It's been exactly 30 years since JUDAS PRIEST unleashed Screaming For Vengeance on July 17th, 1982. To celebrate this milestone, guitarist K.K. Downing has penned a new blog; an excerpt follows:

"Screaming For Vengeance is still the band's biggest ever selling record. This may come as a surprise to many but if you ask me why this might be, I would give you quite a few reasons:

Firstly I would say that Screaming has an undeniable completeness about it. By that I mean a good and varied selection of songs, a cool cover and an overall uplifting feel that was perfect for the time when it was released.

Timing! Now there is a very interesting topic when it comes to releases. I have a theory that timing plays a very crucial role in a band's career. In fact I am convinced that even some Priest albums have been released before their time. Typically a lot of bands have released albums that did not have a particular impact at the time of release but went on to be revered as classic albums for me! Although one could argue Painkiller was just such an album for Priest and I am optimistic that Nostradamus will follow. Back to Screaming; there is no doubt that without 'You've Got Another Thing Comin'' the album may not have been the success that it was but I guess we will never really know.

As it happened I seem to remember that we were quite happy with the album but decided late on that we could add one more song. I know we had some of the parts but we set about completing 'Another Thing Comin' during the mixing sessions at Bee Jay studios. It came together quite quickly and I seem to remember that we all had a good feeling about it as it did sound like a good driving song and possibly a good radio track.

Sadly it is too long ago for me to remember the exact details and events that surrounded the making of this record. I can only sum it up by saying that I sincerely wish that I could turn back time and experience the whole thing again as it certainly was the year that Judas Priest was Screaming For Vengeance!"

To read K.K.'s blog in its entirety, click here.