The Mission (Styx album)
2017 studio album by Styx
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The Mission is the sixteenth studio album by American rock band Styx, released on June 16, 2017, through UMe.[3] It is the band's first studio album since 2005's Big Bang Theory and their first release of original material since 2003's Cyclorama. The album reached #45 on the Billboard 200, propelled by pre-sales prior to its official release date, but fell off the chart after 2 weeks. U.S. Sales were approximately 15,000 copies, the album did briefly reach the Top 100 in four countries. The concept album tells the story of a mission to the planet Mars in the year 2033.[3] The album's story was written by Tommy Shaw and Will Evankovich. Evankovich played a significant role, serving as producer and co-writing all but one of the full length tracks.
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| The Mission | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 16, 2017 | |||
| Recorded | 2015–2017 | |||
| Studio | Blackbird Studio, The Shop, 6 Studio Amontillado, Nashville, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 42:00 | |||
| Label | UMe | |||
| Producer | Will Evankovich | |||
| Styx chronology | ||||
| ||||
The album was conceived in 2015 when Tommy Shaw composed the guitar riff that became the record's closing track, "Mission to Mars". The first lines Shaw wrote were "Now we can say it / This is the day / We'll be on our way / On our mission to Mars". The story was then formed around this idea.
Styx announced the album in conjunction with the release of the lead single "Gone Gone Gone", while "Radio Silence" and "Hundred Million Miles from Home" were later made available prior to the album's release. The LP was expanded in 2018 and re-released in 5.1 surround sound (both DTS Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD) on a Blu-ray disc with visualizations for each song as well as a various music videos from the album and a "Making of the Mission" documentary.
Reception
The album was well received by AllMusic's Stephen Erlewine, awarding the release four out of five stars and considered it a return to form for the band. In his qualitative review, he emphasised the strength of the material harkening back to the band's late 70s material and Paradise Theatre album, despite not having Dennis DeYoung as the band's frontman.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Overture" | Tommy Shaw | Instrumental | 1:23 |
| 2. | "Gone Gone Gone" | Gowan | 2:07 | |
| 3. | "Hundred Million Miles from Home" |
| Shaw | 3:39 |
| 4. | "Trouble at the Big Show" |
|
| 2:30 |
| 5. | "Locomotive" |
| Shaw | 5:03 |
| 6. | "Radio Silence" |
| Shaw | 4:17 |
| 7. | "The Greater Good" |
|
| 4:10 |
| 8. | "Time May Bend" |
| Gowan | 2:30 |
| 9. | "Ten Thousand Ways" |
|
| 1:22 |
| 10. | "Red Storm" |
| Shaw | 6:04 |
| 11. | "All Systems Stable" |
| Shaw | 0:17 |
| 12. | "Khedive" |
|
| 2:04 |
| 13. | "The Outpost" |
| Gowan | 3:51 |
| 14. | "Mission to Mars" | Shaw | Shaw | 2:43 |
| Total length: | 42:00 | |||
Personnel
Styx
- Lawrence Gowan – vocals, piano, Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizers
- Tommy Shaw – vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin
- James "JY" Young – vocals, electric guitars
- Ricky Phillips – bass guitar
- Chuck Panozzo – bass guitar on "Hundred Million Miles from Home"
- Todd Sucherman – drums, percussion, waterphone
- Additional personnel
- Will Evankovich – additional synthesizers, guitars, sound effects
- Production
- Will Evankovich – production, engineering
- Alan Hertz – engineering
- Sean Badum – engineering
- JR Taylor – additional engineering
- Jim Scott – mixing
- Kevin Dean – assistant mixing engineer
- Derek Sharp – additional editing
- Richard Dudd – mastering
- Todd Gallopo – cover illustration, art direction & design
- Jason Powell – band photography
Charts
| Chart (2017) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums (Billboard)[4] | 56 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[5] | 49 |
| Scottish Albums (Official Charts)[6] | 98 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[7] | 34 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (Official Charts)[8] | 10 |
| US Billboard 200[9] | 45 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[10] | 9 |
| US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[11] | 22 |