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Brian May, for everyone the guitarist of Queen, the man of the Red Special, the creator of songs like "We Will Rock You" and "Who Wants To Live Forever", occasionally able to propose himself as a singer with good results, as in "'39" or "All Dead, All Dead": great honors but also great burdens, which perhaps never allowed the curly-haired London guitar hero to strongly and convincingly propose himself as a solo artist: "Back To The Light" his first, true attempt to break free from the Queen parent company had a long and troubled gestation, lasting from 1988 to 1992, thus being overwhelmed by the long wave caused by the premature death of Freddie Mercury; an undeserved fate for a great album by a well-rounded musician who proves, always with his unmistakable sound, to be able to hold the scene even on his own.
Enlisting collaborators of the caliber of Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, John Deacon, and Don Airey, our man manages to bring to life a great rock album: AOR of the highest quality that definitively puts aside the pop-electronic contaminations that had characterized the Queen's sound for better and (especially) for worse during the '80s and gives back the Red Special the absolute dominance of the scene, originating a batch of almost perfect songs: Brian May certainly does not have the charisma and the unparalleled vocal skills of Freddie, but he is a complete performer, who pours his heart into every riff, every small solo of the RS, and even in every vocal interpretation: it is understood in songs like the epic arena-rock of the title track, clearly indebted to the Queen's sound, and especially the overwhelming "Love Token", small fragments of pop-rock amalgamated in a tough glaze halfway between heavy, with a hint of blues à la Rolling Stones, which finds its natural confluence at the highest point of the album, the immense "Resurrection", a bold ride that highlights the majestic work of Cozy Powell behind the drums and a May who manages to give his best both as a guitarist and as a singer.
To these examples of epic guitar-sound with heavy-oriented tones, there are lighter and more radio-friendly episodes, such as the launch single "Driven By You", a fresh and enjoyable pop-rock comparable in atmosphere to Queen's "A Kind Of Magic" or "The Miracle", the light "Let Your Heart Rule Your Head", a great pop with gospel shades and ballads like the melancholic and elegant "Nothin' But Blue", with the blues phrasing of the Red Special holding the scene and "Too Much Love Will Kill You", the most famous song from "Back To The Light", an epic and poignant power ballad built on orchestrations, piano, and acoustic guitar, which thanks to May's interpretation assumes a less melodramatic pathos compared to its more famous rendition contained in "Made In Heaven" of 1995, thus enriching an album that finds its definitive crowning, the peak of realization of its author in the slow, enveloping and sweet solo of "Last Horizon", just accompanied by the drums and the gentle keyboards of Mike Moran, in which reflects all the style, talent, and melodic taste of this artist, who entered the world of music almost by chance and became one of the great names in rock history.
Even if it didn't receive even a tiny part of the attention it would have deserved, "Back To The Light", just weighed down by some fillers ("Just One Life", "I'm Scared") remains a terrific and almost perfect solo debut for Mr. May, who unfortunately lacked the courage to persist with conviction on this new career, which would be abandoned after the second album, the fluctuating "Another World" of 1998 in favor of a decidedly more lucrative Queen revival, which would certainly produce money galore for the surviving members but also chilling falls of style.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
05 Too Much Love Will Kill You (04:28)
I'm just the pieces of the man I used to be
Too many bitter tears are raining down on me
I'm far away from home
And I've been facing this alone for much too long
I feel like no-one ever told the truth to me
About growing up and what a struggle it would be
In my tangled state of mind
I've been looking back to find where I went wrong
Too Much Love Will Kill You
If you can't make up your mind
Torn between the lover and the love you leave behind
You're headed for disaster 'cos you never read the signs
Too Much Love Will Kill You - every time
I'm just the shadow of the man I used to be
And it seems like there's no way out of this for me
I used to bring you sunshine
Now all I ever do is bring you down
How would it be if you were standing in my shoes
Can't you see that it's impossible to choose
No there's no making sense of it
Every way I go I have to lose
Too Much Love Will Kill You
just as sure as none at all,
It'll drain the power that's in you
Make sure you plead and scream and crawl
And the pain will make you crazy
You're the victim of your crime
Too Much Love Will Kill You - every time
Too Much Love Will Kill You
It'll make your life a lie
Yes, Too Much Love Will Kill You
And you won't understand why
You'd give your life you'd sell your soul
But here it comes again
Too Much Love Will Kill You
In the end.......
In the end.
