Fontana Int'l
1988
Children
About This Album
Most bands usually wait two or three albums before the "big statement," but this is the Mission. Sure, their debut was well received (at least by fans and record buyers) and was full of big, dramatic moments and over the top production, but nothing would equal the band's reach on its follow-up, Children. Kicking off with one of the longest fade-ins in rock history, Children is a sprawling (hell, to not call any album that starts out with a seven-plus-minute "intro" song sprawling is just wrong), larger-than-the-sum-of-its-parts affair, with multi-layered arrangements, numerous strings, vocals, guitars, and other instruments on every track, and a indescribable feel that just makes the album seem much longer than it really is. The rough edges are smoothed out, and Wayne Hussey's 12-string sounds cleaner and more shimmery than before. As for the songs themselves, the singles "Tower of Strength" and "Kingdom Come" obviously stand out, but "Fabienne," "Heat," "Child's Play," and "Wing and a Prayer" still rock (albeit in a rather buried-in-production kind of way) and "Black Mountain Mist" has an unmistakable Led Zeppelin feel.
Track List (try tracks 2,3,8,10 and 11)

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