In 1982 Judas Priest was the biggest heavy metal band in the world, which is probably why their album from that year, Screaming for Vengeance, is held in such high regard. Two singles from British Steel helped smash America open for them and while the follow-up was lukewarm and forumlaic it kept them in the charts. It was their task on their ninth album to capitalise on the success they had achieved, and boy did they. Screaming for Vengeance came in the midst of a run of slick, commercial metal records for Judas Priest and this one brought home the bacon like nothing had before.

Yet in spite of the reverence held for this album, in hindsight Screaming for Vengeance has surprisingly few highlights. The 'Hellion/Electric Eye' double is a great beginning, a pure classic Priest mixture of melody and speed with a catchy hook that doesn't go away in a hurry. After this however, Screaming... just kind of trundles along. The next two tracks come and go without really leaping out and the obligatory FM radio track '(Take These) Chains' doesn't suck as much as some of the songs Priest wrote themselves but isn't exactly memorable either. 'Pain and Pleasure' is dreck of the worst order; for an album so highly regarded, the first half is almost a complete write-off. Then comes the good old Judas Priest one-two sucker punch. 'Screaming for Vengeance' sees the return of the inimitable melody/speed/hook thing that this band can do so well, followed up by 'You Got Another Thing Coming', perhaps the best of Priest's three big commercial hits (the other two, of course, are 'Living After Midnight' and 'Breaking the Law') even if it does sound dated today.

Indeed, the entire album hasn't aged well. Most of the tracks are just okay at best and there just isn't the timeless aura about it that earlier Priest releases still have even now. Screaming for Vengeance ends well with the last two songs showing more of Ian Hill's bass work than usual, but overall 23 years on it really doesn't live up to its reputation.