Judas Priest — Screaming for Vengeance

intothewellsabyss
Jul 17, 2023
6 min read

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

41 years ago today, Judas Priest’s brand of Heavy Metal broke through to the North American market with “Screaming For Vengeance”.

On this day (July 17) in 1982, Judas Priest released their eighth full-length studio album, “Screaming for Vengeance” in the US via Columbia Records (released in the UK on July 5, 1982).

Considered the band's commercial breakthrough, it has been certified double platinum in the United States and platinum in Canada.

“Screaming for Vengeance” spawned the hit single "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", which became one of the band's signature songs and a perennial radio favorite.

MTV’s airing of the music video for "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" also helped Judas Priest finally break into the American market. I remember when the video of for this song first aired on MTV, I was only 9 years old at the time, but the song and music video left an impression on me that has lasted a lifetime.

Judas Priest has long been one of my all-time favorite bands since this release. Of course, back then KISS was my number one, but as I entered into Jr. High, Judas Priest claimed that title, and it’s been that way ever since. — E.N. Wells

Background:

“Screaming for Vengeance” was recorded at Ibiza Sound Studios, Ibiza, Spain (during this period, it was commonplace for UK-based musicians to record in continental Europe for tax purposes) mixing and overdubs were done at Beejay Recording Studios in Orlando, Florida and Bayshore Recording Studios in Coconut Grove, Florida.

Stylistically, “Screaming for Vengeance” showcased a harder, heavier sound than “British Steel” and saw the band quickly reverse direction back into straight Heavy Rock after the melodically styled direction of “Point of Entry”.

The album also marks the first time a Priest drummer played on more than 2 Judas Priest albums, with Dave Holland having also played on “British Steel” and “Point of Entry”.

The album's most commercially successful track, the single "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", was a last-minute addition.

According to guitarist K K Downing, "We were quite happy with the album, but decided late on that we could add one more song. I know we had some of the parts, but we set about completing "Another Thing Comin'" during the mixing sessions at Bee Jay studios. It came together quite quickly, and I seem to remember that we all had a good feeling about it, as it did sound like a good driving song and possibly a good radio track."

Rob Halford expressed surprise at the song's success, saying "that track was buried. Normally the tracks you think are going to do stuff are at the front end of the release. But our friends at Sony said, 'We're going to go for this song.' And we didn't really know what was going on. But then the feedback was coming over: 'Hey, the record's buzzing in this town and that town', and it just took off."

A single was also released in the UK for the song "(Take These) Chains". The b-side features "A Musical Biography - The Judas Priest Audio File".

“Screaming for Vengeance” was remastered on CD and released in May 2001.

The track "Fight for Your Life", recorded during the “Screaming for Vengeance” sessions, was left off the album but subsequently re-worked as the song "Rock Hard Ride Free" on the band’s next album, “Defenders of the Faith”.

The original version finally saw the light of day as a bonus track on the 2001 remastered version of the 1978 album “Killing Machine”.

(𝙺.𝙺. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙶𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚜 𝙵𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕)

As of the album's 30th anniversary in 2012, it remains the top-selling release of Judas Priest's career. To celebrate the album's 30th anniversary, a remastered CD with bonus 1982 live tracks and a bonus DVD of the band's performance from the 1983 US Festival were released.

The most recent remaster was released in late 2017 as part of the Sony “We Are Vinyl” series, on vinyl and digital download only.

The World Vengeance Tour:

The “World Vengeance Tour” began shortly after the album's release in July 1982 and focused on North America during the summer and fall, Priest not performing in Europe until December 1983.

This emphasis on US audiences was in order to establish a solid commercial foothold there, and in particular because "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" became a major hit.

(𝙺.𝙺. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙶𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚜 𝙵𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕)

"You've Got Another Thing Comin'" and "Electric Eye" became live setlist staples and some of the band's most performed songs.

"Devil's Child" has also been performed on various tours between 1982 and 2008, and "Riding on the Wind", "Bloodstone" and the title track have also been in the setlist on various tours.

For comparison, "Fever" was only played at the first two 1982 shows, "(Take These) Chains" only appeared in the setlist in 2019, while "Pain and Pleasure" and the short instrumental "The Hellion" have never been performed live.

