Customer Reviews

Screaming For Vengeance

5 star:		(133)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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

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.

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.

This has to be the defining Judas Preist album and arguably their best, although they would follow this one up with the impressive Defenders of the Faith. You have the widely known rockers like "Electric Eye," "You've Go another Thing Coming," and of course the title track, but all the cuts are impressive. It is Halford at his screaming best and then you have the two greatest Heavy Metal guitar players of all-time, Mr. K.K. Downing and Mr. Glenn Tipton, what more needs to be said about these two legends. If you aspire to be a fan of heavy metal, you must own this CD.

THE BAND: Rob Halford (vocals), Glenn Tipton (guitars), K.K. Downing (guitars), Ian Hill (bass), Dave Holland (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (1982) 10 songs originally clocking in at approximately 39 minutes. This newly digitally remastered edition (2001) contains 2 bonus tracks extending the listen to approximately 51 minutes. Included with the disc is a 6-page booklet containing band photos, song titles, credits and lyrics. Recorded at Ibiza Sound Studios, Ibiza, Spain. All songs written by Halford, Tipton and Downing (except "Take These Chains" by unknown writer to me, R.Halligan). Label - Columbia/Sony.

COMMENTS: Rob Halford & Co delivery an incredible album with "Screaming For Vengeance". They hit their commercial top with this '82 release. Thanks to other British hard rock and metal acts like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and Ozzy (solo)... Judas Priest and their brand of music were hugely popular. They gained momentum early on with several of their 70's albums ("Hell Bent For Leather", "Stained Glass", and a killer live album "Unleashed In The East"). If not at the top of their careers with 1980's "British Steel" (then they were damn near close)...they maintained their high with "Point of Entry" (1981). And, they capped off their heavy metal motorcycle joyride with "Screaming for Vengeance". They really fell off the boat after that - slower record sales, Rob lost his hair, more commercial metal than hard core metal (with the exception of "Painkiller"), innocent children killing themselves while cranking up Judas Priest tunes, Court TV, sub-par solo projects, etc. This record established JP as a global heavy metal band and for good reason. Not a weak tune on the entire album. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" was a huge hit and remains their highest charting single to date. The other songs that didn't make it to the radio are classic British metal that hold this record together. "Riding On The Wind", "Bloodstone" and "Fever" are just plain awesome metal tunes. Start your Judas Priest collection with this one or "British Steel". This is the band's last great classic album (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.

By far and away PRIEST'S best album.you got another thing comin' might be the hit,but it is also the slackest song on this album.One of the defining albums of the glory years of 80s heavy metal. capturing a band at the height of their powers and featuring the track which brought them stardom in America "you've got another thing coming". From the opening track the Hellion, through "Riding on the Wind" Bloodstone" and more mellower songs like "Chains" and "Fever" the band never sounded so good. With an album as consistent yet varied as this, its just about the best they've ever done that is how good it is.

I'll try and keep this short since most of the reviewers here already summed up this album and how great it is. Screaming For Vengeance returned Judas Priest to the top of the metal heap boasting a more consistent set of song including the huge hit song You've got another thing coming which is brilliant and probably one of my favorite Priest songs of all time and the headbanging classic Electric eye and Devil's child. This is definetely a classic 80's metal album although not as perfect as British Steel the album still manages to rock out loud, if you don't have this album then what are you waiting for? GET THIS NOW!.

Having most of the Remastered Judas Priest albums now, it's clear that "Screaming For Vengeance" was the one that most Needed the Remastering process; the original CD issue was more toned down, with more tape hiss, than earlier albums like "Stained Class" - I would guess that "Screaming...." was the first Priest album pressed onto CD format, back when the technology was in its infancy.

