"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


Back when metal was still metal....   November 2, 2003
Undertaker
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

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.


1 star not for songs,but for sound quality.   February 4, 2006
Scotty
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

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.


Totally awesome!.   December 23, 2007
Puzzle box (Kuwait)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

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!.


Legendary Heavy Metal Power And Art   July 21, 2005
Stephen B. O'Blenis (Nova Scotia, Canada)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

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.