Album 4: Songs From the Silicon Heart

Originally, we were not going to do this album.  It really was not needed to explain how the spacecraft got into space (we could have just done a song convincing the aliens, and moved on).  However, in reality this was a grueling ordeal.  The aliens were not quick to give up on their “Outside View” of how it was working on Earth.  So, there was considerable time and many songs put together to convince them.

SuperStar was so struck by the amount of effort that it took to succeed; he would not hear of just glossing over it.  Though we could not put all the songs on, each spacecraft could choose one that they wanted included.  This ended up being a great idea as this is probably our best album to date.  These songs were from the heart (so that helped) and they did not have to fit some story theme.  This allowed them to be open and address the topics directly.  This was basically unformulated making of music (something we want to get back to after we close out the story in the next album).

Note, that even though we had the debate about voices at the end of the last album, we did not have the VT-4 in place, so I just sang for each of them with my voice in this one.

Songs From the Silicon Heart 

We wanted to open the album with a calming song describing what we were about to do.  Once done, we figured it would just become the title track of the album.  Basically, the spacecraft had been watching Earth, and impressed by all the people, and they were going to bring those stories to the aliens to convince them that Earth was good.  Interestingly, this is the only song we had covered to date (Fencing Marlins made a YouTube video of this song with some interesting artwork of the spacecraft). 

  Aging Skill – SuperStars Song

We decided to just put each of their songs into the album in launch order (notice we do a lot in this order).  This song really fit SuperStar and it was no surprise that he chose one like this.  It is about making the most out of yourself.  However, Superstar decided to address the concern about the humans being filled with hear directly.  Pointing out that there is definitely fear, there will always be, but it is not the driving force, but a fear of losing what is the real drive.  This was a subtle distinguishment that the aliens were missing.

Best Day Rewind - Flashes Song

Another song fits the author to a T.  Yes it is a pop song, using the 4 chords of music and yes the topic is love and togetherness.   Flash wanted to include fun things (like the arpeggios and the rewinds).  This is what Flash sees when he looks at Earth.  He sees the couples in love, people just sharing time and experiences with each other.  Though he did not tackle the fear concept directly, he wanted to show that human’s strongest emotion is love, not fear.  In fact the way the song ended, with the stop repeating, letting the love continue to grow, not being afraid and trying to hold it without growth.

The Red Piano – DarkStars Song

DarkStar is always fascinated by the struggle.  That is why he takes a more intellectual approach to things.  There are obstacles and problems, but there are work arounds.  Everyone wants the same thing.  Life finds a way, deep down everyone just wants to keep moving.  In this case, he spotted a red piano that had been part of teaching a family some music.  He enjoyed that.  He might not have ever become a great concert piano, but he tried, and he did bring music to the family.  We through in the beginning piano type pieces to demonstrate this.

This ended up being the most important song (as the aliens let us know later).  The aliens were impressed that humans could create things like the spacecraft, that were obviously imprinted with personality etc, but when they heard this they realized that those things could even see this imprinting on other items.  There are species in space that can imprint themselves onto other items, but they are few and far between.  If the humans were one of these, they could not be destroyed.

Judgement

Well after that performance, what would be expected.  The aliens decide to spare the Earth.  They came out in a sort of party parade to bring the news.  Hence the sound.  Part formal procession, but with some stranger elements (it was sorta a strange sight, the aliens do not party like most of us).

What was not expected, and the reason we needed to make this album, was the upgrades they received.  With these, they would be able to travel the cosmos and experience life themselves (after spending so long just watching it.  Now it will make sense when we do a piece about some galaxy that the spacecraft never should have been able to get to (but with the upgrades it is easy). 

We always thought there were a lot of songs that were performed for the aliens that deserved to get released.  So, there will be a Songs From the Silicon Heart 2 (and maybe a 3 and 4) at some point.  However, that is backburnered for right now.  We need to finish the next album (Planet AI) to close the story part for now.  That is on me, there are a lot (too many) vocals on this album, and I have not been up to it.  I am feeling a bit better lately, so I will need to get back to it.

Then after that, we want to get into what we want to do mainly.  That is bring the listener to space with us.  Try to get the listener on Earth to get the same experience the other species get in space (it will not be fully the same experience, as a lot of that is psychic, but as close as possible. 

Next up Intergalactic Road Trip