Screaming For Vengeance

Judas Priest | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: May 29, 2001
• Label: Columbia
• Copyright: (P) 1982, 2001 Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Limited
• Total Length: 50:47
• Genres:
• ASIN: B0013DDN5M
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (169 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,174 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jackhammer-Style Priest, and their Best Ever!!, March 3, 2002

By 

Robert J. Schneider (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Screaming for Vengeance (Exp) (Audio CD)

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

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1 star not for songs,but for sound quality., February 3, 2006

By 

Scotty - See all my reviews

This review is from: Screaming for Vengeance (Exp) (Audio CD)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure powerhouse metal...of a sort no longer made, July 15, 2000

By 

C. Clark (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Screaming for Vengeance (Audio CD)

Screaming for Vengeance is pure driving pleasure, the ultimate CD to crank up on a long drive by yourself. It rocks from start to finish, with only minor glitches, standing up as one of Priest's best.

1. The Hellion/Electric Eye--punchy from the start, then builds up to the right momentum. Here Halford sings in the mid-range but with power. Excellent solo.

2. Riding on the Wind--pseudo speed-metal. One of Halford's finest vocal performances, if only for the very long sustained note at the end which plays with the melody before coming to a crashing end. Try to play it without wanting to hit the repeat button!

3. Bloodstone--a catchy tune with an Eddie Van Halen-like intro. A fine way to be commercial and heavy at the same time.

4. (Take These) Chains--a commercial-sounding tune, not the strongest, but still good fun.

5. Pain and Pleasure--my least favorite tune, since it seems stuck in an uncertain mid-tempo. It sounds like a slightly heavier outtake from the previous album, Point of Entry (a four-star, not five-star album).

6. Screaming For Vengeance--a highly intense workout for every band member. It's almost like a remake of Deep Purple's Burn, on uppers...with borderline thrash sensibilities. Knowing that Priest could be this way makes Painkiller (1990) less of a shock.

7. You've Got Another Thing Coming--perhaps somewhat overplayed on radio, but still a catchy tune with hooky guitars and an in-the-pocket solo.

8. Fever--here Halford sounds like Robert Plant in the beginning. An excellent track, somewhat similar to (Take These) Chains in places, but better. Towards the end, after the solo and buildup, the vocal line turns it almost into another song altogether--an even better song!--before the chorus comes back and drives it home.

9. Devil's Child--Here AC/DC is the point of reference. Intense vocals and a study in power chord perfection.

No metal collection can consider itself complete without the Priest, and Screaming For Vengeance is the place to start. Fans of their early (progressive) period, NWOBHM period, commercial period, or latter-day thrash period can all at least agree on this one.