the mission

There are some bands that I feel that somehow I kind of shouldn't like, but I just do, I can't help it. One such is The Mission, specifically the stuff that Wayne Hussey and the band released in the second half of the 1980s. Rob, I know you love this stuff too.

 

With most of the Mission coming out of the Sisters Of Mercy after a very acrimonious split in 1985, they seemed to arrive fully formed, the ultimate Goth band. But they also knew how to craft decent songs, and all too frequently the image got too much attention when it's really the songs that are so good.  

 

Early tracks like “Wasteland” and the lovely “Severina” are simply cracking pop songs, and aren’t all that OTT either (though the video to “Wasteland” is surely the most Goth video ever - Wayne and the boys in big black hats, long black coats, standing on the top of Glastonbury Tor being blown by the winds.)  There are misfires – such as a cover of “Like A Hurricane” which doesn’t work at all. It’s just horrid. And when the Mish try to do ballads, they frequently seem to try way too hard and it all sounds a bit ridiculous rather than tender.

 

In fact, some of this stuff is absurdly overwrought, so massively bombastic that it’s almost laughable. But… in amongst the huge choruses and overdriven guitars and Wayne’s anguished cries of “Angel chy-uld” there’s actually some terrific songs too. And when the Mish dial it all down a tad, they are far more effective than when they are the Huge Shouty Mish. 

 

So, fun though a mad track like “Deliverance” is (and it is terrifically good fun actually), even better is a more low-key piece like the truly excellent “Butterfly On A Wheel” which stays moody and melancholy throughout and tries to be the Mish’s version of “With Or Without You”. Or there’s the b side track “Bird Of Passage” which is dominated by some great piano, and has a lengthy conclusion that is exactly like Roxy’s “Song For Europe”. 

 

All through their songs, there’s a strong sense that they knew exactly what they were doing, and that they knew that it was often all rather silly. In 1989 they actually toured as their own support act, playing a set of Glam classics as the Metal Gurus before switching back to the black and the big hats and the dry ice, coming back on stage as the Mission to play massive gloomfests like “Beyond The Pale” or “Tower Of Strength” – songs that are at least twice as long as they need to be, and contain more bombast than is good for anyone. 

 

Yet, though many of these songs are frequently doomy on the surface, most of the Mish’s best tracks are also neatly catchy, with clever hooks galore and great singalong, punch the air, choruses. This was a band who knew their market, who knew how to give the audience a great show, and how to really involve the crowd in their gigs. And that, surely, is the mark of a great band.