Album: A Sultan's Ransom by Cloven Hoof (1989)
Format: Album

Description: A Sultan's Ransom, released in 1989, is the third full-length studio album by the British heavy metal band Cloven Hoof. It is the last Cloven Hoof album to feature Andy Wood on guitar, due to contractual difficulties that forced the whole band itself to split up from 1990 to 2001. Music videos were made for the songs "Mad, Mad World" and "Highlander" (which are now included on the band's debut DVD release, A Sultan's Ransom – Video Archive, which also contains live footage of the band playing in 1989 at Lichfield Art Centre). 
A Sultan's Ransom was ranked number 442 in Rock Hard magazine's 2005 book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time and 24th at Metal Hammer's 2019 list of the 25 best power metal album of all time.

Artist Background: Cloven Hoof burst onto the NWOBHM scene with quite some flair, featuring outlandish stage costumes (heavy Kiss- style makeup, futuristic-looking clothing), and bearing the stage names of Air (Lee Payne), Water (David Potter), Fire (Steve Rounds), and Earth (Kevin Poutney). The music (on their debut EP) was well received, bearing a heavy, dark NWOBHM sound with a slightly spacey feel to it. Despite the initial good press and music, the buzz surrounding the band faded relatively quickly, though... Emerged in the 1970s era.

Music Scene: Emerged in the 1970s era.

Tags: 1980s, Album


A Sultan's Ransom, released in 1989, is the third full-length studio album by the British heavy metal band Cloven Hoof. It is the last Cloven Hoof album to feature Andy Wood on guitar, due to contractual difficulties that forced the whole band itself to split up from 1990 to 2001. Music videos were made for the songs "Mad, Mad World" and "Highlander" (which are now included on the band's debut DVD release, A Sultan's Ransom – Video Archive, which also contains live footage of the band playing in 1989 at Lichfield Art Centre). 
A Sultan's Ransom was ranked number 442 in Rock Hard magazine's 2005 book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time and 24th at Metal Hammer's 2019 list of the 25 best power metal album of all time.

A Sultan's Ransom

Cloven Hoof

Track List

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