The Mission - Masque (1992) [Phonogram, 512 121-2]

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The Mission - Masque (1992) [Phonogram, 512 121-2]

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It's not just that the Mission changed their sound, it's that they changed it numerous times on one album. For bands in the goth-pop genre, 1992 was kind of the breaking point: in England, shoegazer and baggy had changed everything, and in the U.S., Nirvana and grunge added a whole new barrier to Brits trying to break into the States. Some acts like All About Eve tried shoegazer, and to a certain degree, it worked, while others would embrace their Englishness full-on or would turn to America and turn up the angst. The Mission, for some strange reason, went for a little bit of everything. "Never Again," the opener on Masque, sounds like the Mission really trying to go big-league '90s U2-Achtung Baby style, but ending up a bit more like a dance remix of themselves than a multi-styled stadium filler. "You Make Me Breathe" sounds like Cure-with-sax adult contemporary, and "She Conjures Me Wings" and "Who Will Love Me Tomorrow?" are reminiscent of the Wonder Stuff, those Carved in Sand tour openers who had made a big impact on the U.K. charts in 1991. Some of it ("Spider and the Fly," "Shades of Green," and "Even You May Shine") is classic Mission and definitely worth hearing, and "Like a Child Again" is a rather killer pop melody à la "Hands Across the Ocean" from Grains of Sand. It's admirable that Wayne Hussey wanted to broaden the sound of his band, but that's just not his specialty. He was always at his best when he was dramatic, over the top, and overwrought without a thought or concern as to what anyone thought. On Masque, the Mission suddenly sound like a band with an identity crisis (and given the sudden departure of guitarist Simon Hinkler on the U.S. leg of the Deliverance tour, this is no real surprise). If it seems odd that the focus is on the leader and not the band, well, this was originally meant to be Hussey's first solo outing, and given the lack of response the album engendered, it may well have been a better idea to release it as just that – because this doesn't sound like the Mission, but rather like a band trying to find its direction.

~ Chris True

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The Mission - Masque (1992) [Phonogram, 512 121-2]

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The Mission:

Formed: 1986, Leeds, England
Genres: Rock
Representative Albums: "Sum and Substance", "Salad Daze (The BBC Radio 1 Sessions)", "Resurrection: Greatest Hits"
Representative Songs: "Tower of Strength", "Wasteland", "Deliverance"

Derided by critics as pompous, melodramatic, and bombastic, the Mission, as they were known in their native U.K. (their name had to be changed in America owing to a Philadelphia R&B band with the same moniker), nonetheless attracted a core audience of goth rock fans. The Mission was formed in 1986 by guitarist/singer Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams, who both left the Sisters of Mercy to do so. (Hussey had also played with the Walkie Talkies and Dead or Alive.) The two recruited Artery guitarist Simon Hinkler and former Red Lorry Yellow Lorry drummer Mick Brown and called themselves the Sisterhood, to which Sisters of Mercy leader Andrew Eldritch objected strenuously. The Mission released two successful independent singles in the U.K. and signed to Mercury in 1986. The group soon completed its debut album, God's Own Medicine, which critics lambasted as ponderous and derivative of Led Zeppelin and Yes, but the album produced several U.K. hits anyway. The band toured extensively in the U.K. and America; Adams had to return home from the latter after suffering from exhaustion. Produced by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, Children widened the band's audience, reaching number two on the U.K. album charts. 1990's Carved in Sand shed some of the Mission's Zep fascination for more refined songwriting. Hinkler left the band midway through the supporting tour and was eventually replaced permanently by Paul Etchells. Meanwhile, several Mission members backed Slade members Noddy Holder and Jim Lea on the Christmas charity single "Merry Xmas Everybody." By 1992, Hussey was the only original member left; following the 1994 Sum and Substance retrospective, he recorded the 1995 album Neverland with a new Mission lineup. Blue followed a year later, with the greatest-hits retrospective Resurrection appearing in fall 1999. The 2001 album Aura was followed by a world tour that slowly saw the new lineup dissolving. By the time God Is a Bullet arrived courtesy of the 2007 version of the band, Hussey was living in Brazil. He announced that the Mission would actively promote the album through early 2008, after which he would be focusing on solo work.

~ Steve Huey

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The Mission - Masque (1992) [Phonogram, 512 121-2]

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The Mission - Masque (1992) [Phonogram, 512 121-2]

Close