Back to the Light
Back to the Light is the debut solo studio album by Queen guitarist Brian May, released on 28 September 1992 by Parlophone Records in the UK and on 2 February 1993 by Hollywood Records in the US and Canada. May co-produced the album with Justin Shirley-Smith, his second non-Queen record since "Star Fleet Project", and it was recorded at Allerton Hill Studio. The album contains the Top 10 singles "Too Much Love Will Kill You" and "Driven by You". "Back to the Light" peaked at number six on the UK Albums Chart and  at number 159 on the US "Billboard" 200. Overview. The album was recorded between 1988 and 1992 at the Allerton Hill Studios and mixed at the Metropolis Studios. It is Brian May's second non-Queen album after 1983's "Star Fleet Project". The track "Just One Life" was written as a tribute to the actor Philip Sayer, who died in 1989. "Rollin' Over" is a cover of a Small Faces song from the album "Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake". An alternate "explicit" version of "Love Token" was recorded with lyrics which may have been deemed offensive by the record label ; on the final album version, the lyric "shit for brains" was replaced by "meat for brains", while the lyrics "well, fuck you" were replaced by "that's a shame". The original "explicit" version was never officially released except on a free CD packaged with RCD Magazine, Vol. 4. The songs "Headlong" and "I Can't Live with You", released on the Queen album "Innuendo", were originally intended to be included on "Back to the Light", but when Brian May heard Freddie Mercury singing the tracks, he instead decided they should become Queen songs. Another song on the album, "Too Much  Love Will Kill You", was also recorded by Queen for their album "The Miracle", although rights issues prevented it being released at the time. Queen's version was eventually released on "Made in Heaven" in 1995. Release. The US edition of the album included a remix of "Driven by You" (with a new drum track by Cozy Powell and new bass by Neil Murray) as a bonus track, issued elsewhere as a B-side to the "Too Much Love Will Kill You" single. The Japanese edition, meanwhile, included instrumental "Guitar Versions" of "Just One Life" and "Too Much Love Will  Kill You", which had likewise been B-sides on the "Driven by You" and "Too Much Love Will Kill You" singles, respectively. In June 2021, May announced that the album would be reissued as part of the "Brian May Gold Series", packaged with a second disc of bonus tracks titled "Out of the Light". The reissue was released on August 6. Track listing. Credits adapted from liner notes. Personnel. Credits adapted from liner notes. All music, words, vocals, backing vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, programming and percussion by Brian May, unless stated below.