Search - Judas Priest :: Screaming for Vengeance (Exp)

Jackhammer-Style Priest, and their Best Ever!!

Robert J. Schneider | Tacoma, WA USA | 03/04/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first Priest song I ever heard was "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" back in 1982 when it came out. Oh, man...what an introduction to Judas Priest!! At this stage, I was going on 15, and just beginning to open my mind and my ears to heavy metal. I had previously just assumed that Judas Priest and Black Sabbath were total noise, without even hearing anything by them; such was my prejudice.

The first time I heard "YGATC," I was quite surprised at how melodic it was, at well as being heavy. It sure didn't sound like noise to me! My mind slowly started opening, and eventually, I bought the album on vinyl. Now that I have SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE (REMASTERED) on CD, I want to share how I feel about each song on it:"The Hellion" is a nice slow electric (and instumental) buildup to the fast, smokin' "Electric Eye." Rob Halford growls the song out menacingly, his voice going thru a voice synthesizer for an 'electric' feel. "Ridin' On The Wind" is a total blazing, speed-of-light experience which gets your heart beating FAST; it's the precursor to "Freewheel Burning." Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing trade off Stratocaster leads that are sharp enough to cut through marble. One of Priest's fastest songs ever! "Bloodstone" is THE perfect follow-up to "Ridin' On The Wind." It starts with a great slow, but intricate, electric guitar intro which melds into a catchy groove...and then the bass of Ian Hill and the drums of Dave Holland kick in. It's a great mid-tempo metal tune. "(Take These) Chains" is the one slow song on this album; it's a power ballad that existed even before the term first got into use (with Dokken's "Alone Again"). Written by the talented-yet-much-maligned songwriter Bob Halligan, Jr, it has been unfairly criticized by many Priest fans as being boring and trite. I say just the opposite: It is the perfect slow number, placed in just the right spot on the album, which provides a nice respite from the faster, heavier tracks before it and the ones to come after. "Pain and Pleasure" is a pumped-up mid-tempo song with some coy allusions to S&M. But then it's the title song, "Screaming For Vengeance" which is an ultra-blistering, ultra-screaming, ultra-muscular, ultra-speed-metal workout. It screams, shrieks, and skids right into "You've Got Another Another Thing Comin'" which is one of the greatest driving songs ever, and still one of Judas Priest's greatest tunes ever. The guitar solo is to die for. I've heard this song at least a thousand times in my life by now, and I never get sick of it. Next comes "Fever", which starts off soft (and is slower-paced in general) but it eventually turns into another great song to listen to while driving. "Devil's Child" is really cool, with a great Strat lead guitar solo and a catchy chorus ("I believe you're The Devil/I believe you're The Devil's child"). It provided a great end to this album when it was released back in '82. But wait! Now there's more: We now get a previously unreleased song recorded in 1985 during the TURBO sessions, the seven-minute-plus epic love song "Prisoner of Your Eyes." Uncharacteristically for a Priest song, it begins with slow, swirling keyboards, and builds gradually into a rare Priest epic (that contains one hell of a beautiful extended guitar solo). Then we get a blistering live version of "Devil's Child" to finish things off.Putting it simply, SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE is one of the 10 greatest heavy metal albums EVER made. I wish that I could give the Remastered version TEN stars! MOST RECOMMENDED"

Back when metal was still metal....

Undertaker | 11/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the 70's and early 80's, Judas Priest was one of the best bands in heavy metal. This is real, 100% metal, not speed or thrash crap, and not nu metal. This is real hard rock metal. Priest was not a big act until "British Steel" in 1980. After that, they bacame the biggest English metal group going. Zeppelin broke up, Purple was long gone, and Sabbath was spinning it's wheels. Priest took the throne. In '82, they released this, their greatest album. Rob Halford proved that he had the best set of pipes in hard rock. With the news that Halford is back in Priest, you should pick this one up, if you don't already have it. It's a real classic. You don't have to play speed metal at 1000 miles and hour to rock. Old school metal hits the spot."

1 star not for songs,but for sound quality.

Scotty | 02/04/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"why do record companies have to hard limit and increase volume on cds to make them sound louder.all your doing is destroying the sound.tinny highs,flat bass.dont get me wrong i love this album but im sick of epic and sony destroying sound.i guess they like distorsion and no dynamic range.for the album i give it 5 stars.for sound quality i give it zero.time to get back into vinyl.crisp highs and deep warm bass."