May recruited Edward Van Halen, bassist Phil Chen, drummer Alan Gratzer, and keyboardist Fred Mandel to join him in the studio for a couple of days at The Record Plant in Los Angeles, CA.
As the sessions approached, Brian reveals that he had no idea if this idea would ever get off the ground.
“I didn’t know if it was gonna work, I really didn’t,” recalls May. “I think there’s a little bit of pushing and pulling, and we didn’t gel immediately, but it didn’t take very long before we did. You can hear it happening.
“That’s what’s great about these sessions, ‘ cause you hear the whole progression. And you can hear the beginning be quite tentative. We don’t really know the parts. We don’t know each other and things are kind of slipping around. Nice thing is there’s no pressure. There was no end product. We didn’t say ‘We’re going to make a record’ – it’s just like, just have some fun and see what we can do.”
“So you can hear on these sessions, which I’ve now put in the box set, that you can hear us feeling our way and gradually gaining confidence and locking in and becoming a really tight unit, which was amazing.”
Due July 17, and billed as “Star Fleet Sessions”, the 40th anniversary reissue delivers an extensively revisited and expanded box set edition of the legendary sessions, with 2023 remixes of the original three songs and a new single version of the title track alongside interviews and live recordings from the era - plus 23 tracks of previously-unreleased material.
“We are going to give you everything,” writes May in the liner notes. “Every take of every song. The things that went wrong, the laughing, the finding new things to do. But it won’t be just a remaster – we’ve rescued everything from the original multitracks, every detail magnificently remixed, and more! You’ll hear every take from the historic 1983 sessions plus fragments of conversations, out-takes and musical experimentation.”
Pick up your copy of the single here.
See also:
Queen’s Brian May introduces Star Fleet Project band lineup
Queen reimagine We Will Rock You on The Greatest Live
Queen’s Brian May reveals origins of Star Fleet Project ahead of 40th anniversary reissue
Queen adapt songs for the concert stage on The Greatest Live
Search Queen at hennemusic
