Brian May will release a 40th-anniversary deluxe box set of Star Fleet Project, his star-studded mini-album featuring Eddie Van Halen, on July 14.

The Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Sessions box set will comprise two CDs, one vinyl LP, a vinyl single and other collector’s items. It’s available to preorder now. You can see the full track listing and listen to the newly mixed single version of the title track below.

The Queen guitarist conceived Star Fleet Project in early 1983 when his main band was on break, recruiting Van Halen, REO Speedwagon drummer Alan Gratzer, keyboardist Fred Mandel (Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd), bassist Phil Chen (Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart) and Queen drummer Roger Taylor (who provided backing vocals). The powerhouse lineup tore through a hard-rock rendition of the theme song from the Japanese television show X Bomber, renamed Star Fleet in the United Kingdom, after May’s 4-year-old son Jimmy got him hooked on the show.

The original Star Fleet Project was a three-song EP featuring the title track, the May solo composition “Let Me Out” and the incendiary, 13-minute “Blues Breaker Jam,” dedicated to Eric Clapton. The box set will feature remixed versions of all three songs, along with interviews, live recordings, alternate takes and additional jam sessions from the whirlwind two-day recording session at Los Angeles’ Record Plant studio in April 1983.

“We are going to give you everything … every take of every song, the things that went wrong, the laughing, the finding new things to do,” May wrote in the box set’s liner notes. “But it won’t be just a remaster – we’ve rescued everything from the original multitracks, every detail magnificently remixed and more! You’ll hear every take from the historic 1983 sessions plus fragments of conversations, outtakes and musical experimentation.” May further raved about the opportunity to dig into his jam sessions with the late Van Halen and Chen.

“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,” he said. “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.”

He also praised Van Halen for “never quite treading the same path twice” throughout “Star Fleet,” which features eight solos from the guitar virtuoso. “Ed was a wonderful soul,” May noted. “Listening to him and me, I feel completely outclassed by him in the studio. But in a very pleasant way – what a joy for me to be around a guy who could do all that. Such a privilege.”

Brian May + Friends, ‘Star Fleet Project’ 40th Anniversary Edition Track Listing
CD1: Star Fleet Project + Beyond
Star Fleet (Edited Single Version / 2023 Mix)
Let Me Out (2023 Mix)
Blues Breaker (2023 Mix)
Cynthia Fox Release Day Interview 1983
Bob Coburn Rockline Interview 1984
Let Me Out (Live at The Palace Theater, LA / 1993)
We Will Rock You (Live at The Palace Theater, LA / 1993)
We Will Rock You – Fast (Live at The Palace Theater, LA / 1993)
Star Fleet (Complete Version / 2023 Mix)
CD2: Star Fleet – The Complete Sessions
Star Fleet (Take 1)
Star Fleet (Take 2)
Star Fleet (Take 3)
Star Fleet (Take 4)
Star Fleet (Take 5)
Solo Jam
Star Fleet (Take 7)
Star Fleet (Take 8)
Star Fleet (Take 10)
Star Fleet (Take 11)
Star Fleet (Alternative Overdub EVH Solo)
Jam
Let Me Out (Rehearsal 1)
Let Me Out (Rehearsal 2)
Boogie Woogie Jam
Let Me Out (Take 1)
Jazz Police
Let Me Out (Take 3)
Let Me Out (Take 4)
Jam (Let’s Do The Show Right Here)
Let Me Out (Take 6)
Funky Jam
Let Me Out (Take 7 False Start)
LP: Star Fleet Project (180g Red Vinyl)
Star Fleet (2023 Mix)
Let Me Out (2023 Mix)
Blues Breaker (2023 Mix)
7″ Single “Star Fleet”
Star Fleet (Edited Single Version / 2023 Mix)
Son Of Star Fleet (2023 Mix) – Exclusive to the box set 7″