History Music / TheMissionUK

The Mission UK is a GothRock band formed in the UK (where they are simply known as "The Mission"- the "UK" was added by the American record label to avoid lawsuits from another group by that name) in 1986. Frontman/guitarist Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams, the two founding members, had notably both been members of Music/TheSistersOfMercy- Hussey had joined in 1984 and played on the "Body and Soul" single and the ''First And Last And Always'' album, with his 12-string guitar sound helping to define that era of the band's music, while Adams had been a member of the Sisters practically from the beginning. Hussey had also been in an early version of Dead Or Alive ([[OneHitWonder best known for]] 80s Pop Hit "You Spin Me 'Right Round"), oddly enough. Both left in '86, when Sisters bandleader Andrew Eldritch's refusal to record Hussey's songs led him and Adams to start their own group.

That group was the The Mission (originally named The Sisterhood, but Eldritch thought that was too similar to his band's name, so he took The Sisterhood name for a project of his own). The duo added guitarist and keyboard player Simon Hinkler (formerly of pre-fame Music/{{Pulp}}, oddly enough) and got to work. After recording a few singles with a drum machine (much in the vein of The Sisters of Mercy's previous work), the band recruited a live drummer (one who had previously played with another seminal Goth band, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, to boot) and set about attempting to one-up their former employers. The rest is GothRock history.

The band's peak years were the period from '87-'91 (not-so-coincidentally, the band's success started to dry up the year [[Music/{{Nirvana}} a certain American band]] changed the rules regarding AlternativeRock forever), during which they released four studio albums and a collection of their earliest singles, went on several HUGE tours and generally lived the SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll to the fullest extent possible (this is not an exaggeration- at their peak, they were well-known for their debauched off-stage behavior, and several band members had collapsed onstage from drug-related health problems). They also managed to get [[Music/LedZeppelin John Paul Jones]] to produce their second album, ''Children''- appropriate, since The Mission always had distinct Classic Rock influences, unlike many other GothRock bands. During this period Hussey and Eldritch regularly baited each other both in song lyrics and in the press (The Sisters' "This Corrosion" in particular is an attack on Wayne Hussey). Basically, it was the Goth equivalent of the Music/{{Metallica}} vs. Music/{{Megadeth}} rivalry that existed around the same time. Much later, Hussey and Eldritch would patch things up, even touring and performing at festivals together and covering each other's songs.

Their success started to dry up after the twin tides of {{Grunge}} and the Rave scene made GothRock a lot less profitable, and after a failed NewSoundAlbum (1992's ''Masque'', originally intended to be Hussey solo album before ExecutiveMeddling intervened) and a short-lived, half-hearted return to their signature sound, the band broke up in 1996. The band eventually reformed (minus almost everyone but Hussey) in 1999, and have been together in various configurations ever since, minus a short hiatus from '08-'11. They show no signs of stopping, and their place in GothRock history is very much secure. Much like Music/{{Megadeth}}, these guys are proof that musical rivalries can produce positive results on occasion.
----

!!Primary Discography:
* ''God's Own Medicine'' (1986)
* ''The First Chapter'' (1987) (actually a collection of their pre-''God's Own Medicine'' singles)
* ''Children'' (1988)
* ''Carved In Sand'' (1990)
* ''Grains Of Sand'' (1990) (actually consists of B-sides and leftovers from the ''Carved In Sand'' sessions; the two together are basically a DistinctDoubleAlbum)
* ''[[NewSoundAlbum Masque]]'' (1992)
* ''Neverland'' (1995)
* ''[[OldShame Blue]]'' (1996)
* ''Aura'' (2001)
* ''God Is A Bullet'' (2007)
* ''Dum Dum Bullet'' (2010) (Another outtakes collection, this one from ''God Is A Bullet'')
* ''The Brightest Light'' (2013)
----

!!Associated Tropes:

