Imagine you’re in one of the biggest bands in the world and you suddenly find yourself with time on your hands. Time for a well-earned break, surely? Not for Brian May: when Queen took time off in 1983, he took the opportunity to record a three-track mini album inspired by his son Jimmy’s love of the animated Japanese sci-fi series Star Fleet, naturally. May took to the studio with crack musicians including Eddie Van Halen, REO Speedwagon’s Alan Gratzer, Phil Chen (Rod Stewart) and Fred Mandel (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper), where they covered the cartoon’s theme song and produced the solo-heavy Let Me Out and the 13-minute improv workout Blues Breaker, inspired by the John Mayall album.
Star Fleet is now getting a lavish 23-track reissue: a full new mix of the original new songs, as well as a “complete document” of every recording made across 21 and 22 April 1983 at the Record Plant studios in Los Angeles. “It’s all here – all of it,” May said in a statement. “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.”
You can ask May about Star Fleet, and indeed anything else, when he sits for the Guardian’s Reader Interview on 11 July. Maybe you’d like to know about being knighted in the king’s first new year honours, performing at the queen’s platinum jubilee party, becoming a CBBC star, his love of stereoscopy imagery and astronomy, touring Queen with Adam Lambert, his vociferous commentary about the government’s handling of the pandemic, his badger-based beef with Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis, whether he’d follow in the Beatles’ footsteps and contemplate finishing old demos with AI – or indeed, the decades of lore around Queen themselves.
Was Bohemian Rhapsody really originally called Mongolian Rhapsody (or is this just fantasy)? We’ve heard Face It Alone: what can we expect from the other five hitherto-unheard songs recorded during the sessions for 1989’s The Miracle, Freddie Mercury’s penultimate album with the group? Post your questions about this, or anything else in the comments by noon BST on 10 July.
