As a Judas Priest fan you can play any album from Rocka Rolla to British Steel and I’d be completely happy. After that it gets tricky. There are good albums, mediocre albums, total duds, and some albums that come close to masterful. Screaming For Vengeance is one of those albums.

Screaming For Vengeance contains tracks that are loyal to the traditional Priest sound — the title track, “Electric Eye,” “Riding on the Wind,” for instance. Then there is the arena rocker “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ — a winner that perfected the ambition of previous hits like “Living After Midnight,” “Breaking the Law” and “Heading Out to the Highway.” And then there are the ‘other’ songs that were often overlooked: the very apt “Bloodstone,” the amusing “Devil’s Child” and even the Point-of-Entry-esque “Pain and Pleasure.”  During the vinyl age, these songs were usually skipped over.

However, what prevents the album from near perfection is the inclusion of two somewhat awful tracks. The Bob Halligan-penned  “(Take These) Chains” and “Fever” — truthfully, both would have been God-awful if they weren’t sung by Rob Halford (these songs are also a glimpse into the future, when Priest releases the truly God-awful Turbo years later).

What makes this 30th Anniversary Edition so special is the DVD of Judas Priest’s performance at 1983′s US Festival. The camera work is a little choppy at times (sometimes we are treated to a snapshot of a sound monitor or an amp) but it’s a historic event and Priest sounds as razor-sharp and energetic as ever. “Riding on the Wind” is pure kick ass and “Victim of Changes” is as magnificent as always, to name a few. Finally, the Priest got the recognition they had deserved on one of the world’s largest stages.

Screaming For Vengeance was Priest’s last great album of the ’80s, and with all these fine extras on this 30th Anniversary Edition, to own it is a no-brainer.

Label: Legacy (The special edition can be purchased here)