Screaming for Vengeance
Judas Priest
1982
Writers: Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford, KK Downing
Cover Art: Doug Johnson
Rating: A-
A breakout album for Judas Priest in America well known for its heavy guitar work and has some important tracks in it, even if for subjective and esoteric reasons.
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| I'm an expert in fascist imagery, and I can confirm the problematic nature of this album cover. |
One thing that marks this as a watershed album is its being the first example of Judas Priest's fortuitous (and sadly defunct) collaboration with Doug Johnson, resulting in its most distinctive and iconic covers. This may actually be my favorite cover art of all time, and it’s not hard to see why: it’s a badass cybernetic eagle with missiles swooping down in front of a foreboding red sun. The distinctive artwork features a collage of shaded geometric shapes that would foreshadow some of the more dated, ambitious effects seen in SNES/Genesis graphics, but some would say that’s part of the charm. Elements of a Native American headdress seem to be in the wings. The one problem is the streak of what appears to be cinnamon toothpaste in the eagle’s contrail. Overall, it’s awesome-looking in way that suggests epic metal inside. The music is good, but unfortunately doesn’t quite live up to the expectation set by this image. Or perhaps appropriately, as explained later.
RATING: A+
While these are separated by track and title, it’s rather obvious that it’s one song. “The Hellion” is an epic and rousing guitar riff that was put to good, half-ironic use in one of the best car commercials of all time and it continues the proud metal tradition of wonderfully escalatory intros to disappointingly bland songs, a custom that furry FNAF fans tragically lack the clout to get away with.
It smoothly segues into “Electric Eye” with good secondary riff that repeats itself occasionally. Outside of that the song is a middling affair, slow and somewhat bland.
RATING (Hellion): A+
RATING (Electric Eye): B-
RATING: B+
An upbeat, energetic song with a fast pace. A little too light-hearted to be one of my favorites, though.
RATING: B+
A heavy and enjoyable song. It only slightly commits in selling the frustration of the subject matter in its sound.
RATING: A-
with Bob Halligan, Jr.
Halligan would go on to make disappointingly sappy Christian Celtic-rock, but he contributed to a few hard songs in the da, and his influence might have had a healthy effect on this song: it’s noticeably more melodic and has sufficient highs and lows throughout, the lack of which is a slight problem I have with some of Priest’s more energetic tracks. Not enough downtime or buildup. The relative pop appeal is balanced with a heavy tone, and my heretical opinion is that the combination is the true ideal.
RATING: A
A rare break-up song whose tone pulls off a contemptuous tone of “you do you, you'll get yours anyway." Trusting G-d's plan. It’s neither a cry of pain nor a cathartic celebration, and it’s a hidden gem for it.
RATING: A
Not a bad song, but feels like a broken promise. Judging by the title (and the cover art), I would expect this track to be a primal, epic scream of pain and rage, but despite the heavy guitar work it feels somewhat light. There’s a disappointingly lackadaisical quality to the melody that seems not like the angry cry of a bird of prey so much as the warbling of a cute songbird (or, rather, an actual bald eagle). It sounds like it would be a nice tune if covered as light jazz. I suppose it has potential for irony due to its sonic dissonance. It seems an appropriate thing for a toon to whistle as he prepares some manner of ketchup-based trap for an antagonist who has wronged him in some real or imagined way.
RATING: C
8. YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING
Good guitar work and it has a not-bad progression, but it’s a bit monotonous at times and it lacks energy and weight despite its tough subject matter. It's definitely a popular throw-down song, except Judas Priest has made far, far, FAR better throw-down songs. I can see why it’s so popular. It’s like a slightly heavier Steppenwolf piece. Not a bad song, but I confess to having a slight vendetta with it. Considering this is the only Priest song that gets any kind of radio play, I hold it responsible for my shrugging them off as a band I can safely ignore for so many years. A-ha, it seems, is not the only band to fall victim to this disease. Metal stations are rare enough, but apparently it’s worse here in Nashville, since there might be some country music industry protectionism involved. I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard a single Alice Cooper song until I had internet access.
The closest this album apparently has to a proper music video, and it’s not much to worry about. Mostly just shots of the band’s playing interspersed with grainy footage of the city until Rob Halford sings so passionately he has a seizure of cheesy 80’s effects.
RATING: C+
It’s by no means the best song of that title, but it’s the best song of this album. A heavy, tense tone and a good sense of progression. Stands out here as satisfyingly raw enough to please my goth tendencies.
Rating: A+
Starts out as the worst song in the album by a fair margin. Bland and generic enough to get incessant mainstream radio play without any of Track 8’s strengths. Barely saveds itself from a D-Rating when it turns into a good song for about a whole minute at the 2:15 mark. Probably deserved to be split in two far more than “Hellion/Electric Eye.” Somewhat frustrating to rate.
RATING: C-
Screaming for Vengeance has its share of great tracks, but is slightly lacking the truly indispensable classics. Still, it was a step in the right direction for the band. Transitioning from bland boomer rock to epic, hard-hitting genre metal. A common complaint I have about the “best” Judas Priest songs, is that they have no downtime and are uniformly high-energy to the point where they’re effectively one-note despite their formal complexity, a common Pfifltrigg problem. "Prisoner of Your Eyes" from the 2001 edition is a great song, but I'm not counting it due to its being recorded in 1985 at the same time as Turbo.
TRACK RANKING:
9. Devil's Child
8. Screaming for Vengeance
7. You've Got Another Thing Comin'
6. Riding on the Wind
5. Hellion/Electric Eye
4. Bloodstone
3. Pain and Pleasure
- Prisoner of Your Eyes
2. (Take These) Chains
1. Fever
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| POV: The airplane changed course and went into your mouth instead! |
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