Alpha Dog 2T/UMeStyx is inviting fans to come sail away with them on a new musical mission. The veteran rockers will release their first album of original songs in 14 years, titled The Mission, on June 16.
Following in the tradition of such memorable Styx records as Paradise Theatre and Kilroy Was Here, the new release is a concept album, telling the story of the first manned voyage to the planet Mars in the year 2033.
The fictional sci-fi tale casts Styx’s members — singer/guitarists Tommy Shaw and James “J.Y.” Young, singer/keyboardist Lawrence Gowan, drummer Todd Sucherman and bassists Ricky Phillips and Chuck Panozzo — as the crew of a nuclear-powered spacecraft named the Khedive, and follows their adventures as they try to reach the red planet.
“The planets truly aligned for The Mission, and I couldn’t be prouder,” says Shaw, who created the album’s storyline with his frequent collaborator Will Evankovich. “It’s our boldest, most emblematic album since [1978’s] Pieces of Eight.”
Coinciding with the album’s details being announced on Friday, Styx has released the first single, “Gone Gone Gone,” a driving, prog-rock-flavored tune reminiscent of the band’s late-’70s work, as well as that of Queen.
The track can be purchased as a download and is available via various streaming services. In addition, a video for the song, showing the band performing the tune at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, has premiered online. You can watch the clip at Styx’s official VEVO YouTube channel.
The Mission can be pre-ordered now at various online music sellers. It will be available as a CD, a vinyl LP and digitally.
Here is the full track list of the album:
“Overture”
“Gone Gone Gone”
“Hundred Million Miles from Home”
“Trouble at the Big Show”
“Locomotive”
“Radio Silence”
“The Greater Good”
“Time May Bend”
“Ten Thousand Ways to Be Wrong”
“Red Storm”
“All Systems Stable”
“Khedive”
“The Outpost”
“Mission to Mars”
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
