Back To The Light (Remastered) Brian May

• 1 The Dark 02:20
• 2 Back To The Light 04:59
• 3 Love Token 05:55
• 4 Resurrection 05:27
• 5 Too Much Love Will Kill You 04:28
• 6 Driven By You 04:11
• 7 Nothin' But Blue 03:31
• 8 I'm Scared (Justin's Mix '92) 04:00
• 9 Last Horizon 04:10
• 10 Let Your Heart Rule Your Head 03:51
• 11 Just One Life 03:38
• 12 Rollin' Over 04:36
• Total Runtime 51:06

Info for Back To The Light (Remastered)

"Anybody fancy a season of BM re-releases with lots of juicy extras?" asked Brian May through his Instagram feed in 2020. "We're working on a plan!!!" The first stage of that plan comes to fruition now, with the long-awaited reissue of the legendary Queen guitarist's superlative debut solo album. Almost 30 years on from its initial release, Back to the Light stands as an intimate and expansive testament to the talent and tenacity of one of the foremost guitarists and songwriters of his generation. 

On its release in September 1992, Back to the Light was an unqualified hit. Hitting No. 6 in the UK album charts, it produced a brace of indelible singles. Introduced to Queen fans during an emotive performance at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, Wembley Stadium, in April 1992, "Too Much Love Will Kill You" reached No. 5 in the UK. "Driven by You" had already peaked at No. 6. The anthemic "Back to the Light" and rollicking "Resurrection" also charted, while the instrumental "Last Horizon" would become a staple of both The Brian May Band's solo concerts and May's later live return to Queen.

Sometimes rocking, sometimes reflective, the singles give a sense of the album's depth and reach. "The Dark" reconfigures Queen's "We Will Rock You" to introspective ends and builds to a symphonic crescendo, before the full-blooded title-track sets out May's stall between its multi-tracked voices, euphoric chorus and crunchy guitars. "Love Token" is one of Brian's "momma and poppa" songs, a tale of a break-up plotted over blues-rock backing. Co-credited to drummer Cozy Powell and featuring revered rock musician Don Airey on keyboards, "Resurrection" is a glittering high energy rocker, with probably as many operatic overdubs as "Bohemian Rhapsody." Featuring a tour de force from May on guitar and cataclysmic drum pyrotechnics from Powell, for many this is the outstanding track of the album. Lyrically, it is mounted on personal foundations, troubled at the heart but determined to find hope in "the promise of the future."

"Too Much Love Will Kill You" is a scorching confessional, which Brian cites as possibly the most important recording of his life. It earned a coveted Ivor Novello Award (Best Song Musically and Lyrically) and reappeared later in a different incarnation as a Queen track. "Driven by You" is a harmonious HIT rocker with a rousing chorus, the result of Brian accepting a challenge to create a track for a Ford Motor car TV ad. Bandmate Freddie complimented Brian on this vocal delivery! The heart-breaking "Nothin' but Blue" is co-credited to Cozy Powell and is the sister track to "Somewhere In Time" from his The Drums Are Back album. The song was written by Brian the night before Freddie Mercury passed away. Queen's John Deacon makes a rare guest appearance on bass.

The roistering "I'm Scared" wears Brian's fears on its sleeve, while "Last Horizon" reaches for a sense of serenity in its expressive guitar work. Written for skiffle star Lonnie Donegan, "Let Your Heart Rule Your Head" proves Brian's easy way with buoyant melody. "Just One Life" is a poignant elegy to a lost loved one, but very unusual in that Brian wrote the song about someone he never met – only came to know at a celebration of his life.

Finally, a joyful cover – the only one on the album - of the Small Faces' "Rollin' Over" realigns Brian with some of his early rock roots.

Throughout, the many flavors of Back to the Light remind us how vital Brian's writing was to Queen. Besides his unmistakable guitar work, his songwriting credits include ballads ("Save Me"), multi-part epics ("The Prophet's Song"), movie themes ("Flash's Theme"), bluesy workouts ("Sleeping on the Sidewalk") and numerous full-bore rockers – including, of course, stomping live tentpole "We Will Rock You."

Written during a period of immense personal upheaval between 1988 and 1992, Back to the Light finds Brian assuming the spotlight with cathartic honesty and artistry. It followed the losses of his father and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, and the temporary cessation of the band's activities. It also followed May's separation from his first wife in 1988 and relationship with Anita Dobson, which made him the unwilling recipient of tabloid attention. In interviews, he talked about the struggles he experienced as a result of these life changes, describing the album as a kind of therapy.

In its making, he drew support from friends and storied collaborators. Alongside Deacon, Powell and Airey, guests included Neil Murray and Gary Tibbs (Adam & The Ants, Roxy Music) on bass, Geoff Dugmore on drums ("Let Your Heart Rule Your Head," "Rollin' Over"), and Mike Moran on piano/keyboards across three tracks. Vocal assistance came from famed British singer Chris Thompson, with backing vocals at various junctures from Miriam Stockley, Maggie Ryder, Suzie O'List and Gill O'Donovan.

