{"product_id":"brian-may-friends-star-fleet-sessions-40th-anniversary","title":"BRIAN MAY + FRIENDS - Star Fleet Sessions (40th Anniversary)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ff0000;\" mce-data-marked=\"1\" data-mce-style=\"color: #ff0000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2CD\/ LP \/ 7\"- Deluxe Box Set Containing 2 CDs, 1 LP (180g Transparent Red Vinyl) and a vinyl single (Black), as well as other collector's items.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’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.” - \u003cstrong\u003eBrian May\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWhen \u003cstrong\u003eQueen\u003c\/strong\u003e 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 \u003cstrong\u003eRecord Plant\u003c\/strong\u003e studios. The resulting collaboration was a great success, and Brian would later mould the recordings into a unique mini-album, \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBrian May + Friends\u003c\/strong\u003e: Star Fleet Project\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis third release in the “\u003cem\u003eBrian May Gold Series\u003c\/em\u003e” offers an extensively revisited and expanded box set edition of these now 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 \u003cstrong\u003eEdward Van Halen\u003c\/strong\u003e (guitar), \u003cstrong\u003eAlan Gratzer\u003c\/strong\u003e (drums), \u003cstrong\u003ePhil Chen\u003c\/strong\u003e (bass) and \u003cstrong\u003eFred Mandel\u003c\/strong\u003e (keyboards). The box set includes a spectacular 23-track CD filled with previously unreleased material. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContaining\u003c\/strong\u003e: 2 CDs, 1 vinyl LP, and a vinyl single, as well as other collector's items, \u003cem\u003eBrian May + Friends: Star Fleet Sessions\u003c\/em\u003e will be launched as a Deluxe Edition box set, worldwide on July 14th. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA separate exclusive 7” double A-side single, also available on CD comes the same day, July 14th, featuring newly mixed single versions of “\u003cem\u003eStar Fleet\u003c\/em\u003e” and “\u003cem\u003eLet Me Out\u003c\/em\u003e”. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe July 14 box set release is ushered in with a special stand-alone digital single, “\u003cem\u003eStar Fleet\u003c\/em\u003e (Edited Single Version)” which becomes available to coincide with today’s, June 1, box set announcement. The single digital track is available immediately for digital download and streaming. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAs 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 multi-tracks, 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.”\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe original 3-track mini album, released October 31, 1983, featured a full-length take of “\u003cem\u003eStar Fleet\u003c\/em\u003e”, May’s hard rock re-imagining of the signature tune from the Japanese-made kids science fiction series of the same name. The programme was compulsive regular viewing for Brian and his 4-year-old son Jimmy on Saturday morning TV, inspiring Brian’s attachment to its title song, written by English musician \u003cstrong\u003ePaul Bliss\u003c\/strong\u003e. The album also featured \"\u003cem\u003eLet Me Out\u003c\/em\u003e\", including extensive opportunities for May and Van Halen to solo, and \"\u003cem\u003eBlues Breaker\u003c\/em\u003e\" a 13-minute piece of completely spontaneous improvisation from all members of this ‘supergroup’ of musicians. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMay 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?”\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e“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.” \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e“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 drumsticks 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 humour. And 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 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.” \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA 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.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe record emerged on October 20th, 1983 as a set of blistering guitar work, rock’n’roll spontaneity and vibrant melody, infused with 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.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eNow, 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.” \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe troupe also worked on an earlier May song, the bluesy “\u003cem\u003eLet Me Out\u003c\/em\u003e”, while the set closes with the titanic “\u003cem\u003eBlues Breaker\u003c\/em\u003e”, almost 13 minutes of scorching guitar interplay between Brian and Edward: not so much dueling 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.”\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIf 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!”\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAcross two CDs, a 12” vinyl LP, and a 7” vinyl single, the ‘\u003cem\u003eStar Fleet Sessions\u003c\/em\u003e’ box set houses the proof. Presented in 180g transparent red vinyl, the original LP issue has been treated to a full new mix, executed by Queen sound engineers Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson under Brian’s direction at his Surrey studio from the original multitrack tapes and, says Brian, “cut at half-speed for maximum fidelity”. The single features two tracks. The A-side is an edited version of “Star Fleet”, with brand-new intro guitar harmonies from Brian. The B-side mirrors the original B-side “Son of Star Fleet” which Brian explains “was a way of including the rest of the original long version of the recording on a 7” record; effectively the whole recording is split between the two sides.”\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eCD1 Star Fleet Project + Beyond\u003c\/em\u003e features the single version of the title track alongside full-length album versions of “Let Me Out” and “Blues Breaker”. Also included is an interview with Cynthia Fox conducted on Los Angeles radio station KMET in October 1983, on the day of the single release, and a Rockline interview with Bob Coburn. A live version of “Let Me Out” from the Palace Theatre in LA follows, segueing into “We Will Rock You” and a reworking of the same song’s adored fast rendition. The line-up of May, powerhouse drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Neil Murray, guitarist Jamie Moses, keyboardist Spike Edney and backing singers Cathy Porter \u0026amp; Shelley Preston find The Brian May Band on fire. Finally, CD1 closes with the full LP version of “Star Fleet”, “just as the day it happened,” says Brian, “as if we were in the room.”\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eCD2 Star Fleet\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003cem\u003eThe Complete Sessions\u003c\/em\u003e features 23 tracks that go deeper into that room. The disc boasts a newly-created mix from the entire original analogue session tapes, featuring songs in the process of evolution (some with guide vocals) plus discussion, banter, laughs and, says Brian, “some ‘mistakes’, if there are such things”. Amps blow, mics break, strings snap – the results take you as close as it is possible to get to the Record Plant in April 1983.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAnd Van Halen fans, take note: the “\u003cem\u003eStar Fleet\u003c\/em\u003e” takes feature eight Edward guitar solos, “never quite treading the same path twice,” says Brian. “Ed was a wonderful soul. Listening to him and me, I feel completely outclassed by him in the studio. But in a very pleasant way – what a joy for me to be around a guy who could do all that. Such a privilege.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e“So, you’ll hear us in the studio trading licks,” adds May. “We’ve cleaned up the mix and now EVH’s sound is larger than life. You’ll hear the development of his solo, which I always thought was one of the greatest things he did… a real immortal classic of Ed Van Halen pieces.”\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA badge and a booklet featuring extensive liner notes complete the box set. A poster will be exclusive to box set orders placed via QueenOnline.com, where 180g black vinyl, cassette and picture-disc vinyl albums will also be available.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eComplete with a digital recreation of the original 1983 source material’s artwork, \u003cem\u003eStar Fleet Sessions\u003c\/em\u003e doesn’t just gleam anew. Across 136 minutes of audio, the box set takes you behind the curtain, highlighting the electricity that made the project such a special chapter in Brian’s life and career.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e“It’s all here. ALL of it ! Every note we played on those two unforgettable, exhilarating days is right here, on show for the first time. Hearing these sessions, especially through the new restoration and mixes we’ve now produced, still sends shivers up my spine,” he says. A time capsule of an unrepeatable moment, this much-anticipated, lovingly curated box set proves why.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStar Fleet Sessions Box Set\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"VIRGIN","offers":[{"title":"2CD \/ LP (180g Transparent Red Vinyl) \/ 7\" (Black Vinyl) - Deluxe Box Set","offer_id":46772573536601,"sku":"SDZ-04983","price":89.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/Brian_May_plus_Friends_-_Star_Fleet_Sessions_Super_Deluxe_40th_Anniversary_Box_Set_-_2023.jpg?v=1685631647","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/brian-may-friends-star-fleet-sessions-40th-anniversary","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}