Produced by: Brian May
Co-produced and engineered by: Justin Shirley-Smith
Recorded at: Allerton Hill, The Townhouse Studios, Mono Valley Studios, Marcus Studios, Mountain Studios, Sarm Studios
UK Parlophone LP: 28 September 1992 PCSD 123 / UK Chart #6
USA Hollywood CD: 2 February 1993 HR-61404-2 / Billboard #159

Side One 1. The Dark (May) 2:20 2. Back To The Light (May) 5:00 3. Love Token (May) 5:55 4. Resurrection (May/Powell/Page) 5:27 5. Too Much Love Will Kill You (May/Musker/Lamers) 4:28 6. Driven By You (May) 4:11

Side Two 1. Nothin' But Blue (May/Powell) 3:31 2. I'm Scared (May) 4:00 3. Last Horizon (May) 4:10 4. Let Your Heart Rule Your Head (May) 3:51 5. Just One Life (May) 3:37 6. Rollin' Over (Marriot/Lane) 4:36

Related Songs
Driven By You Two (May), Tie Your Mother Down (Live) (May), The "Bell-Boy" Tape

UK Singles
- Driven By You c/w Just On Life 7" / UK Chart #6
- Driven By You c/w Just One Life / Just One Life (Guitar Version) / Driven By You (Ford Ad Version) 12"
- Driven By You / Just One Life / Just One Life (Guitar Version) CD single
- Too Much Love Will Kill You c/w I'm Scared (Original Version) 7" / UK Chart #5
- Too Much Love Will Kill You / I'm Scared (Original Version) / Too Much Love Will Kill You (Guitar Version) / Driven By You (New Version) CD single
- Back To The Light c/w Nothin' But Blue (Guitar Version) 7" / UK Chart #19
- Back To The Light / Star Fleet / Let Me Out CD single Part 1
- Back To The Light / Nothing But Blue (Guitar Version) / Blues Breaker CD single Part 2
- Resurrection (Single Version) c/w Love Token / Too Much Love Will Kill You (Live) 7" picture disc / UK Chart #23
- Resurrection (Single Version) / Love Token / Too Much Love Will Kill You (Live) CD single Part 1
- Resurrection (Single Version) / Driven By You Two / Back To The Light (Live) / Tie Your Mother Down (Live) CD single Part 2
- Last Horizon c/w '39/Let Your Heart Rule Your Heart (Live) 7" / UK Chart #51
- Last Horizon (Radio Edit) / Last Horizon (Live) / We Will Rock You (Live) / Last Horizon CD single

After years of recording, Brian May's first full-length solo album, Back To The Light, was released in September 1992 in the UK. The death of Freddie Mercury and the ensuing tribute concert put interest in Queen and related projects at an all time high. Recorded primarily between 1988 and 1992, the album was a hit, charting at #6 in the UK.

Back To The Light spawned five singles, all of which charted, four were bona fide hits. Driven By You, the lead single, had originally been recorded by Brian during Queen's Innuendo sessions. Freddie, impressed with Brian's performance, insisted the guitarist use it for his solo career. The single was scheduled for release on November 25, 1991. With Freddie's health failing, Brian become concerned over the timing of the single. Freddie insisted it was released, what better publicity could one get? The single came out the day after Freddie Mercury's death, charting at #6.

Too Much Love Will Kill You was originally a Queen song recorded for The Miracle. Although finished, the Queen version wouldn't see the light of day until 1995. Brian's solo version was released as a follow-up single to Driven By You and charted even higher than its predecessor at #5.

The title track, Back To The Light, faired well reaching #19 in the UK. Fans were delighted by the 2-part CD single release, which featured Star Fleet Project tracks making their long-awaited CD debut.

Resurrection and Last Horizon followed as the fourth and fifth singles, charting at #23 and #51 respectively.

Back To The Light landed stateside four months after its UK counterpart, with an alternative cover. Brian appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to promote the release, which stalled at #159 on the Billboard chart.

The Dark (Album Version) 2:20
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 1

The Dark (Original Flash Gordon Sessions Version)
Appears on: Unreleased
An unused, untitled piece from the Flash Gordon sessions eventually became the lead track on Brian May's 1992 solo album Back To The Light. Recorded with an orchestra and Brian's layered guitars, the original version of the track symbolized the dark corners of the Flash Gordon universe. The piece was ultimately discarded for its dark and serious tone, which was the exact opposite of the tongue in cheek camp film. Brian revisited the track years later, christening it The Dark, now appropriately titled, representing the grimness of life before going Back To The Light.

