July 17, 1982 - Judas Priest and Screaming For Vengeance

A month after my last release a new band joins my library when British metal band Judas Priest released their eighth studio album "Screaming For Vengeance" on July 17, 1982. This is the only full album I have by these guys, but who are Judas Priest? They were a 5-piece metal band from Birmingham, England and four out of five original members are still here on their eighth album. The only newcomer is drummer Dave Holland and he's joined by bassist Ian Hill, guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing and lead singer Rob Halford. This would be Judas Priest's commercial breakthrough and best-selling album, led by the success of the hit single "You've Got Another Thing Comin'". I'm not a big fan of theirs, but I think this album is a worthy addition; let's check it out!

The album begins with "The Hellion", a short intro track that is under a minute long. It's a pretty epic little intro with Tipton and Downing harmonizing their guitars for a very forceful riff. This leads directly into the next song "Electric Eye" which was another single. I don't know what is Tipton and what is Downing, but we hear some more epic guitar to start things off before the band settles into a decent metal riff. Halford begins the first verse and his lower vocals sound alright but he quickly switches to his more standard high-pitched vocals that seem to fit this old-school metal style well. He leads the decent verse right into the slower chorus where he holds a few long notes before they quickly resume the main riff for the next verse. After another verse and chorus it's guitar solo time and whoever it is does a pretty great job! We hear a pretty sweet solo with lots of cool fast parts to it and the guitar segues nicely into a new riff and Halford sings the name of the song in the background. Halford sings a brief new verse that connects nicely back into the main riff and they play a final chorus before ending things on a nice epic note. The next song is "Riding On The Wind" and Holland opens it with some pretty sweet drums before they move into another nice riff that sounds pretty metal once again. One guitarist plays a nice slower part while the other plays some cool faster stuff and it makes for a solid main riff. Halford sings the verse in a very high, almost screeching voice that is actually more his typical vocal style than the last song. It sounds pretty metal sometimes but also can be a little too much at other times I find, but this verse sounds pretty good. They jam out a few of these quick verses and then build things up nice and slow to set the stage for the guitar solo. Tipton and Downing take turns soloing for a few bars each, and they both have some pretty great stuff to fire off! These guys were some of the first to play this fast-paced metal style and both guitarists seem to have it nailed down! After the dueling solos Halfors returns to sing the name of the song in the background once again while some cool guitar continues to lead the way. This leads back to the main verse for a final go through and we hear some more great guitar at the finish while Halford holds his final "wind" for a pretty long time before they end this one. Track 4 is "Bloodstone" and after a nice solo guitar opening, the other guitarist joins in and they harmonize for a very catchy main riff as Hill and Holland come thundering in to form a pretty basic rhythm section. The guitar slows down for the verse and Halford's high but slow vocals sound pretty good leading the way. The catchy opening riff turns out to be the chorus riff but Halford just sings the name of the song four times which I find is a dull companion to a pretty good guitar riff. They slow it down again for the next verse and after another chorus it seems like it's guitar solo time. One guitarist plays a slower bit to start it off, but when the other one comes in things really heat up and we hear another sweet solo with lots of really fast notes. This leads directly back into the chorus and they choose to just jam the chorus out several times until the song eventually fades away. Aside from one catchy riff, this song wasn't all that amazing though. Up next is "(Take These) Chains" and it's much slower and quieter than anything we've heard so far as we hear some light guitar and droning noises in the background and Halford sings a slow verse in a more pop-y vocal style. They do a few lines in this ambient mood, but they shift it nicely into a more typical 80s metal riff before we hear a pop-y chorus from Halford. I'm not a fan of his vocal style in this song, I would prefer his high screeches and some faster guitar; while this more metal riff isn't bad, it's pretty slow and simple. They play another verse and chorus and after a short bridge we hear a short guitar solo that is probably the best part of the song, but it's a tame solo compared to the other songs. This leads into the chorus and the soloing continues overtop the chorus riff as they jam it out a few times before this weaker song is finally over. They finish off this first side with "Pain And Pleasure" and Tipton and Downing harmonize their guitars again for a smooth main riff while Holland plays some very loud and space-y drums to keep the beat. Halford comes in and his vocals sound much better I find as he sings a nice slow verse. The lyrics are about a woman who brings him pain but also pleasure and Halford puts some extra emotion in every time he sings "pain". It's a slow and catchy chorus and it rolls right back into another slow verse. After another chorus it's solo time again and Tipton and Downing once again take turns soloing back and forth. They play off each other really nicely and things sound pretty great in another sweet solo. They bring it back for a final verse before jamming the chorus out a couple times to end the song.

