Battle of the Classics: "Screaming for Vengeance" vs. "Defenders of the Faith"
Two Judas Priest opuses go head-to-head
Judas Priest was a juggernaut throughout most of the ‘80s, but while they opened the decade with the milestone British Steel, their reputation as the defining heavy metal band- and ultimately their legacy- rested on two albums: 1982’s Screaming for Vengeance and its follow-up, 1984’s Defenders of the Faith. Both asserted and reasserted the band’s eminence in the genre, albeit in very different contexts.
It’s easy to forget now, given that Screaming for Vengeance is Priest’s biggest-selling album, but that record was actually a comeback: after Point of Entry’s attempts at radio-friendly hard rock didn’t move the needle commercially, the band regrouped and went into the studio aiming to restate their metal bonafides. The album ultimately did just that, but what broke both the record and band on a large scale was, ironically enough, a massive radio hit written largely to bring the total track listing to 10 songs.
As a result, Defenders of the Faith emerged from a place of confidence, as Priest doubled down on the aggression of its predecessor while also beginning to experiment with new recording techniques, most notoriously with drum machines layered on top of (and sometimes altogether replacing) Dave Holland’s timekeeping. (And not coincidentally, both Glenn Tipton and Rob Halford were frequently coked out of their skulls) But while Defenders of the Faith ultimately went platinum, its videos garnered decent airplay on MTV and the ensuing tour was their most successful yet, the album didn’t have any breakout singles or radio hits and was considered a bit of a commercial disappointment after the breakthrough success of Screaming for Vengeance.
The roughly 40 years since has seen both albums’ statuses simultaneously solidified and complicated: while nobody disputes that they are great records and among Priest’s all-time best releases, just how great is often up for debate. Screaming is generally considered a very strong release, but many consider it a bit too straightforward and commercial in spots. Defenders, on the other hand, is often criticized for its clattering production and the aforementioned drum machines, but its tracks are frequently cited as dark horse favorites, and its numbers draw some of the loudest cheers from audiences whenever they are played live. In many ways, the albums are reflections of and counterpoints to each other, reflecting key similarities and profound differences.
But how do they compare against each other? Let’s see…
For this exercise we are going to put each album’s tracklisting to battle. Both have 10 tracks total, and we can bring it down to 9 tunes each when intro/prologue tracks (“The Hellion” and “Heavy Duty”) are merged into the proper songs they segue into. Each track will be graded on a 1-to-10 scale, and at the end all scores will be summed to create an overall album total, which will decide the ultimate winner.
So let’s get to it!
#1: “The Hellion/Electric Eye” vs. “Freewheel Burning”
Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith both open with raging statements of intent. While the 40-second intro “The Hellion” suggests something grandiose, it segues right into the bulldozing “Electric Eye”, and although “Freewheel Burning” doesn’t start in similarly epic fashion, it similarly goes straight for the throat. Both are killer, but “Electric Eye” is more dynamic and focused, doing more with Halford’s vocals to conjure different moods throughout while keeping its eye firmly on kicking ass, whereas “Freewheel Burning”, strong as it is, doesn’t quite stick the same way. From beginning to end, “Electric Eye” feels monumental and massive, maintaining a dramatic and epic feel despite landing under 5 minutes even when combined with “The Hellion”. “Freewheel Burning” is just a really good metal song.
“The Hellion/Electric Eye”: 10/10
“Freewheel Burning”: 8/10
Winner: “The Hellion/Electric Eye”
#2: “Riding on the Wind” vs. “Jawbreaker”
If Priest wanted to continue asserting their metalness, they couldn’t have done better than these two tracks, both of which doubled down on their respective album openers. “Jawbreaker” was a tight and direct ripper that took the classic songwriting of British Steel and amped up the power (it also turned out to be one of Priest’s filthiest songs lyrically, though Rob concealed that much better than he would a few tracks later), whereas “Riding on the Wind” was pure attack, right down to Halford’s incredible wailing at the end.
Strangely enough, this would make the track one of their more problematic from a performance perspective- it went down a storm on the Screaming for Vengeance tour, but over the years the band- especially Halford- has struggled to play it at full capacity, to the point where we wince whenever they play it live, which is surprisingly often. Awesome as it is, “Riding on the Wind” is more performance than song, whereas “Jawbreaker” is the best of both, and has lost none of its power over the decades.
