* En anglais uniquement
Described by critics as melodramatic and bombastic,
the Mission nonetheless attracted a core audience of goth rock fans. The group 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 went on to produce a handful of U.K. hits, while critics found much of the record to be reminiscent of
Led Zeppelin and
Yes. Although the band toured extensively in the U.K. and America; Adams had to return home from the latter leg after suffering from exhaustion. Produced by
Led Zeppelin bassist
John Paul Jones, their second album 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 line-up 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. His first release to fall into this category was Bare, a
Hussey album largely made up of cover versions which appeared before the end of that year. Next, an album of outtakes from the God Is a Bullet sessions was issued in 2010, under the name Dum-Dum Bullets, before Curios -- an album of covers and original material -- appeared in 2011 under the
Hussey & Regan moniker, re-kindling
Hussey's creative relationship with the
All About Eve founder
Julianne Regan. For much of 2011 and 2012,
Hussey appeared live under
the Mission name in celebration of their 25th anniversary, and in September 2013, the band released a new album,
Brightest Light. Three years later they released their 11th studio album, the 12-string heavy
Another Fall from Grace, which
Hussey described as the "lost link between
the Sisters of Mercy's
First and Last and Always and
the Mission's own first album." ~ Steve Huey & James Wilkinson