JUDAS PRIEST — Screaming For Vengeance (review)

JUDAS PRIEST — Screaming For Vengeance album cover Album · 1982 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
SouthSideoftheSky
We did have another thing comin’

After three disappointing albums in a row, Judas Priest started their ascent towards a returned to form with this album. The Pop Metal ambitions that started with Living After Midnight and continued on the Point Of Entry album were basically dropped and the band once again focused on making Heavy Metal. Once again the great twin-guitars of Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing were allowed to shine and the whole band seemed to have regained their senses and injected a newfound energy into the music that was so clearly lacking on previous albums. They would never again reach the heights of their strongest period in the 70’s, but this album started a kind of second coming that continued with the next album, Defenders Of The Faith.

The new found inspiration is immediately apparent on the first song, the very good The Hellion/Electric Eye. The dystopian lyrics are great and highly relevant today when governments are trying to control the free exchange of information on the internet. Riding On The Wind is another strong song with inspired vocals by Rob Halford. Bloodstone, (Take These) Chains and Pain And Pleasure are weaker songs, but still good. One problem is that they are rather similar to each other. Then comes the great title track in which Halford really is screaming for vengeance and Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing do their trademark duels.

The rest of the album is a bit weaker again, with You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ being rather tedious, in my opinion. Fever slows things down a bit and features some very good passages, but the main melody feels rather unimaginative somehow. The album ends with Devil’s Child which is something of an anticlimax as it is a rather Delivering The Goods-like Rock ‘N’ Roll number.

This album is clearly worth having, but it is still far away from the band’s glory days. Make sure you get the re-mastered version as then you get a good bonus track called Prisoner Of Your Eyes. This is a ballad and is just the kind of song that would have brought a much needed diversity to the main album. But I guess the band didn’t have the courage to include this song at the time?
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