Styx will release their 16th studio album. Titled Mission, it has an official release date of June 16, 2017. In classic Styx fashion, the album follows a story: the first mission to Mars. According to Styx,
The new music was created to reflect the viewpoint of the six-person crew enlisted for the maiden voyage of Khedive, the first entry in a new fleet of nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft underwritten by the Global Space Exploration Program (or GSEP, for short). The Khedive team consists of The Pilot, a fully hands-on, seat-of-the-pants born leader; a First Officer who serves as the team’s big-brother figure; an Engineer who is skeptical of every phase of the mission but remains confident in his own abilities to make the best of any technical situation; and a Top-Shelf Trio of science, astrophysics, and survivalist experts.
The band hits a milestone this year with the 40th anniversary of The Grand Illusion, their biggest selling album, and celebrates with the release of Mission. While the band has been working on the album for almost two years, they felt it was appropriate to release it this year to mark the 40th anniversary. Guitarist JY had this to say, “In the 40th anniversary year of our release of our biggest selling album of all time, GRAND ILLUSION, it just seemed truly appropriate to save our new studio album until this year. Needless to say, I’m very excited (styxworld.com).” Tommy Shaw shared his enthusiasm for the release as well when he spoke with Billboard Magazine. He said the band thought about their favorite era of the band’s incarnation and the time period with The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight stood out. They wanted to ensure that the album sounds, “…like the Styx everybody grew up with…(billboard.com).” If the album is anything like The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight, it’s definitely going to have fans not only reminiscing, but also rocking out.
The band has already released their first single off the album titled “Gone, Gone, Gone”.
(Styx “Gone, Gone, Gone” music video courtesy of Styx)
“Gone, Gone, Gone” is one of fourteen new songs on Mission. The full track list for Mission is as follows:
- Overture
- Gone Gone Gone
- Hundred Million Miles
- Trouble at the Big Show
- Locomotive
- Radio Silence
- The Greater Good
- Time May Bend
- Ten Thousand Ways
- The Red Storm
- All Systems Stable
- Khedive
- The Outpost
- Mission to Mars
If the entire album is anything like the first single, fans are going to be very happy.
Styx will release their latest album in June 2017. Focused on celebrating not only the 40th anniversary of their bestselling album, the band wanted to revisit their roots. Mission will give fans the Styx they came to love while also exploring a current trend. The release is available for preorder through retail outlets and StyxWorld.com.
~Jenna Jakes, WOGB
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