Sound engineer Fredriksson wanted to see that perfectionism reflected in the reissue. "If it hasn't been available and we're going to reissue it," he notes, "we thought why not get it remastered by the best mastering engineer in the world?" Enter Grammy®-winner Bob Ludwig, who worked from the original restored flat mixes to ensure this new edition of Back To The Light sounds better than ever.

Meanwhile, Fredriksson cast the net wide to source bonus tracks for a second disc, Out of the Light. Brian's Red Special speaks on haunting instrumental versions of "Nothin' but Blue," "Too Much Love Will Kill You" and "Just One Life." "Driven by You Two," the Ford advert version of "Driven by You" and "Driven by You" (Cozy and Neil Version '93) also feature alongside some live cuts. ''39/Let Your Heart Rule Your Head," "Last Horizon" and "We Will Rock You" were recorded at a triumphant Brixton Academy show on June 15, 1993, documented on the Live at the Brixton Academy album and film, where The Brian May Band featured Powell (drums), Spike Edney (keyboards), Jamie Moses (guitar), Neil Murray (bass) and, on backing vocals, Catherine Porter and Shelley Preston. The live version of "Too Much Love Will Kill You" was recorded at the Palace Theater, Los Angeles, on April 6, 1993; the night before, Brian and a special guest tore through Queen concert favorite "Tie Your Mother Down" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. "Welcome, Mr Slash," says Brian, as the Guns N' Roses guitarist serves notice of May's multi-generational influence.

On all fronts, Back to the Light stands tall as an album of heart and resilience, uplift and sensitivity. "In my mind, this album was always called Back to the Light," wrote Brian on the original sleeve notes. "At its beginning I felt no real hope of finding the light; now it glimmers dimly, encouragingly, but always intermittently in the hall of mirrors around me." Almost three decades on, Brian's new sleeve notes include a tribute to the late, great Cozy Powell, along with a reflection on the search the album documents. "In 2021, proudly and fondly presenting this work to a new audience," writes Brian, "and noting carefully my original liner notes, I can report that I am still on the quest of finding answers to most of the questions posed in this suite of songs, and to this day, the Light still glimmers darkly, tantalisingly, always a little out of reach. Music gets us through." Lit up with emotional honesty, big tunes, rock'n'roll vim and world-class guitar work, Back to the Light shines on.

"This is part of a series. The Brian May Gold Series. Each of them will have a little gold stamp on. And each one of them will give me the opportunity to rediscover the road that I travelled. I really found this fascinating. I was a little nervous at the beginning, thinking what is this going to dredge up in me? But I loved getting back in there. I'm really just hoping it will connect with people who have never heard this stuff before. They know me as guitarist for Queen. Some know me as an astronomer. Some know me as a campaigner for animal rights. I'm a sort of evangelist for 3-D Victorian Stereoscopy. But very few people have heard my solo output. So I'm excited to see how this turns out. I found it fascinating going back in there and rediscovering why I wrote certain things. What they meant to me. How we recorded. Some of it is so massive in the recording I can hardly believe we pulled it off - it's very epic, some of it. And I like that. And at the same time, there's little corners of it which are very simple, very understated, very emotionally naked. I discovered so much of what I'm saying in the album I still feel. I still feel those dangers, those fears, those hopes, those dreams." — Brian May

"Queen guitarist Brian May's first complete attempt at a solo album, Back to the Light, focuses on the hard rock sound that Queen often abandoned in the 1980s. While obviously sounding similar to some of the work by his former band, May's path is far more hard-edged and emotionally punched than the majority of Queen's work. His vocals are sometimes weak for a singer, but they also add a certain tenderness that most hard rock frontmen seem to lack. The album succeeds best on its heaviest tracks such as the cover of "Rollin' Over" or "Resurrection," which features pounding drums courtesy of Cozy Powell and thundering guitar riffs with Queen-like multi-tracked vocals. References to Queen can also be heard in the eccentric humor of such numbers as "Love Token," which includes a back-and-forth dialogue in the middle of the song. Likewise, the low-key country song, "Let Your Heart Rule Your Head," is reminiscent of "'39" off Queen's A Night at the Opera. The ballads are not as strong or as interesting and are not helped by well-meaning but overly sentimental lyrics and light rock arrangements. Unfortunately, the instrumental, "Last Horizon," ends up sounding like Muzak. "Driven By You," the album's biggest hit, was originally written for a Ford commercial, and it shows. That said, it is great to hear May finally get a chance to rock out and while the over-the-top and eccentric stylings of the album might put off some, it is those same traits that will also attract many to this work." (Geoff Orens, AMG)

Brian May, guitar, vocals, various instruments
Chris Thompson, vocals, backing vocals
Mike Moran, piano
Don Airey, keyboards
Mike Moran, keyboards
Gary Tibbs, bass
John Deacon, bass
Neil Murray, bass
Gary Tibbs, bass
Cozy Powell, drums
Geoff Dugmore, drums
Gill O'Donovan, backing vocals
Maggie Ryder, backing vocals
Miriam Stockley, backing vocals
Suzie O'List, backing vocals

Digitally remastered

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Brian May
CBE, PhD, FRAS is a founding member of Queen, a world-renowned guitarist, songwriter, producer and performer, also a Doctor of Astrophysics, 3D stereoscopic photographic authority, campaigner for animal rights and a passionate advocate for political and social change.