* AbusiveParents: "Amelia" is about this. It's also the opening song off ''Carved In Sand'', which may be a little off-putting for some...
* TheEighties
* EpicInstrumentalOpener: "Beyond The Pale", from ''Children'', has one of the longest fade-ins in Rock history, and one that gets pretty awesome by the time it ends.
* EpicRocking: Pretty frequently. Some good examples are the extended versions of "The Crystal Ocean" and [[Music/NeilYoung "Like A Hurricane"]], "Beyond The Pale", "Tower Of Strength", "Hymn (For America)", "Belief", "Bird Of Passage", "Afterglow (reprise)", "Daddy's Going To Heaven Now" (which is a staggering 11:08!), "Cocoon", "In Denial", 'Grotesque", "Black Cat Bone", "Swan Song" and "Litany For The Faithful". ''God's Own Medicine'' and ''Blue'' have the distinction of being the only records of theirs ''not'' to contain any songs over 6 minutes long.
* {{Goth}}
* GothRock: One of the key examples back in TheEighties, albeit more HardRock and PsychedelicRock influenced than most.
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Could be anywhere from a 1 to a borderline 6. 4-5 was more typical for them, though. Notably, they had a fair amount of HardRock influence in their music.
* NewAgeRetroHippie: Wayne always had shades this going on, both in his lyrics and in his overall image.
* NewSoundAlbum: ''Masque'' was a partial one which saw them trying to jump on both the Rave-influenced AlternativeDance bandwagon (think Music/{{U2}} circa ''Music/AchtungBaby'' and you'll get what they were going for) on some tracks and a rawer IndieRock sound on others. It notably didn't work out, and the band tried to go back to their previous sound on their next record. In all fairness, it was never supposed to be a Mission album in the first place.
** To a significantly lesser extent, ''Children'', with its increased Classic Rock influence and the heavier sound courtesy of [[Music/LedZeppelin John Paul Jones]] producing.
* PowerBallad: "Butterfly On A Wheel", full stop. "Tower Of Strength" is another, albeit somewhat stranger, example.
* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: Unusually for a band as associated with Goth as this one, they were very well-known for this back in the day.
* StartMyOwn: What does Wayne Hussey do when can't get his songs to be recorded or played by The Sisters Of Mercy? Leave and start The Mission, that's what...
* WordSaladLyrics: A key part of why Andrew Eldritch didn't want to perform Hussey's songs. While not universal, there are enough cases of it to make it clear that [[VillainHasAPoint he may have had a point]].
----

The band's peak years were the period from '87-'91 (not-so-coincidentally, the band's success started to dry up the year [[Music/{{Nirvana}} a certain American band]] changed the rules regarding AlternativeRock forever), during which they released four studio albums and a collection of their earliest singles, went on several HUGE tours and generally lived the SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll to the fullest extent possible (this is not an exaggeration- at their peak, they were well-known for their debauched off-stage behavior, and several band members had collapsed onstage from drug-related health problems). They also managed to get [[Music/LedZeppelin John Paul Jones]] to produce their second album, ''Children''- appropriate, since The Mission always had distinct Classic Rock influences, unlike many other GothRock bands. During this period Hussey and Eldritch regularly baited each other both in song lyrics and in the press (The Sisters' "This Corrosion" in particular is an attack on Wayne Hussey). Basically, it was the Goth equivalent of the Music/{{Metallica}} vs. Music/{{Megadeth}} rivalry that existed around the same time. Much later, Hussey and Eldritch would patch things up, even touring and performing at festivals together.

* CreatorBacklash: Hussey HATES ''Blue'', and "Evermore & Again" is the only tune from it to occasionally get played live these days.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The only reason ''Masque'' got released as one of theirs and not a Wayne Hussey solo album is this (some band members played on it as session musicians, and the label didn't think a Hussey solo album was a good idea).
** The "UK" appended to their name in America is also one, as the label wanted to avoid lawsuits from another group named "The Mission".

* OldShame: Hussey feels ''Blue'' is this. Most fans agree.

* [[NewSoundAlbum ''Masque'']] (1992)

* [[OldShame ''Blue'']] (1996)