Queen's Brian May Expanded Star Fleet Project ft. Eddie Van Halen - 2023 In Review

Bruce Henne | 12-22-2023

(hennemusic) Queen's Brian May Expanded Star Fleet Project ft. Eddie Van was a top 23 story of June 2023: Queen guitarist Brian May will release an expanded edition of his 1983 EP, "Star Fleet Project", on July 14. Under the banner of Brian May + Friends, the original 3-track "mini-album" saw May joined by Edward Van Halen, drummer Alan Gratzer, bassist Phil Chen and keyboardist Fred Mandel over two days at The Record Plant in Los Angeles, CA.

The set's title track was inspired by the Queen rocker'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.

Billed as "Star Fleet Sessions", the 40th anniversary reissue box set 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... every take of every song, the things that went wrong, the laughing, the finding new things to do," May writes in his introductory sleeve notes. "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."

"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," adds May. "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."

Get more details and stream the 2023 remix of the "Star Fleet" single here.