby Hauke also denied these controversies and accusations concerning the gay issue:

"Let me answer this and (the next) question in one, ok? I have been very rebellious and by no means I would have written anything "normal"! Never! The sexual question about the context of certain lyrics are mind games and pure interpretation from outsiders. This is a band who has as individuals -so little to do with controversy and absolutely nothing in particular with anything but being VERY straight"

Critic Martin Popoff has declared Balls To The Wall the greatest metal album of the 1980s, praising the combination of smooth production, powerful guitar riffs and strong melodies that are found throughout the record.http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/yeold_archives/accept.html