A Sultan's Ransom
A Sultan's Ransom is the third full-length studio album by British metal band Cloven Hoof, released in 1989. It was recorded at Mad Hat Studios in Wolverhampton, UK, and features power metal and heavy metal. The album runs 44 minutes and 8 seconds and was released on the FM Revolver label, produced by Cloven Hoof. This was the last Cloven Hoof album to feature guitarist Andy Wood, because contractual difficulties led the band to split up from 1990 to 2001.
Two music videos were made for songs from the album: "Mad, Mad World" and "Highlander." These videos appear on the band's debut DVD, A Sultan's Ransom – Video Archive, which also includes live footage from a 1989 show at the Lichfield Art Centre.
A Sultan's Ransom has been recognized in metal rankings, coming in at No. 442 in Rock Hard magazine's 2005 book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time, and No. 24 in Metal Hammer's 2019 list of the 25 best power metal albums of all time.
In Cloven Hoof's discography, the album sits after Dominator (1988) and before Eye of the Sun (2006).
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:14 (CET).