Screaming For Vengeance (Judas Priest) vs The Number of the Beast (Iron Maiden) - MAW 1

You've seen many review metal albums, but this will be different. This is a competition, between two different metal albums that I have selected. Both of these albums I have listened to very closely to see which of these two albums I have selected was the best. This isn't just a metal album competition, but a Metal Album War. Welcome, to the very first episode of my new blog post series, Metal Album Wars. In this series, I will be reviewing two different albums side-by-side to see which is better, then give out a score for the albums at the end. For this Metal Album War, I will be taking a look at Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast, and Judas Priest's Screaming For Vengeance, both of which are known as pretty good albums, released in the year of 1982. Now lets begin this.

Album 1: Screaming For Vengeance by Judas Priest

I actually liked this album, and although it isn't nearly as good as the 1990 Painkiller album, my favorite metal album of all time, it's still actually pretty good. Songs like Electric Eye, Riding on the Wind, Screaming for Vengeance, Fever, and Prisoner of Your Eyes, I just liked off the bat. There are some other songs on this album that aren't too bad either, like Bloodstone and Pain and Pleasure are some great songs, and I heard Devil's Child was a great song, with some really good solos, and the second half of the song was phenomenal. There are really only two decent songs on the album, and the first one, (Take These) Chains, wasn't too bad as I liked the intro to the song, but the closest song I can think of from its opposing album, The Number of the Beast, would have to be Children of the Damned, and that song is a lot better than that. You've Got Another Thing Comin' is the other decent song from the album, and while it isn't completely bad, I have seen much better songs than this. Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast has two songs that are huge hits, and they are both better than this song.

As for the album itself, the production actually seemed to be pretty great. Although it didn't have the best sound in an album, it was very great. However, a lot of songs seem to sound the same, leaving Screaming For Vengeance, Prisoner of Your Eyes, and (Take These) Chains to be the only unique songs from the album. While I do like a lot of the songs from the album, it isn't the most diverse album they have put up. I guess when it comes to diversity, Sad Wings of Destiny is already the best in that. However, I do like a lot of the songs in this album, and while I like Riding on the Wind and Prisoner of Your Eyes a lot, I guess my favorite song in this album would have to go to Screaming for Vengeance. It has some really great singing, and probably the best Judas Priest solo of the 80s. Anyways, it looks like it's time to go to our next album.

Album 2: The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden

I have already done a review on this album, but if you haven't remembered, I will still explain some of the songs compared to the songs from the opposing album, Screaming for Vengeance.

This album also has some pretty great songs. Invaders is one of my favorite songs from the album, and I honestly like this song better than Electric Eye, which is actually a pretty great song. Children of the Damned is my favorite song from this album, and I guess out of both albums, unless if Screaming For Vengeance is that great. The Prisoner is another great song, better than some of the songs on the other album, like Riding on the Wind and 22 Acacia Avenue is also pretty good. When it comes to songs, the hardest to decide is whether Hallowed Be Thy Name or Prisoner of your Eyes is better. Hallowed Be Thy Name was a pretty epic song, has pretty good solos, and is very complex in its parts. However, Prisoner of Your Eyes has some great guitar playing, an epic sound, and really good singing from Rob Halford, thus making it better than Beyond the Realms of Death. However, I've decided that Hallowed Be Thy Name is probably the better track, not because I'm bandwagoning and everyone else likes it, as I said in Bloody Hatred that I am not a bandwagoner, but because it's one of those songs that gets me pumped up, so its fun to listen to whenever I play video games.

The production in this album isn't as good as Screaming for Vengeance, but what makes this a good album, is the diversity of the songs. Most songs seem to sound different from one another, and even the ones that sound similar have their different parts that make them unique. Not only will you see better thrash songs, as well as better ballads than the opposing album, but the other songs like The Prisoner, 22 Acacia Avenue, and The Number of the Beast are all different in many ways, and are by far more complex and require much more talent than Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance, and that is actually saying something, considering that Judas Priest was around much longer than Iron Maiden. Now lets see how much I actually like these albums.

The Verdict

Screaming for Vengeance - 91/100
The Number of the Beast - 96/100

Looks like this very first Metal Album War wasn't even close. Iron Maiden just vanquished them this time, proving that they are better than Judas Priest. Iron Maiden does have some tough competitors though, as Piece of Mind and Powerslave are also good albums. However, Judas Priest's Screaming For Vengeance didn't seem to be their best album, as Sad Wings of Destiny and Painkiller were both better. However, both of these albums had their strengths and weaknesses. Screaming For Vengeance may have had the best sound, but The Number of the Beast had better songs, which were more varied than those of Judas Priest. Because of this, I feel that The Number of the Beast is easily the better album of the two, therefore Iron Maiden win this Metal Album War, with their album The Number of the Beast, easily beating their opponent, Judas Priest who had Screaming for Vengeance.

Well, that is all I have to say right now, but I will be back soon with the next episode of this new blog post series, Metal Album Wars. I hope you enjoyed, and I will be seeing you later.

Comments

The Number of the Beast is probably the best metal album ever - zxm (10/9/2016)

It is a good album, but I wouldn't say it's really the best. Holy Diver (Dio), The Years of Decay (Overkill), and Painkiller (Judas Priest) are all better. It's still in my top 5 though. - visitor (10/9/2016)