Queen’s accolades accrued over five decades include a staggering list of sales with a catalogue that consistently tops popularity polls, along with a deserved list of awards and honours. Brian has penned 22 Queen top 20 hits, among them the powerful ballads ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’, ‘No-One But You’ and ‘Save Me’, along with anthems ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘I Want It All’, and ‘We Will Rock You’, namesake to the Queen/Ben Elton hit musical which enjoyed an unprecedented 12 year run at London’s Dominion Theatre alongside numerous worldwide productions. Iconic sports anthem, ‘We Will Rock You’ was performed live by Brian and Roger during the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony, viewed by an estimated one billion TV audience. Other memorable global live appearances include the band’s 1985 Live Aid show stealing set and during the 2002 Golden Jubilee celebrations, Brian playing his own arrangement of ‘God Save the Queen’ from the rooftop of Buckingham Palace.

Queen became the first rock group to score a major film, Flash Gordon, followed by definitive music for Highlander. Brian’s personal credits include further film, TV and theatre collaborations and two successful solo albums earning him two Ivor Novello awards. He continues to inspire a diverse genre of international artists and has a wealth of guest artist appearances featuring his distinctive guitar style, produced from his revered homemade ‘Red Special’ guitar using a sixpence as a plectrum.

A Queen and Paul Rodgers joint performance at the 2004 induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame led to a return to touring after a 20 year break, featuring the former Free/Bad Company singer as guest vocalist. 2012 saw a return of Queen onstage, this time with current guest vocalist Adam Lambert, to award winning universal critical acclaim. Over 70 worldwide sold out concerts have been played, including a spectacular New Years Eve concert heralding 2015, broadcast live by the BBC.

Most recently Brian has enjoyed writing, producing, recording and touring with Kerry Ellis. Brian and Kerry are currently working on their third album and have a series of European concert dates confirmed for early 2016 after which he returns to tour with Queen + Adam Lambert headlining the Isle of Wight Festival along with a dozen further European festival appearances.

Brian retains his keen passion for Astronomy and after a 30 year break returned to Astrophysics to update his doctoral thesis on the Motions of Interplanetary Dust and achieved his full PhD degree from Imperial College, London, in 2007. He continues his work in Astronomy and in July 2015 Brian spent time with fellow Astrophysicists at NASA Headquarters interpreting new data as it was transmitted from the Pluto New Horizons probe whilst compiling the first high-quality stereo image of Pluto.

Brian has co-authored numerous publications, including two in the Astronomy field with the late Sir Patrick Moore. He now heads his own publishing house, The London Stereoscopic Company which specializes in Victorian 3-D Photography. All books come complete with Brian’s own design OWL stereoscopic viewer. More information on the upcoming published work Crinoline: Fashion’s Most Magnificent Disaster (Spring 2016) and the celebrated short animated film ‘One Night in Hell’ along with all matters stereoscopic are available at Brian’s dedicated website, www.londonstereo.com.

Brian is proud to be an ambassador for the Mercury Phoenix Trust, set up in memory of Freddie Mercury to support AIDS projects. Over 700 projects and millions of people have benefitted from the Trust as the global battle against HIV/AIDS continues.

A lifelong advocate of animal welfare, Brian is a leading inspiration in the fight against fox hunting, trophy hunting and badger culling. He campaigns tirelessly from grass roots through to parliamentary level with his Save Me Trust campaign, established in 2009 to champion British wildlife, working alongside Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue and rehabilitation centre. Projects include rejuvenation of ancient woodlands to create protected wildlife habitats and as a key player working alongside the major conservation and wildlife NGOs, the Save Me Trust created Team Fox and Team Badger - the largest ever wildlife coalition. Further details can be found at www.savemetrust.org. The Save Me Trust is currently fronting a petition calling for the introduction of Cecil’s Law inspired by the death of Cecil, South Africa’s most famous lion, and to end the senseless slaughter of our magnificent wildlife creatures.

Brian was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for ‘services to the Music Industry and for his charity work’ and is patron to a number of charities, also a vice-president of the RSPCA. Brian enjoys interacting with his fans, who can enjoy updates on his work and thoughts on twitter at @DrBrianMay and via his website at www.brianmay.com.

This album contains no booklet.