Screaming For Vengeance
1982 | Rock
“I'm elected electric spy. -- I'm protected electric eye. -- Always in focus, you can't feel my stare. -- I zoom into you, you don't know I'm there."
Trivia
- The album hit #17 on the Billboard 200.
- This is the first time in which a Priest drummer played on more than 2 Judas Priest albums. Dave Holland also played on British Steel and Point of Entry.
- Screaming for Vengeance featured the single You've Got Another Thing Comin'.
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
My favorite album art of all time! I think I said that when we did other songs from the album, but look it up and marvel at its glory, will you? The art is based on this song, after all! It's a bit of 1984, and so incredibly prescient. The "eye in the sky" is bearing down on us, watching everything we do. 31 years before James Clapper lied through his teeth and insisted that the NSA did not engage in bulk data collection on American citizens, Judas Priest was rocking hard about what today is a fact of life. "You think you've private lives, think nothing of the kind; There is no true escape, I'm watching all the time." Hearing these lyrics with 2019 ears, I get a chill every single time. And hey, it's one of the best tunes Judas Priest ever wrote, to boot. An all-time favorite.
Sherry Voluntary
This 26 year old song lays out a surveillance state that is very close to what we are living in today. The Orwellin kind of intrusion into every nook and cranny of people’s private lives is something that most people in the United States would say they absolutely would not approve of, and yet, they actively condone and even push for that intrusion with idiotic glee. The saying “Those who have nothing to hide, hide nothing,” is a staple of the American scaredy-cat who would rather have safety over freedom. They place their faith in The State believing they actually desire to keep them safe, yet never consider that there will be no one to protect them from that very power when it’s eye is turned on them.
Nicky P
Those cyberpunk visionaries somehow managed to predict everything. Go further back and read some Asimov and be amazed at what some writers saw coming. This song much like the stories and novels by those visionaries sees beyond the promise of technology to the double edge that each step carries with it. This particular song is looking at the way space-age technology is used to keep us down as much as it is a tool to keep an eye on other nations. When it comes to government it should be obvious that any tool they acquire giving them an edge over the enemy is another they can turn against us citizens. Look no further than East Germany where walls worked both ways. A wall isn't even a complicated tool like surveillance satellite.