“Riding on the Wind”: 9/10
“Jawbreaker”: 10/10
Winner: “Jawbreaker”
#3: “Bloodstone” vs. “Rock Hard Ride Free”
After opening with two straight bangers, Screaming and Defenders eased up on the gas a bit. “Bloodstone” had a bit of a Deep Purple feel to it, though its momentum was more forceful and Halford’s seething was all his own. The song was both a logical extension of “Electric Eye” and “Riding on the Wind” and also its own thing.
“Rock Hard Ride Free” was a bigger contrast, and arguably the one Defenders track designed for mainstream rock radio, despite also being the album’s longest tune. The pacing and chorus were more obvious (and basic), and while it was enjoyable overall- and Priest were wise to use it to break things up a bit after the opening onslaught- it was also one of the album’s less distinguished numbers.
“Bloodstone”: 8/10
“Rock Hard Ride Free”: 7/10
Winner: “Bloodstone”
#4: “(Take These) Chains” vs. “The Sentinel”
“(Take These) Chains” wasn’t the first ballad Priest ever recorded, but it was the first time they pandered to this degree. Much more than anything on Point of Entry, “Chains” was designed to be a hit single, beginning with CBS commissioning Bob Halligan Jr. to write the band something that could land on the radio. And it all ended up being for naught, since the label abandoned hope for US airplay after seeing it flop as a single in international markets. As a tune, it’s perfectly fine, catchy in spots with a cool bridge, but it poured cold water over the band’s stated mission and suggested that Screaming might not be as uncompromising as sold.
“The Sentinel” on the other hand was a straight-up metal epic, arguably the magnum opus of Defenders of the Faith. It was fairly brisk as epics go, but packed as much dynamics and drama in its 5-minute runtime as most prog bands attempted in tracks twice as long. Everything about it was a raging success, from the wall of guitars in the intro to the frenetic verses, howling chorus, a dueling guitar break for the ages, and the vaguely Floyd-esque interlude giving way to full-on violence. “The Sentinel” was not only an album standout, but a shining star of the entire Judas Priest catalogue.
“(Take These) Chains”: 6/10
“The Sentinel”: 10/10
Winner: “The Sentinel”
#5: “Pain and Pleasure” vs. “Love Bites”
Despite otherwise being completely different, these two tracks are lyrically more or less about the same thing, which in turn makes their fundamental differences that much more jarring. “Pain and Pleasure” is a turgid and quite frankly boring plodder with no real forward momentum- it just sits there taking up space on a mostly propulsive record. There is no hook to the chorus, the riffs don’t go anywhere and even Halford sounds unenthused, which is truly shocking given his rep as one of the most committed singers in rock history.
No such problems exist with “Love Bites”, one of the most gloriously ludicrous numbers the band ever recorded. This is all momentum, continuing to build and build and stacking a surprising amount of hooks on top of each other. Unlike on “Pain and Pleasure”, Rob sounds like he’s having an absolute blast camping it up, and the borderline goth riffing and drumming only adds to the drama.
“Pain and Pleasure”: 5/10
“Love Bites”: 9/10
Winner: “Love Bites”
#6: “Screaming for Vengeance” vs. “Eat Me Alive”
By picking up the pace once again, Screaming’s title track actually exacerbates some of the album’s fault lines. From a sequencing perspective, it’s the first track since “Bloodstone” that even qualifies as metal, further drawing attention to the halfhearted commercial gestures of the previous two tunes. More than that, while Priest gave their all in the performance, and the lead break- with K.K. and Glenn trading off solos before harmonizing and then going all-out in power chord fury- is a masterclass, just like with “Riding on the Wind” it feels more performed than written, getting by on sheer aggression without really having a clear purpose. That said, Rob’s opening wail remains a wonderful thing to behold.
By the same token, though with very different implications, “Eat Me Alive” similarly accentuates the patterns established throughout Defenders, tripling down on the coked-out ridiculousness of “Jawbreaker” and “Love Bites” and balancing the intensity of the performance with clearly mapped out song structures. Yes, the lyrics are utterly preposterous, but intentionally so, and there was something so marvelously capital-M Metal about it all.
