And this time we are interested in starting with the question.
What is your favorite "Judas Priest" album?
We assume we will hear a wide variety of examples.
Veteran fans will probably mention "Sad Wings of Destiny." It is likely that the classic album "British Steel", which was responsible for the band's breakthrough, will be among the choices, and of course "Painkiller", which was their comeback into Speed Metal, will also star among the answers.
But we are willing to bet that for most of you "Screaming for Vengeance", released on July 17, 1982, will star in the band's favorite album list.
It's the band's best-selling album to date, with sales of over five million copies in the US alone. The band manages to do this even though it is much less "accessible" and commercial than the breakthrough album "British Steel" which came out two years earlier and much less radio-friendly than the melodic "Point Of Entry" that came after it.
After the relative success of "British Steel", the band was confident enough to go with its ambitions and less with what the record company demanded. The result was a faster, heavier, more aggressive album than its predecessors.
This album is considered one of the best of the band. The album that completed it's big breakthrough into the US.
Undoubtedly, this album's amazing result can be attributed to the cohesive and professional lineup that recorded it. This is the third consecutive album recorded without changing the lineup. Eventually it will also turn out to be the band's most stable lineup - its most classic and successful one.
This formidable band has managed to produce an accurate formula that maintains a balance between the biting power of heavy metal and relatively catchy and accessible songs, a formula that has finally established the band's status as one of the great bands in Heavy Metal.
From the instrumental opening of "The" Hellion" which connects to "Electric Eye" which is influenced by Orwell's book" 1984 ", it can be understood that we are dealing with something completely different from what the band has created so far. An unprecedented metal attack led by Tipton and K.K.'s dual guitar and Halford's powerful singing.
The attack continues with the rolling thunder drums of Dave Holland that lift us to the clouds with "Riding on the Wind". Bleeding from the metal attack we slow down a bit with the more catchy "Bloodstone", in which the pair of guitarists allow themselves to go back a bit to give more expression to Halford with an amazing vocal performance. It is followed by the melodic "Take (These Chains)", in which the band first uses the writing skills of musician Bob Halligan Jr., with whom the band and Halford will also collaborate in the future. "Pain and Pleasure" seals the first side of the vinyl and turns out to be probably the "weakest" song on the album, with a slow and tired pace that doesn't require even a drop of effort from Halford.
The other side of the vinyl opens with the fast speed metal of the theme song "Screaming for Vengeance", which connects us with the anthemic hit "You've Got Another Thing Comin" which became one of the most sought-after songs in the band's performances. "Fever" holds the title of the album's longest song, a dynamic and complex track relative to the rest of the album. The album ends with "Devil's Child", whose riff is so beautiful that it was "borrowed" a year later by "Dio" in the song "Caught in the Middle".
"Screaming for Vengeance" is an excellent album, even amazing! It left a real mark on the metal world of the 1980s. The formula the band used on this album proved so good that "Judas" will use it on the next album "Defenders of the Faith", which will be released two years later.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music