Title: Screaming For Vengeance Artist: Judas Priest Label: CBS Records Release Date: 1982 Rating: 5 Skulls

Read the Grudge Match Reviews of Painkiller vs. Rocka Rolla Read the Review of Stained Class Read the Review of Defenders of the Faith Read the Review of the 2002 Tour with Anthrax Read the Reviews of Priest at Metal Edge's Rockfest 2002 Read the Review of the 2002 Tour with Skinlab Read the Review of the Live in London DVD Read the Reviews of Demolition Read the Review of the Electric Eye DVD Official Website for this Artist Discuss on the Metal Judgment Web Board Submit/Read Reader Reviews of this Album

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Death's Review:
Start to finish, this is one of metal's all-time classic records, from one of metal's all-time classic bands. Screaming for Vengenace is that rare album that was both one of the band's most commercially successful albums and one of its best. It is well documented that Judas Priest has gone through a number of stylistic shifts throughout its career - from hippie hard rock to classic metal to thrash. While I love of all of it, Screaming comes from the band's peak years, when they were selling records and selling out arenas, played on MTV and in heavy rotation on commercial radio. "You've Got Another Thing Comin' " was a huge radio hit, and can still be occasionally heard on some classic rock stations today. It also is a great song, sung by Rob Halford with extreme confidence. And it is that confidence that really makes Rob Halford one of the greatest metal vocalists of all-time. Screaming for Vengenace oozes with such confidence and combines it with incredible songwriting skill. Every song is catchy, and every song attacks the listener with that classic metal Judas Priest vibe.

The album's highlights come fast and furious. The opening searing guitar notes of "The Hellion" are the classic Judas Priest live opener, right into the metallic attack of "Electric Eye." Halford shreds incredible high notes on the thrashy title track that foreshadowed the fury of "Painkiller" a decade earlier. "Riding on the Wind" also features shrieking high notes, and makes me want to get into a car and drive along the Pacific Coast Highway really, really fast - listening to this song played loud in a convertible makes me feel free. But it is the moodier material like "Bloodstone" or "(Take These) Chains" that best illustrates this record's true songwriting depth. All in all, this is simply a masterpiece. Throughout, Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing trade classic-styled dual-guitar metal guitar solos. While albums like Sad Wings of Destiny and Defenders of the Faith are also amazing, for most people, this is probably the defining moment in the Judas Priest catalogue. I, for one, can't wait for this summer's Judas Priest reunion as part of Ozzfest 2004.

 

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