Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet Sessions (Deluxe) (1983/2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

On 21st and 22nd April, 1983, Brian May was joined at Record Plant Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. by his friends Eddie Van Halen (guitar), Alan Gratzer (drums), Phil Chen (bass), and Fred Mandel (keyboards). The output of the two days’ sessions was captured on a 3-track mini album and released on October 31st, 1983, titled Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, Star Fleet Project will be given the full reissue treatment as part of Brian’s ongoing Gold Series. Brian and his studio team, Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson, have created a completely new 2023 mix of the sessions from the original multi-track master tapes, and the artwork has been completely digitally recreated from the original 1983 source material, to give fans the very best experience at the highest possible quality.

“It’s all here. ALL of it. Every note we played on those two days is right here, on show for the first time. I will take you behind the scenes into that studio with us for two unforgettably exhilarating days.” – Brian May

When Queen took a break for the first part of 1983, Brian May put his time to good use. Waking up one morning in Los Angeles, he decided to phone a few friends and invite them to collaborate on some tracks in California’s famous Record Plant studios. The resulting collaboration was a great success, and Brian would later mold the recordings into a unique mini-album, Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project.

This third release in the “Brian May Gold Series” offers an extensively revisited and expanded box set edition of these legendary sessions. The set is a complete document of the two days, April 21 and 22, 1983 that May spent in the Record Plant, Los Angeles accompanied by top rock music luminaries Edward Van Halen (guitar), Alan Gratzer (drums), Phil Chen (bass) and Fred Mandel (keyboards).

The Deluxe version includes spectacular 23-tracks with previously unreleased material.

May writes in his introductory sleeve notes in the box set: “We are going to give you everything… 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.”

The original 3-track mini album, released October 31, 1983, featured a full-length take of “Star Fleet,” May’s hard rock re-imagining of the signature tune from the Japanese-made kid’s science fiction series of the same name. The program was compulsive regular viewing for Brian and his four year-old son Jimmy on Saturday morning TV, inspiring Brian’s attachment to its title song, written by English musician Paul Bliss. The album also featured “Let Me Out,” including extensive opportunities for May and Eddie Van Halen to solo.

May says: “If Paul hadn’t written a very catchy song as the theme tune for that kid’s TV science fiction drama series, things would have been different. The signature tune began to stick in my head, and I could hear my own arrangement of the tune developing in my mind. But how to record it?”

“So one morning, I woke up in Los Angeles on a break from activities with Queen and made some phone calls. I’ve told the story of what happened next in the material you will find in this box. The outcome was something I will forever treasure.”

“We did a little preparation on the phone and at home with tiny Rockman amps and earphones. Then we went in. The tapes rolled. My LA neighbour Alan Gratzer beat the hell out of his kit with the fattest, heaviest drum sticks I had ever seen. Phil Chen, a friend I had met when he played with Rod Stewart, brought his unusual style of funk-orientated rock playing to the party, along with his sunny Caribbean energy and humor. Fred Mandel, one of the classiest keyboard players I have ever met, tickled both the ivories and some very technical synth patches to bring the spacey riffs to life. Ed (I can still never call him ‘Eddie Van Halen’ because he more than once told me that he found it annoying!) played the guitar as if it were a piano … tapping and snapping and sliding and skipping around the fingerboard like an electric sprite – always with a cheeky smile. If anything he did was difficult for him, he never showed it. A total original. Pure joy. What an everlasting privilege to play with him.”

A superlative show of back-to-basics passion and purpose, Star Fleet brims with the freedom of an off-the-cuff break from the day jobs for all involved.

The record emerged on October 20, 1983 as a set of blistering guitar work, rock’n’roll spontaneity and vibrant melody infused with a palpable chemistry and respect between the players. Spawning a single in the title track, the mini-album reached No. 1 in the British ‘Kerrang’ rock charts.

Now, of course, the record stands in part as a celebration of those we’ve lost: a chance to reconvene with great, much-missed talents. As Brian puts it, “It’s been very exciting to open up the vault to find these tapes where, in the blink of an eye, I’m trading licks with my friends including the fantastic Ed Van Halen. It’s highly emotional, especially since Ed is sadly no longer around. We have since also lost Phil – so the rest of us cherish these fleeting moments together.”

The troupe also worked on an earlier May song, the bluesy “Let Me Out,” while the set closes with the titanic “Blues Breaker,” almost 13 minutes of scorching guitar interplay between Brian and Edward: not so much duelling as sharing ideas and passions. As Brian explains, “It was inspired by John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, the album with Eric Clapton reading The Beano on the front cover. Edward said, ‘This is great for me; I haven’t played like this in years. This is where I come from! I didn’t come up doing tapping and all the fireworks. I grew up doing blues, wanting to be like Eric Clapton and do something melodic.”

If that sense of liberation rings out, so does a spirit of shared adventure. “There was a lot of ebullience, a lot of exploration, discovery and astonishment,” says Brian. “And some truly magical moments when everything gelled together – a fusion of energies!”

Tracklist:
01. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Edited Single Version / 2023 Mix) (04:01)
02. Brian May & Friends – Let Me Out (2023 Mix) (07:18)
03. Brian May & Friends – Blues Breaker (2023 Mix) (12:52)
04. Brian May & Friends – Cynthia Fox Release Day Interview 1983 (09:19)
05. Brian May & Friends – Bob Coburn Rockline Interview 1984 (04:43)
06. Brian May & Friends – Let Me Out (Live at The Palace Theater, LA / 1993) (07:34)
07. Brian May & Friends – We Will Rock You (Live at The Palace Theater, LA / 1993) (01:58)
08. Brian May & Friends – We Will Rock You (Fast) (Live at The Palace Theater, LA / 1993) (02:34)
09. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (2023 Mix) (08:08)
10. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Take 1 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (03:18)
11. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Take 2 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (04:47)
12. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Take 3 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (04:37)
13. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Take 4 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (01:06)
14. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Take 5 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (04:28)
15. Brian May & Friends – Solo Jam (from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (03:58)
16. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Take 7 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (00:47)
17. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Take 8 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (04:39)
18. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Take 10 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (05:02)
19. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Take 11 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (04:53)
20. Brian May & Friends – Star Fleet (Alternative Overdub EVH Solo / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (00:55)
21. Brian May & Friends – Jam (from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (01:31)
22. Brian May & Friends – Let Me Out (Rehearsal 1 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (01:41)
23. Brian May & Friends – Let Me Out (Rehearsal 2 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (05:55)
24. Brian May & Friends – Boogie Woogie Jam (from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (00:42)
25. Brian May & Friends – Let Me Out (Take 1 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (06:22)
26. Brian May & Friends – Jazz Police (from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (00:32)
27. Brian May & Friends – Let Me Out (Take 3 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (01:31)
28. Brian May & Friends – Let Me Out (Take 4 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (06:31)
29. Brian May & Friends – Jam (Let’s Do The Show Right Here) (from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (01:04)
30. Brian May & Friends – Let Me Out (Take 6 / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (06:17)
31. Brian May & Friends – Funky Jam (from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (06:06)
32. Brian May & Friends – Let Me Out (Take 7 False Start / from Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions) (00:52)