Carved in Sand

Carved in Sand is the third regular studio album by The Mission, released in 1990. It reached number 7 in the UK Albums Chart, making it the second of two top ten albums and overall best-selling album in the band's career. Four singles were released from the album: "Butterfly on a Wheel" (number 12, January 1990), "Deliverance" (number 27, March 1990), "Into the Blue" (number 32, June 1990), and "Amelia", which was released in the United States. The band had invited members of its fan club to help select the tracks for the album.

A "companion" album with outtakes that were not included on Carved in Sand - entitled Grains of Sand - was released in November the same year.

A deluxe two-disc edition of the album was released in February 2008. It included outtakes, the album Grains of Sand and some live cover songs from the 1970s, performed under the name The Metal Gurus (a reference to the song "Metal Guru" by T. Rex, which was one of the tracks covered).

Carved in Sand marked the return of Tim Palmer as producer. The album was recorded at Jacobs Studios and mixed at Swanyard Studios.