“Screaming for Vengeance”: 8/10
“Eat Me Alive”: 9/10
Winner: “Eat Me Alive”
#7: “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” vs. “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll”
Aka, Judas Priest’s biggest hit vs. its sequel. It’s very hard to consider “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” with fresh ears, as the universe is beyond sick of it after 40 years of overexposure. Hell, even Priest seems tired of it: after decades of it being their grand finale in concert, on their most recent tour it was presented so early in the set as to suggest they just wanted to get it out of the way and move on. Despite all of this, we have to admit this is foundational text not just for Priest, but for metal as a whole- it ranks alongside a precious handful of tunes that can truly be called gateway songs for anyone interested in heavy metal. It’s all there: the crunch, heft and drive of the power chords, a perfect balance of heaviness and hooks, and vocals that thread the needle between catchy and screaming.
…and it was such a big hit for the band that they deliberately tried to recreate the magic on the next album, though once again they farmed out the task of actually writing it to Bob Halligan, Jr. As is generally the case with sequels, “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll” doesn’t quite recreate the magic, but as a tune it’s enjoyable in its own right. Surprisingly enough considering the last time Halligan wrote for the band, the track has a little more grit and grime than “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’”, and a lot more than “(Take These) Chains”. The solos are also much better.
“You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’”: 10/10
“Some Heads Are Gonna Roll”: 7/10
Winner: “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’”
#8: “Fever” vs. “Night Comes Down”
A recurring theme here is the temporal similarity of the sequenced tracks on these two albums: they usually don’t sound very alike, but quite often they seem to emerge from the same headspace and perspective. And so it is with the penultimate tracks on Screaming and Defenders, as both are moody semi-ballads. And just like we’ve seen up to this point, they are very different in their execution: “Fever” starts with flanged guitars before pivoting to more of a straightforward rocker, whereas “Night Comes Down” mostly stays in a steady and near-ambient vibe. Strangely, it was the latter approach that worked much better: there was a creeping darkness to “Night Comes Down” that lingered long after it finished, distinguishing it from the band’s earlier attempts at balladry, and it managed to fit within the overall fabric of Defenders of the Faith while also adding extra dimension and depth.
But “Fever”, like “Chains” and “Pain and Pleasure” before it, just sticks out and feels a bit generic. It’s not a totally bad song, but it didn’t have a consistent feel to it and was largely forgotten as soon as it ended.
“Fever”: 6/10
“Night Comes Down”: 8/10
Winner: “Night Comes Down”
#9: “Devil’s Child” vs. “Heavy Duty/Defenders of the Faith”
Contradicting what was said just one track earlier, Screaming for Vengeance and Defenders of the Faith close out with rather distinct approaches. “Devil’s Child” is a rip-snorting smack in the ass that, while not necessarily as metallic as “Electric Eye” or “Riding on the Wind”, was every bit as much of a bulldozer, as the hooting and hollering of the pre-choruses and Halford’s irascible screeching, to say nothing of the slash and burn power chords and Holland’s steady but frantic drumming, steamrolled over everything in its path. It was even more of a barnburner live and brought Screaming back into focus right in time to leave a good aftertaste.
One record later, it was understandable that Priest would want to wrap up their harder and heavier record with a thesis statement and summation of their heavy metal goals. And no doubt Rob, Glenn and K.K. thought that a glory march along the lines of “Take on the World” and “United” would rally the troops. But the prologue “Heavy Duty” and the title track it segued to were boring and their closest invocation of Spinal Tap. “Heavy Duty” had verses, but the repeated chant of “we are defenders of the faith” being the only lyric on the title track rendered it aimless and inert. Admittedly, there was a certain something to the march and plod, a primordial ooze of British steel. But after the mostly straight-up metal glory of the preceding 8 tunes this felt like a bit of a bum way to wrap things up.
“Devil’s Child”: 9/10
“Heavy Duty/Defenders of the Faith”: 6/10
Winner: “Devil’s Child”
Final Tally:
Screaming for Vengeance: 71
Defenders of the Faith: 74
WINNER: Defenders of the Faith
Judging by the scores, it was ultimately a close battle. But Defenders of the Faith had higher highs and not as many lulls, despite a less than stellar conclusion, whereas Screaming for Vengeance was brought down by a handful of half-hearted commercial moves (none of which were even released as singles in the US or helped sell records, which was the cruelest irony of all).
What Defenders really had was a more unified and cohesive feel that made its own semi-commercial tracks not only easier to swallow, but actually work both on their own and as part of the album- at least with “Night Comes Down”. So even though Screaming for Vengeance sold better, Defenders of the Faith was the better album and arguably a truer signpost of Judas Priest’s legacy in metal.