Sir Brian Harold May
(Born July,19th 1947)
is an
English musician,
songwriter,
record producer,
animal welfare activist,
and astrophysicist.
He achieved global fame
as the lead guitarist
and backing vocalist
of the rock band
Queen,
which he co-founded
with singer
Freddie Mercury
and drummer
Roger Taylor.
His guitar work
and
songwriting contributions
helped Queen
become one of the
most successful acts
in music history.
May previously performed
with Taylor
in the progressive
rock band
Smile,
which he had joined
while he was
at university.
After Mercury joined
to form Queen
in 1970,
bass guitarist
John Deacon
completed the line-up
in 1971.
They became one
of the biggest
rock bands
in the world
with the success
of the album
A Night at the Opera
and its single
"Bohemian Rhapsody".
From the mid-1970s
until 1986,
Queen played at
some of the
biggest venues
in the world,
including an acclaimed
performance at
Live Aid in 1985.
As a member of Queen,
May became regarded
as a
virtuoso musician
and was identified with
a distinctive sound
created through
his layered guitar work,
often using a
home-built electric guitar
called the Red Special.
May wrote numerous hits
for Queen,
including
"We Will Rock You",
"I Want It All",
"Fat Bottomed Girls",
"Now I'm Here",
"Headlong",
"Flash",
"Hammer to Fall",
"Save Me",
"Who Wants to Live Forever"
and
"The Show Must Go On".
Following the death
of Mercury in 1991,
aside from the
1992 tribute concert,
the release of
Made in Heaven
(1995)
and the 1997
tribute single to Mercury,
"No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)"
(written by May),
Queen
were put on hiatus
for several years
but were eventually reconvened
by May
and Taylor
for further performances
featuring other vocalists.
In 2005,
a Planet Rock poll saw
May voted the
seventh-greatest guitarist
of all time.
He was ranked at No. 33
on Rolling Stone's
2023 list of
250 greatest guitarists
of all time.
In 2012,
he was further ranked
the second-greatest
guitarist in a
Guitar World magazine
readers poll.
In 2001,
May was inducted
into the
Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
as a member of
Queen and,
in 2018,
the band received the
Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award
Back to the Light
is the debut
solo studio album
by English
musician
the guitarist of
Queen.
It was released on
in September 1992
by Parlophone Records
in the UK,
and in February 1993
by Hollywood Records
in the US
and Canada.
May's second
solo release
following his
1983 EP
Star Fleet Project,
Back to the Light
was co-produced
with
Justin Shirley-Smith
and recorded between
March 1988
and
November 1992
at Allerton Hill
(May's home studio)
and mixed at
Metropolis Studios.
The album contains
top 10 singles
"Too Much Love Will Kill You"
and
"Driven by You",
and peaked at
number six
on the
UK Albums Chart
and at number 159
on the
US Billboard 200.
"Headlong"
and
"I Can't Live with You",
released on
Innuendo,
were originally intended
for
Back to the Light;
but when May heard
Freddie Mercury
singing the songs,
he decided they
would be
recorded by
Queen.
Star Fleet Project
is a solo project
of
Queen's guitarist,
and a
mini-album
of the same name.
Released as the work of
Brian May + Friends,
the album features
May,
guitarist
Eddie Van Halen,
drummer
Alan Gratzer
(then of REO Speedwagon),
Phil Chen
session bassist
who played with
Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart,
and
Fred Mandel
keyboard player
for
Alice Cooper
and
additional
keyboard player
on Queen's
Hot Space Tour
and
The Works
"The result is
high-octane
rockist instrumentals,
instantly Queenish,
and not unlike
Flash
with added
fretboard pyrotechnics".
The tapes were not intended
to be released
and received
minimal mixing.
"Star Fleet Project
was called a
'mini-album'
by [May]
because he thought it ...
too short to be a
proper album,
but too long
to be even
an EP single".
BONUS CD
OUT OF THE LIGHT
No comments:
Post a Comment