The Dark (1988 Demo)
Appears on: Unreleased
The later 1988 demo was one of three tracks on a demo tape played by Brian to friends in a preview of his upcoming solo album. This version is apparently very close to the version that appears on the final album.

Back To The Light (Album Version) 5:00
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 2

Back To The Light (Single Mix) 5:00
Appears on: UK Back To The Light 7" vinyl, Back To The Light CD single 1, Back To The Light CD single 2, UK Back To The Light promo CD single
Kudos to Patrick Lemieux for discovering this unique version. This is a hard one to notice unless you directly compare the two, but yes, there is a different mix of Back To The Light on the various single releases. The album is a bit beefier, thicker sounding throughout. The main and backing vocals have more presence on the single. The background vocals in particular standout much more at the end (all the "yeaaaahs"). The most notable parts of the song include: 4:10, 4:25, and 4:39, which are drowned out or straight-up absent on the album. Also, Kudos to Richard Guibault for noticing at the guitar roars from right channel to left a the end of the album version, but on the single, it's the other way around.

Back To The Light (Radio Edit) 4:12
Appears on: UK Back To The Light promo 7" vinyl, UK Back To The Light promo CD single
A very effective promo edit. The track just fades out 47 seconds before the album version. Until that point, the two versions are exactly the same.

Back To The Light (Live at The Tonight Show) 4:51
Appears on: UK Resurrection Part 2 CD single
A very neat live version from Brian's performance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The track starts with the opening theme of the Tonight Show and Ed Hall announcing that evening's guests. The track then cuts to Jay Leno introducing Brian May and then the actual live performance begins. This live version has more of a rock feel. A very good performance with a good reaction from the crowd.

Love Token (Album Version) 5:55 (UK) / 6:04 (US)
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 3
The US and UK versions of Love Token and Resurrection start and stop at different points. The music is the same, the segued tracks just start/stop at different places.

Love Token (Single Version) 5:27
Appears on: UK Resurrection 12" vinyl, UK Resurrection Part 1 CD single
A complete stand-alone version that fades out at the piano ending (before the segue with Resurrection). This version fades out slightly before the Explicit Version.

Love Token (Explicit Version) 5:36
Appears on: RCD Magazine CD
A different version appearing on a compact disc in the classic rock magazine RCD. The track itself is basically the same as the album version, just with some very interesting lyric changes in the middle section of the song. As opposed to "meat for brains" in the album version, this version has the lyrics "shit for brains." Also there is a "fuck you" added in the argument section of the song. The track also stops album 20 seconds earlier; fading at the piano part. The lyric changes are kind of shocking if you only know the album and/or the single version.

Resurrection (Album Version) 5:27 (UK) / 5:19 (US)
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 4
The US and UK versions of Love Token and Resurrection start and stop at different points. The music is the same, the segued tracks just start/stop at different places.

Resurrection (Single Version) 4:39
Appears on: UK Resurrection 12" vinyl, UK Resurrection Part 1 CD single, UK Resurrection Part 2 CD single, US Resurrection promo CD
The track starts without the atmospheric intro and instead starts with Cozy's heavy drumming. Approximately 15 seconds of other instrumental parts from the beginning part of the song have also been cut. The outro from the album version has been retained and is actually about 3 seconds longer.

Resurrection (Pill Sampler Edit) 4:58
Appears on: UK Too Much Love Will Kill You - The Pill Sampler CD promo
This promo edit starts at exactly the same point as the single version. The rest of the song is unedited and the outro on this version is the longest yet, at about 20 seconds.