06 Driven by You (04:11)
Oh - everything I do I do for you
Oh yeah
We touch and you're afraid of me and
We burn and now I'm at your feet
High speed,but you know you're in safe hands
In the dark we make a brighter light
From one spark to the horizon wide
We trust and together we tame the land - yeah
You'd be forgiven if you think you're dreaming
But we're working night and day to make a dream come true - yeah
Everything I do is driven by you
Oh - come on babe
Oh well it's tough to make a journey through
The right stuff is dead ahead of you and me
And you know we've still got time
Hold on tight to the driving wheel
This ride is really out of line
Raw deal, but there's no other that's worth a dime
You know I love you but you drive me crazy
Because you're saying all the things I want to say to you
You say
Everything I do is driven by you
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do is driven by you
Inner children lost their way
Now they know the price you pay
I'm holding on to life with you
Because life without you just won't do
Driven by you
You know I'm never going to know who's dreaming
But we're working night and day to make a dream come true - yeah
Everything I do is driven by you
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do
Everything we do is driven by
Driven by
Driven by you
Oh - everything I do I do for you
08 I'm Scared (04:00)
You take me to the party
You put me on the stand
You're pumping up my heart
To the beating of the band
You toss it in the air
And you don't care where it lands
You take it, you break it
You're hurting me
Because I wasn't prepared
I couldn't go where you dared
You got my whole soul bared
I never knew that you cared (No it just ain't fair)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (so scared)
I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared
You take me out to dinner
And you swallow me whole
You're nothing but a sinner
With a dark black soul
I figured I could handle you
But I'm just a toy
You're getting bolder and bolder
You're just a bad bad boy
Because I wasn't prepared (I'm scared I'm scared)
I couldn't go where you dared (I'm scared I'm scared)
You got my whole soul bared (I'm so so scared)
I never knew that you cared (yeah yeah yeah)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (so scared)
I'm scared (afraid)
I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared
What you staring at
You're such a scaredy cat
When I know that I just can't fight it
So what you staring at
You're such a scaredy cat
Because I'm only scared that maybe I might like it
I'm scared to move,I'm scared of standing still
I'm scared to change,I'm scared to stay the same
I'm so scared I want to die
I'm scared of dying
I'm scared of not being liked,not being loved
I'm scared to be alone
I'm scared of being with people
I'm scared of disapproval
I'm scared of life
I'm scared to lose what I have built
I'm scared of feeling scared
I'm scared of being ugly,being boring,being dull
I'm scared of my thoughts
I'm scared of being found out
I'm scared of Steven Berkhoff
I'm scared to dance,I'm scared to speak,to sing
I'm scared my body's awkward, the wrong shape,wrong smell
I'm scared to say what I think
I'm scared to say no,or yes too often
I'm scared of disappointing
I'm scared of losing control
I'm scared of pain
I'm scared of hurting,being hurt
I'm scared this will go on 'til I die
I'm scared of losing my home,my love,my kids,my kids,my kids
I'm scared my heart will break
I'm scared of losing myself
I'm scared of finding myself
Because there might be no-one there at all
I'm scared of the unknown future
I'm scared to make a wrong turn
I'm scared of the dark
I'm scared of failing
I'm scared it may all be for nothing
You take me to the limit
You take me to the brink
You left me with the blues
When you found me in the pink
You know just what you're saying
But your metaphors stink
I gotta lick it,or stick it
Or this is the end
Because I wasn't prepared (because)
I couldn't go where you dared (because I'm)
You got my whole soul bared (because I'm so)
I never knew that you cared (I'm scared)
(I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
So scared (I'm scared)
So scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared (I'm scared)
I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared
I'm scared
I'm scared
I'm scared
12 Rollin' Over (04:36)
Goodbye sunshine I'm on my way
I'll be long time gone by the break of day
Tell everyone that I'm gonna find it
Ther ain't nothin' gonna stop me-
Save all your lovin' till I get home
To the sweetest lovin' sunshine that I've ever known
Tell everyone that I'm gonna find it
There ain't nothin' gonna stop me-
Rollin' over, Shak-do-way
Rollin' over, Yeah-yeah-yeah......
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Other reviews
By AR (Anonima Recensori)
The beginning is very psychedelic and overwhelming: 'The Dark'.
'Too Much Love Will Kill You' is a splendid ballad echoing 'Save Me', Queen era.
By piccolojedi1991
Brian and his Red Special manage to create something that... can worthily honor this man/instrument couple.
‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’ simply unique. Although the song is known to us sung by Mercury, in this album it appears for the first time.