With the Remastering, "Screaming For Vengeance" is a more ferocious, intense album than ever, which is saying something considering the punch it always packed before, even on tape on a relatively cheap system. There is a lyrical theme to it, as there is with most Priest albums, although as always it's done in a loose way: the theme helps tie the album together without being so rigid as to limit individual songs, or to prevent the band from veering off course for a track of a different vibe every here and there. I guess it could be said that the songs and their lyrical content guide the album's course instead of the album strictly guiding and controlling the songs. With this album, that theme involves oppression - from societal authoritarianism, from loneliness or self-doubt, etc.; the desire to overcome it and break free; and often the success or lack thereof of those objectives. "Electric Eye" - with its magnificent "The Hellion" intro, one of the most famous intros in all of metal - typifies the Priest staple of fear of totalitarian intervention into every aspect of life, with a concept that becomes more and more plausible year after year, and then is followed by "Riding On The Wind" a song that in every beat and note just bursts forth with the sensation of shattering boundries and accepting no defeat. The drums throughout have a pounding jungle-type vibe and are perhaps best represented in "You've Got Another Thing Coming" and "Riding On The Wind"; unheralded alltime classic "Bloodstone" features possibly the single Best use of the guitar twin harmonies/double solos/whatever you want to call it that the Priest has used to such great effect all over their career. "(Take These) Chains" and "Fever" each showcase a different facet of Rob Halford's amazing vocal range. As an album, it doesn't focus nearly so much on the bloody retribution theme as its title would suggest, opting more often for a 'living well is the best revenge' vibe (i.e. "..Another Thing Coming") and passionately sung lamentations about the sorrier aspects of the world's state (i.e. "Bloodstone"). Powerful, often hopeful and at times furious, the disc runs the gamut. Every original track a great, the only one falling short of perfection being "Pain And Pleasure" which is still a soild all-around track with perfect vocals for the material.

On to the bonus tracks: the main reason I and probably most other Priest fans were so excited by the whole re-issue project when they came out a few years ago. Like most of the reissues, there's one previously unreleased studio track, one previously unreleased live track, usually a song from the same album originally. The studio cut, "Prisoner Of Your Eyes", was already available in a different, re-recorded version with somewhat differing lyrics, as one of 3 new studio tracks on Halford's 2001 "Live Insurrection" epic. Upon first hearing the "Screaming.." version I was impressed but considered it a clear second to the "Insurrection" version; but on subsequent listens it quickly grew enormously on me until I now consider it every bit the equal of its counterpart. A very different feel to the song, sort of "Turbo"-ish, with the partially different lyrics adding to its distinctiveness. Incredibly emotional vocal performance, just as on "Insurrection". The disc is capped off with a live take on "Devil's Child", a wilder and even more energetic version of its studio conterpart highlighted by a great, completely over-the-top vocal performance by Halford.

Extremely recommended whether or not you own the previous non-remastered, no-bonuses edition. Like Accept's "Balls To The Wall", Rammstein's "Sehnsucht", Iron Maiden's "Piece Of Mind" and The Gathering's "Mandylion" (to name a quick few) this is as essential as it gets for a heavy metal collection.

I'm gonna give u a little rundown on this album here. Okay?

The Hellion/Electric Eye: Very good opener for a bombastic album like this. Love the Electric Eye riff.

Riding On The Wind: Very cool song. Great to drive to.

Bloodstone: Not the best song on the album. Nothing to go nuts over

(Take These) Chains: Kinda commercial, but very good nontheless.

Pain And Pleasure: Wonderful, catchy chorus amid cool riffin'.

Screaming For Vengeance: A very heavy, speedy song. Definitely a metal classic.

Youv'e Got Another Thing Comin': The most famous Priest song. A wonderful metallic groove.

Fever: The very definition of melodic metal. Cool chorus and dazzling lyrics.

Devil's Child: Kinda commercial, but exremely good.

Prisoner Of Your Eyes: Another dazzling melodic song. One of the best bonus tracks ever to be put on an album.

Overall, this is a great album. A little commericial at times, but nonetheless great. Go and buy it.