Brian May is to re-release his debut solo album.
The Queen rocker was “nervous” about revisiting his back catalogue but is now excited for new fans to hear ‘Back to the Light’ – which he first released in September 1992 – when a remastered version of the record is released on 6 August.
Brian said of the record: “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.”
The album will be released as part of a Collector’s Edition box set – which will include an exclusive white-vinyl LP, two CDs, a 32-page book, a 12” art print, a download card and an enamel badge all presented in a lift-lid box- as well as 1LP black vinyl, 1CD, deluxe 2CD, cassette and digital formats.
A limited-edition box-set is available exclusively on Queen Online Store with a signed 12” art print, as is a limited-edition 1LP picture disc.
And Brian has revealed the record is the first in a series he’s got planned.
He said: “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.”
‘Back to the Light’ is available to pre-order now from https://BrianMay.lnk.to/BackToTheLight