It’s a real pleasure to fulfill this request; “Trouble In Paradise”, the debut album by RANSOM. This band was formed by experienced musicians Tommy Girvin (Lead Vocals, Guitar) & Don Cromwell (Bass, Keyboards), both having previously been part of Eddie Money’s band, Fiona Flanagan, Harlan Cage, and more. On drums we find excellent Ron Wikso (The Storm, Foreigner, David Lee Roth).
This is ”Trouble In Paradise [Japanese Edition +1]” CD, released in Japan by MTM as part of their “All Fired Up!” series, including a bonus track.
Simply put, this is one of the best Melodic Rock / AOR albums released in Nineties, and one of the best from the genre overall. Girvin & Cromwell didn’t care about the dark sounds coming from Seattle, and did this awesome late ’80s sounding platter full of melody.
Of course they didn’t find a label in America, but Europe still loved the genre, and MTM Records Germany released ‘Trouble In Paradise’ in 1997, a year after in Japan.
With songwriting contributions of experts Curt Cuomo, Fiona Flanagan and Marc Tanner, this is a very special album – while with a pretty AOR feeling in essence, fans of other rock genres where melody rule also will find a lot to enjoy in this CD. There’s many winning cards: Tommy Girvin’s voice is a gorgeous mix of John Waite and Van Stephenson.
The other was the perfect lyrical content for an AOR genre once memorably described as ‘music for those who have loved and lost’. The tone is set when the first song ‘Bring It On Home’ opens with a mournful guitar line and Tommy with a catch in his voice simpers ‘we were up all night on the telephone/and I heard the words you said/how you needed time, more time alone’.
There were more uptempo numbers like the Bad English-like title track and ‘Wounded By Love’, which would have sat comfortably on an Eddie Money album. Tommy had the raspiness of Bryan Adams on the latter and the comparison continued on the power ballad ‘Middle Of The Night’, which with its opening ‘yeah’ and big backing vocals, is like a less produced version of many of the songs on ‘Waking Up The Neighbours’.
However the standout cut is ‘Was it Worth Goodbye’, great AOR songwriting with power chords leading into a hook-filled chorus reminiscent of the late great Van Stephenson.
The second half of the album is somewhat mellower with the mid-pocket ‘Can You Fall In Love Again’ and ‘Long Hot Summer’ and the more hi-tech sounds of ‘Can’t Live Without Your Love’.
‘Can You Take The Heartache’ continues that recurring lyrical theme, but is actually one of the album’s rockier numbers, but Tommy sounds superb on the ballad ‘Let Tonight Be The Night We Remember’. It may sound formularised, with every note telegraphed, but these guys knew how to write to the template.
RANSOM released a second album, ‘Better Days‘, in 2010, but it passed everyone by, with a more ‘unpolished rockin’ style and not so strong songs.
From the perspective of a Millennium that has seen the revival of the genre’s popularity and a new generation come on board, albums like this are a reminder of an era when a select few kept the faith in AOR / Melodic Rock.
A cracking piece of textbook AOR done with finesse and style.
H I G H L Y Recommended
01 – Bring It On Home
02 – Trouble In Paradise
03 – Wounded By Love
04 – Middle Of The Night
05 – Good Lovin’ Gone Bad
06 – Was It Worth Goodbye
07 – Can You Fall In Love Again
08 – Can’t Live Without Your Love
09 – Long Hot Summer
10 – Can You Take The Heartache
11 – Let Tonight Be The Night We Remember
12 – In Love Again
13 – I Can’t Stay Away (Japanese Bonus Track)
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Tommy Girvin
Bass, Keyboards, Programming – Don Cromwell
Drums – Ron Wikso
Piano, Strings – Greg ‘Harpo’ Hiffman (tracks 11)
Backing Vocals – Maitland Ward
RANSOM – Trouble In Paradise [Japan Edition +1 bonus] (1998), MP3+FLAC
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