10 Best Hard Rock Albums Of The 80s
6. Screaming For Vengeance - Judas Priest
Judas Priest had already been a major player in the metal world well before the 80's had gotten underway. Along with Black Sabbath, this band was one of the first groups to introduce metal to the music world in a proper way. The band had had many highlights throughout their catalog like on the now-classic British Steel, but the band delivered their true masterstroke on Screaming for Vengeance.
The album comes ready for battle as the clarion call of "Electric Eye" grabs you by the throat and absolutely demolishes your eardrums. The screams of Rob Halford all across the album are some of his best, as he goes from more animalistic shrieks on "Riding on the Wind" to more subdued material on "Bloodstone" or "Fever." Even for non-metalheads, "You've Got Another Thing Comin" is one of the most badass tracks the Priests ever put to tape, with a riff that toes the line between metal chugging and rock swagger.
Though Priest had found their disciples on British Steel, the full gospel had yet to be written at that point. With Screaming for Vengeance, the band gave the metal scene and the hard rock world at large something to believe in.