Ransom was started in the mid-eighties as First Aid by bassist Michael Ciado and vocalist Lisa Faxon. The band changed names and produced a 3 song demo in 1988 as Ransom. Shortly after that Intense Records signed them and this is the result. Ransom was one of the few Christian metal bands with a female singer so they stood out on that front. The album has a strong commercial metal sound and is actually quite heavy with ballads which was odd in this genre at the time. I believe that generally ballads were put on albums because that’s what you’re supposed to do. Ransom however actually seemed to like ballads and put more effort into them. As for the album it’s very well produced and all the instrumentation is really good. Songwriting is a little weak at times but this is a first album so that’s not uncommon. Personally I rank it a little better than most reviews of the time but I have always preferred my metal with a commercial slant. The album was re-mastered and re-issued on Intense Millennium Records in 2011 and they included the 3 tracks from their demo as a bonus. I have read that the drummer listed as Randy Kantor was actually Joseph Galletta from Shout but I can’t actually confirm this and there’s some confusion on the issue on different web sites.
Tracklist
1 – Lasting Love – 4:26
2 – Rumors – 4:22
3 – Memories Of You – 3:18
4 – Fool That I Am – 4:26
5 – Break Into Darkness – 3:01
6 – Tonight – 4:17
7 – Etched In Stone – 3:42
8 – Fallen Angel – 5:07
9 – Your Broken Heart – 3:56
10 – I’ll Never Leave You – 4:31
11 – When I Die – 2:44
Credits
Art Direction, Design – Ed Mctaggart
Backing Vocals [Additional] – J.J. Honeycutt, Michael Jolly, Steve Manning
Backing Vocals [Additional], Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Doug Beiden
Backing Vocals [Additional], Keyboards [Additional] – Jim Morris
Bass, Backing Vocals – Michael Ciado
Drums – Randy Kantor
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Tony Ortiz
Keyboards – Brent Jeffers (tracks: 6)
Mastered By – John Matousek
Photography By – Michael Seeley
Producer, Engineer, Keyboards [Additional Musician] – Jim Morris
Technician [Technical Director] – Tracy Henry
Vocals, Backing Vocals – Lisa Faxon
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Intense Records (10)
Copyright (c) – Intense Records (10)
Recorded At – Mixing Lab A
Mixed At – Mixing Lab A
Recorded At – Mixing Lab B
Mixed At – Mixing Lab B
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
Mastered At – Soundworks West
