What could emerge from the friendship and collaboration between two of the greatest guitarists in history during the turbulent 80s? If the subject is Brian May and Eddie Van Halen , the answer to such a question couldn't be more unusual and at the same time obvious: a science fiction-inspired EP.
In an interview with Total Guitar , Brian revealed the existence of the Star Fleed Project , created and completed in two days in 1983. “It wasn’t entirely conceived. Or not pre-planned. I was living in Los Angeles at the time. Queen had taken a break – we’d kind of had enough of each other for a while. And for some reason I felt like a different person in Los Angeles. I’m naturally a bit shy and introverted, but in Los Angeles I feel like I can call people. And one morning, I thought, why don’t I call Eddie Van Halen? Maybe we can get something together.”
“Because my little boy was watching this science fiction series and I always thought the theme music would be a great vehicle for a guitarist to play,” May explains about the inspiration for the EP. “And Eddie said, ‘I’m in!’ So that was the beginning. I said, ‘I’ll call some people and we’ll show up.’”
“We all sat there with big smiles on our faces, saying, ‘Yay, this is fun!’ I think we all got to the point where we worked hard in the studio with our respective bands and it almost became a job, you know,” May recalled. “Of course, we all love music, but there are times when you feel pressure in the studio, the album has to be done, deadlines and all that, and sometimes it gets tense. But this was different – we’re all friends, and whatever happens here is a bonus. So, it was full of joy.”
The EP resulted in the tracks “Let Me Out”, “Blues Breaker” and the already well-known “Star Fleet”, which you can check out below: