Formed in Birmingham at the end of the 1960s, Judas Priest remain essential listening for any metal music fan. Invariably among the greatest-ever bands of the genre, the mainstream hits spawned predominantly from their 1980s albums British Steel, Point of Entry, and Screaming for Vengeance continue to offer the blueprint for aspiring British heavy, speed, thrash, and power metal groups.
Being such a legendary band, it’s only natural that their tracks have been infused into a great many other entertainment productions to up the ante and raise the tempo. Now, while there is a place for it, there are many occasions when Judas Priest tunes are used as a kind of mood-setter. On other occasions, the lyrics are more masterfully drawn upon to really emphasize what’s being seen on-screen along with the music.
Here are a couple of great productions that deployed some of Judas Priest’s greatest hits masterfully.
You Got Another Thing Comin’
Arguably the Judas Priest track that most would rank as their best and that certainly propelled Screaming for Vengeance to immortality, You Got Another Thing Comin’ is used a fair bit in entertainment. For the opening of Archer Season 11, though, it works on so many levels. For a start, it announces the end of three seasons of coma-encased stories from the titular character with a rip-roaring track worthy of his return.
Next, in the scene, the rest of ISIS are perfectly executing their own heist. Metal music is just perfect for a high-octane heist in any medium. Everyone wants to power to the big score, be it in a film or in a slot game. Even in the Action Bank slot, where there’s already a 500x top prize and a feature with 30 free spins to up the tempo, you can enhance the experience with a bumping metal track like You Got Another Thing Comin’!
On this level with ties to a heist, from Action Bank to the heist in the Archer episode, it speaks to those guarding the big score thinking that all’s well – until it isn’t. This surprise angle is further played in the episode with it being revealed that Archer has just woken up and that Lana’s buff fellow agent on the job is actually Cyril. Finally, Krieger, who loves his van and metal, has an album-like decal on the side that reads, “Screaming For Van-geance.”
Prisoner of Your Eyes
Ramping up as the culmination of Ti West’s very well-received X trilogy to pull in a superb supporting cast around Mia Goth’s central character, MaXXXine is all about Maxine vying to get her big break in feature film to become the star she’s always wanted to be.
While this taking place, she’s become the target of a killer, the Night Stalker, who’s systematically hunting her down through her accomplices. Rather than infusing some Judas Priest in a high-octane chase or action sequence, the much more somber opening of Prisoner of Your Eyes plays when it’s revealed that one of her close friends has become a victim of the Night Stalker.
The track plays while the rest goes silent. It speaks to her desire to stay with her friend after it’s revealed that he’s under the sheet, as well as how her being struck by the bright lights of fame have her trapped on her path, regardless of what it costs.
That said, the director said in a BFI interview to not look for subtext in the film.
In both Archer and MaXXXine, the creators have made the most of the metal mastery that is a Judas Priest song – and both of these happen to be drawn from the iconic Screaming for Vengeance album!
