Brian May - Red Special (1998)

Much like the Resurrection EP before, this Japanese EP collects together some of the various B-sides and non-LP tracks, this time, revolving around the Another World LP. It includes Maybe Baby and Only Make Believe, two outtakes from his aborted all-covers album project. Light on guitar, but great vocals, and they show his influences. The highlight of the disc are two live tracks recorded in Paris in 6/98: a light-hearted jaunt thru 'On My Way Up' (preceded by a few minutes of jamming), and a lengthy, slowed-down arrangement of 'Hammer To Fall', which I dare say equals the original in quality (the climactic reprise features the original rocking riff). His tone on this one is reminiscent of 'It's Late'. So until Brian tours the States in support of AW, this 17 minutes of live music should tide you over. The only dissapointment is the inclusion of two regular LP tracks: Another World, and Business, which is erroneously listed as 'USA radio mix uncut' - but is really just the full LP version with out the intrusion of Space or China Belle at the beginning or end. You'd think they'd have put the 'Rock On Cozy mix', but no dice. Then one could have avoided purchasing the 'Business' single, save for the interactive stuff. But, as with nearly all Japanese discs, the lyrics to all songs are included. And the cool title ('bout time he named a record after his legendary axe) and cover (red-and-black silhouette version of the AW cover) are almost worth the price alone. Again, anyone calling themselves a fan must own this disc.


Tracks:

01. On My Way Up (Live in Paris, June '98) (08:07)
02. Why Don't We Try Again (05:24)
03. Maybe Baby (The Crickets cover) (02:13)
04. Business (USA Radio mix uncut) (05:11)
05. Another World (04:07)
06. It's Only Make Believe (Conway Twitty cover) (02:39)
07. Hammer To Fall (Live in Paris, June '98) (09:12)
08. Brian Talks (A Tribute to Cozy Powell) (01:13)

Personnel:

Brian May – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards
Jamie Moses – guitar (1, 3, 6, 7)
Neil Murray – bass (1, 3, 6, 7)
Ken Taylor – bass (5)
Spike Edney – keyboards (1, 3, 6, 7)
Cozy Powell – drums (2, 3, 4, 6), percussion (2)
Steve Ferrone – drums & percussion (1, 5, 7)