As noted, the 30th-anniversary release of the album in 2012 came with a DVD of a live show recorded in May 1983 at the “US Festival” in California on the last date of the “World Vengeance Tour”.

(𝙹𝚞𝚍𝚊𝚜 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚂 𝙵𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕)

During the US tour to support the album in 1982, Judas Priest were supported by bands such as Iron Maiden, Krokus, and Uriah Heep.

Critical Reception & Commercial Performance:

While 1980's “British Steel” has been referred to as the band's masterpiece, “Screaming for Vengeance” was Judas Priest's breakthrough in North America. Although the band had achieved a cult following among American audiences by 1979 and could headline their own tours, they sold "relatively few" records there before “Screaming for Vengeance”. It was also extremely successful worldwide.

“Screaming for Vengeance” reached No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 17 on the US Billboard 200 Pop Albums. It was certified gold by the The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on October 19, 1982, platinum on April 18, 1983, and 2× platinum on October 16, 2001, being the band's first album to achieve the two latter awards.

(𝚁𝚘𝚋 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙶𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚜 𝙵𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕)

The album ranked 15th on IGN's 25 most influential Metal albums. “Screaming for Vengeance” also came in the 10th position on Metal-Rules.com's “100 greatest Metal albums”. Kerrang! listed the album at No. 46 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time".

In 2017, it was ranked 12th on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". In 2022, “Screaming for Vengeance” was named #2 of 'The 25 greatest Rock guitar albums of 1982' list in Guitar World.

Notable Cover Songs:

• Sepultura performed a cover of the title track, "Screaming for Vengeance", on their “Dante XXI” album.

• Iced Earth performed a cover of the title track, "Screaming for Vengeance", on the tribute album “Tribute to the Gods”.

• Stratovarius performed a cover of "Bloodstone" on the album “Intermission”. This version also appears on the Century Media Records compilation “A Tribute to Judas Priest: Legends of Metal Vol. II”.

• Helloween performed a cover of "The Hellion" / "Electric Eye" on the single "The Time of the Oath". The cover also appears on the album “Treasure Chest” and the Century Media Records compilation, “A Tribute to Judas Priest: Legends of Metal, Vol. I”.

• Saxon performed a cover of “You've Got Another Thing Comin'" on the Century Media Records compilation, “A Tribute to Judas Priest: Legends of Metal, Vol. I”.

• As I Lay Dying performed a cover of "The Hellion" / "Electric-Eye" on the compilation album “Decas”.

• Fozzy covered "Riding on the Wind" on their debut album “Fozzy”.

• ABBATH covered "Riding on the Wind" on their 2015 single “Count the Dead”.

• Virgin Steele covered “Screaming for Vengeance” for the Century Media Records compilation “A Tribute to Judas Priest: Legends of Metal Vol. II”.

In Pop Culture:

"You've Got Another Thing Comin'" is featured as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero. "Electric Eye" (with the accompanying intro track "The Hellion") was playable in “Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s and Guitar Hero Smash Hits”. The entire album was the first album released as downloadable content for the video games Rock Band and Rock Band II.

The title song "Screaming for Vengeance" was played on the main site for the video game Brütal Legend. In the game, Rob Halford voices a villain named General Lionwhyte, as well as a heroic character called the Fire Baron, modeled after his likeness. The track "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" was featured in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as part of the V-Rock radio station, whilst "Electric Eye" was featured on the same radio station in the 2006 prequel Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. The song "Riding on the Wind" was featured in the 2012 video game Twisted Metal.

As well as "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" featuring in the eleventh season's first episode, Archer continues the running gag of Dr. Krieger's vans with "Screaming for Van-geance" featuring in the episode "Helping Hands".

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

▶ Listen to “Screaming for Vengeance” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/screaming-for-vengeance-bonus-track-version/207178130

▶ Listen to “Screaming for Vengeance” via Spotify: Screaming For Vengeance https://open.spotify.com/album/0V7mTTzioHiYIjfM8ATZBI

▶ Watch the official music video for “You've Got Another Thing Comin'”; https://youtu.be/WtuoFv4dcwM

▶ Follow Judas Priest on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJudasPriest/

▶ Follow Rob Halford on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robhalfordlegacy

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells