The following is an essay I wrote in 1996 for an English composition class at 
Auburn University. It is an essay about Brian May and his first solo album, Back to the 
Light. The fact that I am a huge fan of Brian May helped me earn a grade of “A” for this 
essay, which I am particularly proud of. Also, the essay was published in the U.S. based 
Brian May Fan Club newsletter, so some of you may have already read it. Skip down to 
the next page and enjoy!

- Michael Thomas Sumners, Jr

The Red Special
My Tribute to Brian Harold May

	Brian Harold May is one of the greatest rock musicians of all time.  His quarter-
century with Queen changed the music world forever by proving to all that rock is 
music;  it is art.  Brian’s guitar style has greatly influenced countless numbers of young 
musicians,  myself included.   May’s personal life and tragedies which affected him 
gave way to a brilliant solo album,  Back to the Light.
	Released in 1992,  Back to the Light,  was Brian May’s first full-length solo album.  
It is extremely colorful and very rich with musical styles.  A full range of music is 
displayed on the album,  from heavy guitar power chords to delicate,  classical string 
arrangement - and that is just on the opening track.  Brian also incorporates acoustic 
guitar,  piano,  angelic background vocals,   and something he refers to as “Chaos 
Karaoke” into his album.  May was responsible for lead vocals,  guitars,  some 
keyboards,  and some background vocals,  but for areas out of his range of expertise,  he 
recruited the talents of veteran rock drummer Cozy Powell,  bassist Neil Murray,  and 
keyboardist Don Airey,  in addition to several other musicians and vocalists,  including 
a fleeting appearance by Queen bassist John Deacon.
	The infamous Brian May style of guitar playing,  developed on his homemade 
(and equally infamous) guitar,  The Red Special ,   is extremely unique.  Askold Buk,  of 
Guitar School magazine,  refers to Brian’s multi-layered brilliance as “wire choir”  :
	Queen made its mark with an instantly recognizable,  thick sound,  due in no 
	small measure to Brian May’s mastery of layering guitar parts.  Whereas the 
	guitarists of that day would divide their recording chores into lead and rhythm 
	playing,  May took an orchestral approach:  he would overdub as many as nine 
	guitar tracks on one cut,  often harmonizing single-note passages that could just 
	as easily be played as block chords on one guitar ...  to this day no one has been 
	able to match the fire and intensity of Brian May’s “wire choir.” (Buk 95)
Ralph Denyer adds  “One of the most striking features of Brian May’s playing is his use 
of multi-layered guitar harmonies.”  Finally,  Denyer quotes Brian May himself  as 
having said  “It was something that I was always interested in and I wanted to do it best 
and first...you can actually build up whole orchestras that way and why not?”. (Denyer  
26)
	As mentioned before,  tragedies and sadness in Brian May’s personal life led to 
the writing of his solo album.  Laura Jackson wrote a book about May,  and in the 
opening statements of the work,  she writes:
	To Queen’s worldwide legions of fans he (Brian May) played his public part to 
	perfection,  yet for the last five of those twenty years he battled in private with 
	intense personal turmoil.  His depth of depression was once so acute that he 
	contemplated driving off a bridge,  yet he emerged strong - to launch his solo 
	career in the autumn of 1992 with an album appropriately entitled Back to the 
	Light.  (Jackson  1)
A fellow named Wayne Robins wrote “The events that provoked May’s near 
breakdown included the death of May’s father,  a divorce that tore him from his 
children,  and Queen’s stagnation during the years that (Freddie) Mercury had become 
ill (from AIDS)  but was keeping it a secret from even his bandmates.” (Robins  ?)
In Robins’ magazine article,  May himself was quoted as saying:
	People probably thought everything was wonderful for me.  But five years ago I 
	was really falling apart totally.  I really felt in a crisis,  and very close to driving 
	off a bridge.  So the album was made during the time when I was finding a way 
	back to sanity,  if you like,  certainly back to optimism ... finding a way to go 
	forward. (Robins  ?)
In the sleeve notes of Back to the Light,  May wrote:
	Music is joy to me,  and living in it is sometimes the only safe place to be.  Much 
	of what is recorded here is for fun,  escapism,  music for its own sake,  and 
	though I mean what I say,  take it with a small pinch of salt (emphasis added) ... 
	In my mind,  this album was always called Back to the Light.  At its beginning I 
	felt no real hope of finding the light;  now it glimmers dimly,  encouragingly,  
	but always intermittently in the hall of mirrors around me.  I suppose if we ever 
	knew exactly where the light was coming from,  getting there would be 
	easy.....(May)
	The first track on the album,  “The Dark,”  is a short instrumental introduction to 
the title track.  The title track itself seems to be almost like a Brian May theme song.  It 
reflects some of the ideas that were in his mind while writing the album.  This is easily 
proven by the song’s title,  Back to the Light,  which could very easily be interpreted as 
May’s return to the literal spotlight after a several year lapse in his stage performances. 
Robins wrote “Some songs like ‘Nothin But Blue’ and ‘I’m Scared, ‘ have layered 
harmonies reminiscent of Queen with less of the pomp.  Other tunes like ‘Rollin Over’ 
and ‘Love Token’ are classic British rockers in the Humble Pie mode.” (Robins)      
Written for Ford Motor Company,  “Driven By You”  was May’s first solo top ten 
single.  My personal favorite song in the entire world is “Resurrection.”  The title of this 
tune could possibly have the same interpretation as that of “Back to the Light.”  
Interestingly,  “Too Much Love Will Kill You,” which I have read was written for 
Brian’s ex-wife Chrissy,  originally debuted on Back to the Light,  but was also a track on 
Queen’s 1995 album,  Made in Heaven,  with the late Freddie Mercury having taken on 
the lead vocal responsibility.  Also,  the Queen version’s backing sounded like electric 
piano and guitar,  as opposed to the more acoustic instrument sound on Back to the 
Light.  “Let Your Heart Rule Your Head”  quickly reminds the seasoned Queen fan of 
“‘39,”  which is a song Brian wrote and sang for Queen’s A Night at the Opera  album.
Brian remarkably put down his Red Special,  for only the second documented time,  to 
record with another electric guitar.  This instrument,  a special chrome guitar given to 
Brian by Joe Satriani,  made its debut on “Nothin’  But Blue” - the track on which the 
aforementioned John Deacon lends his talent.
	As a whole,  Back to the Light  is a collection of wonderful songs,   stylistically 
ranging from one extreme of the musical spectrum to the other.   Brian May is a 
member of a quickly dying breed - rock music’s true musicians.  He is my hero,  and I 
truly hope that he has more of himself to give.


NOTE:  This essay may not be reproduced in any way without the express consent of its author.


Works Cited


Buk,  Askold.  “The Wire Choir.”  Guitar School  April,  1996:  95.

Denyer,  Ralph.  The Guitar Handbook .  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf,  Inc.,  1993.

May,  Brian.  Back to the Light  sleeve notes.  Hollywood Records,  1992.

Jackson,  Laura.  Queen and I : The Brian May Story.  London:  Smith Gryphon Limited,  
	1994.

Robins,  Wayne.  “Sounds.” Penthouse









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