Brian May has pulled off some serious time travel wizardry in the new video for Back to the Light, the title track of his recently reissued 1992 debut solo album.
Arriving at the doors of London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1992, 2021 Brian May is clearly fresh from stepping off the time machine, as he's still wearing a Covid-safe face mask. After realizing there's still almost 30 years until our present day pandemic, he removes the face covering, and heads into the auditorium.
As he enters, the Queen guitarist is greeted to an ultra-melodic chorus of May-esque electric guitar leads, before his 1992 counterpart – onstage with a band including drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Neil Murray – ushers in the intro of Back to the Light.
Present day May joins the band onstage soon after, trading the track's luscious harmonized leads with the 45-year-old May. Because how often do you get to play guitar with a younger version of yourself?
Fortunately, the time travel process didn't harm the Queen guitarist's famed Red Special. In fact, this might be the first time two Brian Mays have both played the Red Special at once.
“I feel kind of affectionate looking back,” May explains. “Looking back at me 30 years ago, a young man with no idea of the incredible journey that was still to come.”
Back to the Light (Deluxe) arrived August 6 via Virgin EMI. Prior to its title track, the guitarist released three touched up videos from the LP: Driven By You, Resurrection, and Too Much Love Will Kill You.
“I've polished up the three original videos from 1992,” he explains, “but the Back to the Light video is brand-new – a short film with a story to tell.”
Footage seen in the Back to the Light music video is taken from Live at the Brixton Academy, a live concert film released by the Brian May Band in 1993.
