The Mission by Styx (Universal Music Enterprises)

The Mission by Styx (Universal Music Enterprises)

Stardate 2017: The legendary Styx has launched a brand new recording and it’s out of this world! It’s been 14 years since the last studio album, and now Styx has returned with a masterwork destined to send their longtime fans and newer crew enlistees into the stratosphere. The Mission is their sixteenth studio endeavor – a wondrously ambitious concept album about taking flight to the mysterious planet of Mars.  The tapestries found within The Mission show the long running band unleashing some of their finest music to date. Many of the songs compare exceedingly well to the radio classics of yore. The story found within the 45-minute confines of The Mission is as emotional as it is epic – presenting the desolate and dangerous journey away from the semi-civilized Earth into the perils of the great unknown.

The thrill ride commences with a sweeping Overture followed by the liftoff parade of Gone Gone Gone. Then we have the superbly multi-layered Hundred Million Miles, a track of wildly cosmic proportions clearly showing that Styx can still write the massive radio hits with a ferocious sense of urgency. Another track that should absolutely mesmerize Styx fans of all ages is the gloriously haunting Radio Silence, filled with darkness and intrigue while sounding like a song you’d hear all over the classic rock radio airwaves. The entire 14 track adventure is sure to excite the senses of rockers and rocketeers all over the planet and well beyond, with songs such as Locomotive, The Greater Good, and The Red Storm moving the story along at a fascinating pace. When the final one two punch of The Outpost and Mission To Mars arrives, the climax of the album is absolutely devastating.

The Mission is performed with a captivating amount of skill and precision, featuring the wondrously imaginative contributions of Tommy Shaw on guitar and vocals, James “JY” Young on guitar and vocals, Lawrence Gowan on keyboard and vocals, Chuck Panozzo on bass, Todd Sucherman on drums and percussion, and additional low end action by bassist Ricky Phillips. The entire Styx membership is ready to take you on an auditory odyssey beyond the stars, and The Mission is the spectacular trip that all music aficionados will want to experience time and again! The Mission is the next great chapter to the almighty Styx rock and roll legacy, and its thrilling intergalactic reverberations are not to be missed!

(Review by Ken Morton)

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