Build And Destroy
Long before the first manmade satellite was launched into orbit, people dreamed of reaching the stars. When rockets were first conceived, the dream quickly emerged of using them to break out of the Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Despite setbacks along the way, that dream became a reality in the 1960s, culminating in the Apollo space program that launched the astronauts atop the gigantic and powerful Saturn V rocket enroute to multiple landings of men on the moon.
Decades later, the space program morphed into low orbit launches to the international space station for scientific research coupled with unmanned probes sent the other planets in out solar system. Now we are fascinated and amazed by the potential of AI (artificial intelligence) to entertain us and improve our lives right here on earth.
It seems that while we achieved many of our dreams, we also failed to accomplish many others. We built the moon program, only to have most of the rockets burn up upon re-entry or be abandoned in space, while the single-use space capsules served their purpose and ended up in museums or as scrap metal. We built the space shuttle, which was instrumental in the construction of the international space station, only to be decommissioned and replaced by aging Russian rockets while private companies like Space X finished developing reliable launch vehicles. Now the space station is due to be decommissioned.
It's a never ending cycle of building amazing things only to tear them down and replace them with something new.
Circling From Above' New Studio Album Available Now! – Styxworld
Midway through writing the album, a loose theme began to orbit the band’s creative process — a gravitational pull, if you will, guiding them down the straight road Shaw describes. In a moment of studio serendipity, talk turned to an app that tracks abandoned satellites, those silent relics of once-lofty ambition. From that spark, the opening tracks — including the title cut and “Build and Destroy” — took shape, tracing the tension between human ingenuity and the dreams we sometimes discard in its pursuit.
“When they were shot up into space, these satellites were somebody’s dream and ambition,” says Shaw of the once-cutting-edge technology now floating aimlessly through the atmosphere. “They served their purpose and they were cast aside. It’s a wasteland up there, but they were once created with love. We’re all humans, and who’s to say our love project is better than someone else’s?”
Look closely at the album cover art and you will see this thematic overture take flight. Thousands of starlings — chosen specifically for their supreme ability to work in concert together with their flight patterns — in the shape of one bird, soaring over a dilapidated satellite dish.
“They’re prevailing and we’re failing,” notes Evankovich of the cover. “We’re not like the rest of the creatures that work in stewardship together, like the birds and the bees and all the other things. We do things and then create waste for ourselves that ends up harming us.”
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