The second side kicks off with the title track "Screaming For Vengeance" and Halford lets out quite the yell right to start it off and we hear some nice fast guitar. One guitarist plays some slower epic notes while the other plays a cool lead part that carries the verse. Halford continues singing in his almost shrieking style in the solid verse and he aptly screams the name of the song and it sounds pretty good I think. The chorus has some pretty catchy vocals and guitar and Holland plays a nice drum fill to connect things back to the main riff. After another fast-paced verse and chorus they set the stage nicely for the guitar solo and Tipton and Downing each get a chance to strut their stuff. Whoever goes first comes roaring in with some really fast stuff and I think I like this solo more, but the following one is also pretty great as both guitarists show off their skills. This leads into a slower Iron Maiden-esque bridge riff and we hear a bit more cool guitar that nicely segues back into the main riff. They play a final verse and chorus before Halford let's out a few final screams and the song comes to a screeching halt. The next song is arguably Judas Priest's most famous song, "You've Got Another Thing Comin'". It starts with a pretty basic rhythm section and a simple but cool guitar riff and Halford comes in to sing the first verse. It's certainly much slow-paced than most of their songs, but it does have a really catchy beat to it. Halford speeds up his vocals for the chorus and he sounds quite good, finishing with the name of the song a couple times while the simple but epic and memorable guitar continues. This song somehow seems even more captivating than their faster usual metal style as they do a great job of taking a simple riff and making things sound great. After another bumping verse and chorus they move to a light bridge riff that I think sounds very out of place, but thankfully not for long as it's solo time. The guitar solo isn't their flashiest, but it still sounds pretty good and it fits the vibe very nicely. This leads right back into the main riff for a final verse before they jam out the chorus riff for a good while to end the song. Halford does some okay rambling vocals while the guitarists continue to sing the name of the song, and even though it is a pretty catchy chorus, I think they played it out for too long. Track 9 is called "Fever" and the two guitarists start by themselves with some light guitar in this soft opening. Halford sings a light pop-y verse overtop and for over a minute they play this soft introduction before finally settling into a more standard Judas Priest main riff. It's still a slow one, but at least it sounds like a metal band now as Halford changes to his typical vocal style and continues the verse. This leads into a similar chorus and while things don't sound bad, they do sound very tame and unexciting. There's just not much going on as the guitar is unusually slow and simple; if it weren't for Halfors singing the name of the song several times, you'd never even know the chorus from the verse. They repeat this formula a couple more times before a decent drum fill by Holland segues into the guitar solo. It's a pretty tame solo that continues the slightly boring theme of this song and afterwards Halford sings a new verse in a very high voice before they connect things back to the chorus to jam out the end of this lesser song. The album wraps up with "Devil's Child" and it's driven by a pretty good lead guitar riff backed by another pretty simple rhythm section. Halford sings a solid verse in this more upbeat song that keeps your toes tapping and they move nicely into a catchy chorus that has some cool guitar. Halford hits some high notes as well and things roll right into the next verse. After another solid verse and chorus it has to be solo time and things are back to normal on this track as we hear some blistering guitar that sounds really great! After the solo Halford sings a very high-pitched new verse and they nicely connect this back to the main riff for a final verse. They jam out the chorus several times to in a bland ending to an otherwise pretty good song.

That is the end of "Screaming For Vengeance" and I thought it had some great highs, but also some not so great lows. Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing are both pretty great guitarists but the rhythm section was almost non-existent for a lot of this album. Rob Halford can sound pretty epic, but at other times I'm not a fan and that sums up my feelings about Judas Priest pretty nicely as well. I like this album, but if this is their best, than I don't think we're missing out on anything else. We return to some familiar faces next time out, see you then!