The Mission

Critics labeled the Mission melodramatic and bombastic, yet the band cultivated a devoted following among goth rock enthusiasts. Guitarist and vocalist Wayne Hussey, previously a member of the Walkie Talkies and Dead or Alive, joined forces with bassist Craig Adams in 1986 after both departed the Sisters of Mercy to launch the new group. They enlisted Artery guitarist Simon Hinkler and ex-Red Lorry Yellow Lorry drummer Mick Brown, initially adopting the name the Sisterhood—an choice that provoked vehement protest from Sisters of Mercy frontman Andrew Eldritch. Two well-received independent singles issued in the United Kingdom paved the way for a 1986 contract with Mercury Records. Their debut full-length, God’s Own Medicine, yielded several domestic chart entries, though reviewers noted stylistic echoes of Led Zeppelin and Yes throughout the recording. While the quartet maintained a rigorous touring schedule across Britain and the United States, exhaustion forced Adams to withdraw midway through the American dates. Their sophomore effort, Children, produced by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, broadened their reach and climbed to number two on the British album chart. Carved in Sand, released in 1990, moved away from overt Led Zeppelin references toward more polished compositions. Hinkler exited during the ensuing tour and was ultimately succeeded by Paul Etchells. Around the same period, several Mission members contributed to the Slade-related Christmas charity single “Merry Xmas Everybody,” featuring Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. By 1992 only Hussey remained from the original lineup. Following the 1994 retrospective collection Sum and Substance, he assembled a fresh configuration and recorded the 1995 album Neverland. Blue appeared the following year, while the greatest-hits overview Resurrection surfaced in autumn 1999. The 2001 release Aura preceded an extensive world tour that gradually dissolved the existing roster. When God Is a Bullet arrived in 2007 from the band’s then-current incarnation, Hussey had already relocated to Brazil; he stated that the Mission would promote the record vigorously through early 2008 before he turned his attention to solo projects. That same year saw the release of Bare, a Hussey album consisting largely of cover versions. An assortment of outtakes from the God Is a Bullet sessions emerged in 2010 under the title Dum-Dum Bullets. In 2011 the Hussey & Regan project issued Curios, a set of both covers and original material that reunited Hussey with All About Eve founder Julianne Regan. Throughout 2011 and 2012 he performed live under the Mission banner to mark the group’s 25th anniversary, and in September 2013 the band delivered the album Brightest Light. Three years afterward they unveiled their eleventh studio album, the twelve-string-driven Another Fall from Grace, which Hussey characterized as “the lost link between the Sisters of Mercy’s First and Last and Always and the Mission’s own first album.”