Play it Again, Sam #1a - "Kingdom Come"

Tweet

It seems like eons ago, but it was just a few months back, while I was laid up in a VA hospital with a bad case of the flu, that I devised Play it Again, Sam, a daily two part discussion consisting of an original song followed by a cover of that song. I stopped at 50 songs, did them at random, and took way too many breaks. Finally, here we are at the finish. We are at #1a, the "original:" "Kingdom Come," by my favorite band, The Mission. Despite a few bouts of wild inconsistency, numerous lineup changes, and more than a few attempts to end the band, The Mission (known as The Mission UK here in the United States) is still at it, although the fanbase has long since lost the bandwagon jumpers. Only we hardcore fans remain. Anyway, in 1988, when it was time to record their 3rd (2nd actual studio) album, the band's original lineup - vocalist/guitarist Wayne Hussey, bassist Craig Adams (both of whom had left The Sisters of Mercy to form The Mission,) guitarist Simon Hinkler, and drummer Mick Brown - went into the studio with producer John Paul Jones (whom you better know as the bassist for Led Zeppelin,) and made what is widely regarded as their best album, Children (hell, even the Mission-hating folks at Trouser Press grudgingly called it "semi-listenable.") I often describe The Mission as an arena rock band trapped in a goth band's body (critics, such as those at Trouser Press, use words such as "bombastic," "pretentious," and worse,) and "Kingdom Come" does it's best to try to straddle the two. The song was slated to be the third single from the album, but instead was released as a promotional-only copy. A video was made, in which Hussey wanted to ride his new motorcycle, only, due to insurance reasons, he was required to wear a helmet, which kind of put a damper on the group's goth image. Still, it's not as big a mess as it might seem. In fact, "Kingdom Come" remains a favorite among those of us that have stuck around. When I started this series, I promised a few curveballs. Stay tuned! (Info verified by Wikipedia)