94. Brian May / Back To The Light. 1992. 4/5.

There’s no doubt that the members of Queen knew long before we as an adoring public did that the band had an end date, and it wasn’t due to internal conflict or tensions. When this came to pass, and the organisation and performance of the Tribute concert that followed, it left all three to their own devices for the first time in two decades. Whereas Roger Taylor had done his own solo material at different times during the years, Brian May had done surprisingly little. There had been a project called “Star Fleet Project” which had been a mini-album back in 1983 that had also involved Eddie Van Halen, but apart from that his endeavours had mainly stuck with Queen. He contributed guitar solos on several band’s songs, including “When Death Calls” for Black Sabbath’s “Headless Cross” album, and had also helped on songs for other artists on a very minimal basis.
This didn’t mean that Brian hadn’t composed songs during that period. Indeed, the writing and recording period for this album is said to have stretched over four years, from 1988 through to 1992, at times that holes appeared in Brian’s schedule. It’s interesting that, in composing and recording an album in this way, over such a length of time, it must be quite difficult to make it come together to sound as though it is cohesive. Try and piece together some of your favourite bands songs from such a time frame, and see how difficult it would be to have a seamless album. Styles change, moods change, technology even changes.
However, it is understandable that it had to be done this way. Queen as always was the number one priority right up until Freddie’s passing at the end of 1991, and once all of that had passed, it seems like it was a reasonably short period that Brian pulled this material together and brought it to be focused as the album it became. Does it feel that way? Not initially. But for me I can certainly class these songs into two or three separate bundles, which may or may not have been the differing times that those songs were written and recorded to become “Back to the Light”.

Just about everyone, despite your musical bent, will find something on this album that appeals to them. The quieter numbers here play their part as well. The instrumental guitar piece “Last Horizon” was one of the earliest recordings used on this album, coming as it did back in 1988. It is reminiscent in some ways of a Gary Moore instrumental.
“Let Your Heart Rule Your Head” has a simple beat and rhythm, sounding like an old folk song, though perhaps the addition of jug blowers would have made it more like a ‘dixieland’ kind of song. It might be simple but it is effective, with lyrics that put a positive spin on the song. “Just One Life” is another maudlin, in memorium kind of song, soft and mournful with the choir-like vocals backing up Brian’s vocal performance. These three songs, all in the latter part of the album, tend to change the course of the adrenaline of the album. Prior to these the songs had ben faster, more powerful, and energetic, the way most of Brian’s songs are. But these three serve as a much quieter and more reflective time, and in many ways can change the way you may feel about the album as a whole. Even given the final track of the album, the cover of The Small Faces song “Rollin’ Over”, which is a much more rollicking track that the original, allows the album to finish on a more upbeat note with plenty of May guitar tricks, those few songs feel out of place in a way. And whether or not that is because of the fact the album was recorded over such a length of time, or just how the producer decided to arrange the tracks, it does play on just how the album come about. Along with this on the quieter side of the album is the cover of Cozy Powell’s “Somewhere in Time”, which Brian has cannibalised and added lyrics to, to create “Nothin’ But Blue” - all very unusual given that Cozy played drums on this track and several others on the album.
So, much of the second half of the album is very much toned down in style, both in speed and in hard core energy. That does NOT downgrade the quality of the songs or the musicianship, but it does feel like a comedown after the first half of the album. The opening mostly- orchestral-styled opening of “The Dark” segues into the opening title track “Back to the Light”, a grandiose opening to the album that immediately showcases what Queen fans in particular are looking for. It’s large, it fills the room, it has passion and emotional value, and that Brian May guitar that is what we have all come here for. The initial foray of May’s vocals, where one may have been waiting for Freddie to chime in, may not sound as strong but are no less impressive throughout. “Love Token” is an immediately heavier track both in guitar and Cozy Powell’s drumming, with his atypical heavy hard beats dominating throughout combining perfectly with Brian’s riffs. “Resurrection” comes from a faster pace, where the synths and keys combine with the guitar to create a perfectly balanced anthemic vibe, again utilising those emotive vocals to bring the song home. “Driven By You” was the first single released from the album, ironically perhaps the day before Freddie Mercury’s death in November 1991, ten months before this album was actually released. It’s arguably the heaviest song on the album, a great rock song with plenty of that trademark May guitar slinging and emotionally charged lyrics, and it has always been a favourite. All of these songs give the first half of the album the hard rock attitude that Brian always contributed to Queen, and showcase that to great effect. In fact, the songs “Headlong” and “I Can’t Live With You”, both written by Brian, were supposed to be for this album. Reportedly though, once he heard Freddie sing the vocals on both of them, he knew they were meant to be Queen songs, and both appeared on the “Innuendo” album, and are two of the best tracks of that release.
The other song to appear here is “Too Much Love Will Kill You”, a song written by Brian along with two others, Elizabeth Lamers and Frank Musker. It was initially written for Queen’s “The Miracle” album and was actually recorded with Freddie singing it, however it was eventually rejected for that album when the band agreed that all of the songs on that album should be credited to the band rather than individuals, which ruled this song out. Instead, Brian played this on the piano at the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert, and then for this album, which was released as the second single. Freddie’s version was eventually released on the “Made in Heaven” album three years later, but it was Brian’s that went on to the best success in the singles charts.

I was a bit slow out of the blocks on getting this album. In fact, it wasn’t until the US release in early 1993 that I actually came across a copy of it. It probably didn’t help at the time that I was in my own small business with my then fiancé, so we were a bit low on resources that allowed me to go out and buy albums whenever I wanted, like I had when I was single. But I still remember the day it came in the mail, and I put it on my stereo in the small two room unit we lived in when we first got married, and turned it up and heard it for the first time. I was spellbound from the outset, especially those first seven or eight tracks. I mean, I loved Queen, and I knew Brian could sing, but hearing him do his own stuff, in his way, on his own accord, with his flying guitar and his own vocals, was just amazing. I’ve never really forgotten how this album sounded to me that first time I heard it. I remember the afternoon, the blue sky overlooking the ocean in mid-autumn, and being blown away by “Back to the Light” and “Love Token” and “Resurrection” and “Driven By You”. All of it was... magical.
Why? I don’t know. I just didn’t know what to expect I guess, now that Queen was over (or so we thought), and what would this amazing musician do, and could it match what he and his previous band had been able to do. And the scale of what came out of those speakers that day was beyond my expectations.
Do I still feel that amazement of this album, 30 years later? Well firstly, consider the fact that it is now longer since this album was released than Queen actually performed together. That is a little scary to consider. Queen played for 20 years. It is 30 now since this album was released. So even taking that into consideration... yeah, I still get the same tingles whenever I listen to this album. Sure, the second half of the album doesn’t jump out at me as much, but that first half is still just terrific. And a few years later I was extremely fortunate to see Brian and his band live in Sydney, touring on what would be his follow up album to this, “Another World”. And listening to him play Queen songs was just brilliant, but I got just as much enjoyment out of hearing the songs from this album live as well, because I loved this album so much. And I guess I still do.