Label: Columbia Records
Release date: July 17, 1982
Production: Tom Allom
Album length: 38.42 min
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 9.0/10
“Screaming For Vengeance” (1982) was a 100% about-face from its predecessor “Point Of Entry” (1981). With it, the eighties incarnation of Judas Priest stepped into the most fruitful stretch of their career. “Screaming For Vengeance” nicely marries the maturity that “Point Of Entry” radiates with the untamed power of “British Steel” (1981). And that’s not all. Judas Priest sounded louder and more devastating. For the first time, K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton clearly start splitting their solos into several parts. And through the eighties the two guitarists did nothing but build on and polish that trademark. Usually they’d saw off two solos, one each, back to back, but now this genius duo started pouring all their wit into instrumental sections made of multiple split solos, so you’d get as many as five or even seven lead breaks in a row. In the transitions they again slotted in killer little inserts, short, explosive and polished, wedged into the record’s razor-sharp riffing. Each of these two ingredients works as an amplifier for the other, and the result is a record that Judas Priest fans, out of the entire Judas Priest catalog, still love to put in first place today.
The opening salvo Hellion alone is a magnet that stuns the listener on the spot and warns them that a whole lot of sinful pleasures lie hidden behind it. The drums are massive, the bass cuts deep, and it’s the rhythm section that rules in mid-tempo tracks like Bloodstone, where the contrasts between the front line and the back, and Rob Halford, come through most vividly. This is where the cult Priest classics Hellion/Elestric Eye, Riding On The Wind, Screaming For Vengeance and You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ saw the light of day. It’s amazing how the band conjures up an unrelenting bomb like Electric Eye, which, with its aggressive stance, delivers a unique atmosphere, mostly thanks to the excellent production. Rob’s vocals in the verses are deliberately warped and robotized through an effect that brings to life a huge eye, watching vigilantly and making sure the state stays permanently “clean.” We are slaves to total surveillance, born of our fear, and for that “imaginary safety” we’ve sold off all our freedom.
(Take These) Chains is a song written for Judas Priest by Bob Halligan Jr., a member of Ceili Rain, who serve up a fusion of Irish and Scottish folk elements with rock music. The man became a seriously in-demand songwriter, especially after he also penned Some Heads Are Gonna Roll for Judas Priest, which came out on the next record, “Defenders Of The Faith” (1984). Later on, Halligan wrote for acts like Blue Oyster Cult, Kiss, Joan Jett, Ted Nugent, Michael Bolton and Cher. (Take These) Chains is a track tailor-made for Rob Halford’s emotive vocals. An ultra-melodic, fluid number with a simple solo, built from the ground up to be a hit single. The emotional charge carries over to the atmospheric Pain And Pleasure too.
Standing firmly behind the sky-high album title is above all the title track. Red-hot to the core, a wound-up, bristling wrecking ball where Halford screams, deliberately screams as hard as he can, until the goosebumps run down your whole body, man. And that bomb flows dynamically into the passionate You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’, with its punchy down-tuned riff and massive mid-tempo groove, and Rob’s singing full of fire. Towards the end, the guys deliver the atmospheric peak of the record with Fever. The open rhythmic drive sounds deep and comes close to the sound that glam metal bands would soon start adopting. Down-tuned riffs, with guitar triplets in the chorus and emotionally passionate vocals. The energy and the captured mood radiating from the track carry us straight into the next record, “Defenders Of The Faith”, which took the atmosphere and dynamics of “Screaming For Vengeance” and pushed them even further.
The closing bomb Devil’s Child is the moment when Rob shines in all his glory with sheer brilliance. This is definitely his song from head to tail. Give yourself over to the birth of a sorcerer! Judas Priest give us a pulse of that stage magic from the “World Vengeance” tour with the live bonus track Devil’s Child, where the singer deliberately pushes his already stratospheric lines even higher, proof that Halford kept improving, album after album, in expression and vocal power. He worked that power in with his innate sense of subtlety. The other bonus track is the fantastic half-ballad Prisoner Of Your Eyes, which fits the album perfectly, both in sound and in style. Here Priest added guitar synthesizers. The atmosphere is loaded with emotion, and the work of both guitars and Rob Halford literally lands them smack in the middle of a trance. Odd that the band never put it on one of their studio albums.
With “Screaming For Vengeance,” Judas Priest went one step further in everything. A record where aggression is paired with a gorgeous dose of melody and exceptional feel helped Judas Priest finally conquer the whole world. In the US, “Screaming For Vengeance” went double platinum. Those were big times, just right for the architects of heavy metal, Judas Priest.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. The Hellion
2. Electric Eye
3. Riding The Wind
4. Bloodstone
5. (Take These) Chains
6. Pain & Pleasure
7. Screaming For Vengeance
8. You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
9. Fever
10. Devil’s Child
bonus tracks on the remastered reissue, 2001:
11. Prisoner Of Your Eyes
12. Devil’s Child (live)
Lineup:
Rob Halford – vocals
K.K. Downing – guitar
Glenn Tipton – guitar
Ian Hill – bass
Dave Holland – drums
