The Mission is Styx’s first studio album in 14 years.
Classic rock mainstay Styx spent two years in the studio with one mission in mind: to record The Mission, its first studio record in 14 years. Released in June, the 43-minute concept album envisions the first manned space flight to Mars in 2033, meshing together the hooky pop sound found in many of the band’s biggest hits with the prog-rock chops that helped garner some of its earliest fans.
The Mission finds the band both looking forward, with new music and a strong message, but also backwards, revisiting not only its raison d’etre—the concept album—but likewise the way those records used to be made, recorded to analog tape in a well-equipped, big-budget facility.
Here, Pro Sound News exclusively premieres Styx guitarist/singer Tommy Shaw, producer Will Evankovich and studio owner John McBride discussing how they recorded The Mission as an analog production at Blackbird Studio in Nashville.
The Mission on Amazon
