You've Got Another Thing Comin'

Album: Screaming For Vengeance (1982)
Charted: 66 67
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Songfacts®:

  • The ultimate YOLO song, "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" is one of Judas Priest's most popular tracks. Lead singer Rob Halford told Songfacts about the lyric:

    "Just this attitude that we've always had in Priest. And I dare say, we've always had in our personal way of dealing with issues that are sent to challenge us.

    One life, I'm going to live it up...
    If you think I'll sit around as the world goes by, you're thinking like a fool


    All this kind of stuff... You've Got Another Thing Coming.

    It's also wrapped up in the heavy metal community culture of the way we support each other with our metal. It's very much a song of hope and rising above the issues or difficulties that come your way. It's a song of resilience, as well."
  • Judas Priest wrote this song at session in Ibiza, Spain, and didn't think much of it. It wasn't until they came to Miami to continue work on the Screaming For Vengeance album that they felt its power, especially as a driving song. Released as the first single from the album, it made a very strong showing in America, where the British rockers were trying to break through. Many rock radio stations added it to their playlists, and the single sold well enough to earn the song placing on the Hot 100, peaking at #67. It's the only Judas Priest song ever to hit that chart.
  • Much of this song's American success owes to MTV, which went on the air a year earlier. Like many British acts, Judas Priest had a head start on music videos, and MTV gave some airplay to "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking The Law" when they went on the air in 1981. With their leather-and-studs look and songs filled with feral aggression, they were a great fit for the network, which jumped on "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

    Directed by Julien Temple, it was shot at Kempton Park Waterworks in London. The band performs the song amid a backdrop of smoke and lasers. When a functionary of some kind comes to shut them down, they blow his head off - Halford says the pyro guy really loaded up the mannequin with C4, so it was obliterated. Videos where authority figures are vanquished with the power of rock and roll did very well on MTV.
  • Honda used "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" in its 2012 campaign dubbed the "Honda Summer Clearance Event."

    Canadian telecommunications company Telus cranked up the metal vibes when the song soundtracked their 2023 ad, "That's. So. Metal." The campaign promoted Apple's iPhone 15 Pro, made with a metal (titanium) makeover.

Comments: 1

  • Dan Gillespy from Courtenay BcThat song was Judas Priest's biggest hit and it is a pure Heavy Metal classic.
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