Welcome one and all to The Mission, Styx’s sonically sweet 16th studio album and its most ambitious, most challenging, and most rewarding release to date. Please take note of the official stardate, as The Mission has duly been set for liftoff June 16th on the band’s label, Alpha Dog 2T/UMe. Fans can pre-order the album at any of these online retail outlets and Styxworld.com.
The first single, Gone Gone Gone, was released today at radio and online retail outlets. A video premiered on Billboard.com and can be seen below.
The planets truly aligned for The Mission, and I couldn’t be prouder,” says vocalist/guitarist Tommy Shaw, who co-wrote the album’s storyline with longtime collaborator Will Evankovich (Shaw/Blades, The Guess Who). “It’s our boldest, most emblematic album since Pieces Of Eight.”
As founding guitarist James “JY” Young continues, “In the 40th anniversary year of our release of our biggest selling album of all time, Grand Illusion, it just seemed truly appropriate to save our new studio album until this year. Needless to say, I’m very excited.”
Indeed, The Mission is an aurally adventurous 43-minute thrill ride that chronicles the trials, tribulations, and ultimate triumphs of the first manned mission to Mars in the year 2033. From the hopeful drive of Gone Gone Gone to the stargazing machinations of Locomotive to the rough-riding blaze of glory that permeates the hard-charging Red Storm to the elegiac optimism of the closing track Mission to Mars, the album succeeds in delivering the greater good from a band that continues to fire on all cylinders, 45 years after signing its first recording contract.
“The album feels simultaneously comfortable and new,” observes Gowan. “It’s both entertaining and charming, and a natural progression of our sound.” Concludes Panozzo, “THE MISSION is a sincere and honest representation of how Styx built upon where we were in the 20th century in order to go somewhere new in the 21st century.” And that’s the gist of The Mission, Styx’s bold sonic voyage into an exciting new frontier with the goal of discovering how the universe’s mysteries unfold—and then creating the perfect soundtrack to accompany it.
Track listing for The Mission:
CD/Digital:
1. Overture
2. Gone Gone Gone
3. Hundred Million Miles from Home
4. Trouble at the Big Show
5. Locomotive
6. Radio Silence
7. The Greater Good
8. Time May Bend
9. Ten Thousand Ways to Be Wrong
10. Red Storm
11. All Systems Stable
12. Khedive
13. The Outpost
14. Mission to Mars
Vinyl:
1. Overture (Side A)
2. Gone Gone Gone (Side A)
3. Hundred Million Miles from Home (Side A)
4. Trouble at the Big Show (Side A)
5. Locomotive (Side A)
6. Radio Silence (Side A)
7. The Greater Good (Side B)
8. Time May Bend (Side B)
9. Ten Thousand Ways to Be Wrong (Side B)
10. Red Storm (Side B)
11. All Systems Stable (Side B)
12. Khedive (Side B)
13. The Outpost (Side B)
14. Mission to Mars (Side B)
18 Responses
My first album ever was Grand Illusion. got it Christmas 1978, along with my first stereo. That album truly is an ‘air guitar’ masterpiece, for me anyway, some badass riffs on that record. Styx was at their peak on GI and Pieces Of Eight, with killer tracks from the predecessor’s(Lady, Suite Madame Blue, Light Up, Midnight Ride, Crystal Ball, The Serpent Is Rising(very cool tune)but not so much great albums. Actually Equinox is a pretty decent album overall. I have the first four albums on cd but have only listened to a few tracks, they were much more on the progressive and weird side in the early 70’s.
GRAND ILLUSION was one of my first albums, as well. It is a KILLER record, from start to finish! And PIECES OF EIGHT is also great. I moved to heavier music and sort of forgot about Styx for awhile, as they moved to a more pop style. But I went back and got EQUINOX and CRYSTAL BALL sometime later, and was surprised about how there definitely was some progressive elements on those albums. As I stated in an earlier post, Styx will always be a band that I can definitely get into. They write catchy tunes, are melodic, and have stood the test of time. Kudos to those guys!
IMO, from Equinox to Paradise Theatre, ’75 to ’81, Styx were “Superstars!” 😉
The solos on THE GRAND ILLUSION are some of the best in rock n’ roll history! Tommy Shaw’s & James “J.Y.” Young’s guitar work is just f–king amazing! All over the album!
Grand illusion was one of the albums I got free for joining those record clubs when I was a kid also got Bostons first album Kiss Dresses to Kill, Kiss and Rock and Roll Over and AQueen album. I really wore out that Styx album great album.
My goal in life is to replicate Dennis D Young’s brillo pad/powdered wig hair style.
That is an unrealistically high bar you’re setting for yourself…but good luck!
Oh on a off topic note Dana when’s that John Sykes album coming out
Charles,
I wish I knew.
D 🙂