Brian May’s Star Fleet Featuring Eddie Van Halen Getting Reissued

Brian May famously gathered some friends -- among them Eddie Van Halen -- in a Los Angeles recording studio in 1983 while Queen was on a rare break. Two days were spent in that studio, and it eventually yielded the mini-album Star Fleet Project. Now, the entirety of those recording sessions is getting the box set treatment.

Brian May + Friends' Star Fleet Sessions comes out July 14 and is available for pre-order here. The 2023 mix of the titular track can be heard below and is available for streaming/download here. The box set features two CDs, one LP and a 7" single pressing of "Star Fleet" and the b-side "Song of Star Fleet."

In a statement on the reissue, May said, "It’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."

In addition to EVH, the recording sessions also included drummer Alan Gratzer, bassist Phil Chen and keyboardist Fred Mandel. May further notes, "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."

Eddie Van Halen was the most influential guitarist of our generation.

Of course, flashy, fleet-fingered guitarists were a dime a dozen in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. Eddie was better than all of them, but he was more than that. A songwriter, a keyboardist, a studio wizard, ¼ of Van Halen’s four-part harmony team and a band leader that was able to guide VH through losing the most distinctive frontman of the ‘80s and led them to four chart-topping albums with Sammy Hagar.

Here, we take on the tough task of ranking their top 30 songs. (It was really, really tough to cut any of the songs on the first six albums from this list.)