Ride To Win a.k.a. Resurrection (Instrumental Version) 3:44
Appears on: The Drums Are Back LP by Cozy Powell
From Cozy Powell's "The Drums Are Back" album. This is a pure instrumental version of Resurrection without any vocals or atmospheric synthesizer work. The instrumentation is the same that appears on the final Back To The Light album version.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (Album Version) 4:28
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 5

Too Much Love Will Kill You (Single Version) 4:33
Appears on: UK Too Much Love Will Kill You 7" vinyl, UK Too Much Love Will Kill You CD single, UK Too Much Love Will Kill You - The Pill CD single, UK Too Much Love Will Kill You - The Pill Sampler CD promo, US Too Much Love Will Kill You promo CD, US Too Much Love Will Kill You withdrawn promo CD
On the Back To The Light album, the end of Resurrection fades into the opening of the next track, Too Much Love Will Kill You. The various single releases of Too Much Love Will Kill You features the song with a clean opening with no bits of Resurrection.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (Live Version with Spoken Intro) 4:43
Appears on: UK Resurrection Part 1 CD single, UK Resurrection 12" vinyl, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Deluxe Edition, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Box Set
Recorded live at the Palace Theater in Los Angeles on April 6th, 1993. The track starts with Brian introducing Spike Edney to the crowd. This version is very similar to his performances at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and Live At The Brixton Academy.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (Live Version without Spoken Intro) 4:43
Appears on: US Too Much Love Will Kill You promo CD, US Too Much Love Will Kill You mastering error promo CD
This is the exact same version as the one with the vocal intro, except the introduction of Spike Edney has been removed from the track. Notice that running time is exactly the same.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (Guitar Version) 4:34
Appears on: UK Too Much Love Will Kill You CD single, US Too Much Love Will Kill You promo CD, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Deluxe Edition, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Box Set
An instrumental version with the only vocals being a short acapella intro and some background chorus by Brian. The Red Special is played the entire way through and is almost treated like a lead vocal track.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (Hollywood Master Error) a.k.a. Piano Version 4:34
Appears on: US Too Much Love Will Kill You withdrawn promo CD
This is a rare error that appeared on the first run of Too Much Love Will Kill You promo CD singles in the US. In what was supposed to be the Guitar Version on the CD, it was actually the Guitar Version minus the guitar. This actually turns out to be a nice mistake and results in a proper piano version.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Intro Version) 3:08
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
While living in Los Angeles, Brian became friends with singer/songwriter Elizabeth Lamers and songwriter Frank Musker. Together, they wrote the song Too Much Love Will Kill You. As Brian would explain, he was in a dark place, mentally and emotionally: "It happened when I was in America when I was trying to get away from life, and I wrote it with a couple of friends whom I just met, who sort of helped me get it out of my system. It was like a cathartic thing." Home recording sessions were held at Frank Musker's house, which produced a cassette tape of work-in-progress demos. As the story goes, the tape was given by Elizabeth Lamers as a tip to a bell-boy at the hotel where she was staying. Hence the name 'The Bell Boy Tape'. Lamers insisted that she never gave a cassette tape of any version of the to anyone in any hotel. She theorized it is possible that a tape was misplaced, but there was never any handing off of unreleased material by her, Frank or Brian. Regardless of origin, the tape was privately sold in 1990 and is currently owned by collector John S. Stuart. Parts of the tape were leaked over the years; the full tape leaked in 2011. The intro version is the first song on the tape. Lamers, May, and Musker are working out the melody of the song. Brian provides some very rudimentary humming for vocals.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Every Time Version) 1:38
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
Mostly studio banter with a bits of piano, this is a continuation of Musker, Lamer,and May working out the song. The three are working out lyrics to a verse.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Verse Ending) 0:21
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
Brian is working out the end of the verse. He can be heard singing "too much love will kill you in the end". Some banter can be heard between Brian and Elizabeth Lamers.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Second Verse) 1:04
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
Brian is working on lyrics to the second verse, singing along to the piano accompaniment.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Shit Version) 3:11
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
Brian begins this take with a laugh saying "shit, can we do it again?" Elizabeth and Brian continue to sing through lyrics as the song takes shape. There is a lot of inaudible banter between the two.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Acoustic Guitar Demo) 2:35
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
Brian and Elizabeth continue to discuss lyrics and work their way through the track. This time an acoustic guitar is added to the instrumentation, presumably played by Brian.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Home Keyboard Version) 4:33
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
At this point in the song's creation, we have a full backing track featuring keyboards and drum machine. This recording sounds professionally done as opposed to the preceeding demos. There is no vocal track on this version.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - 1st Vocal Version) 4:48
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
The song has finally taken shape at this point. The keyboard/drum backing track sounds pretty close to the final version. Brian's lead vocals are an earlier take than the final one used for the album. Lyrically, the song is more or less complete. There is no guitar solo (or any guitar) at this point.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Home Duet Version) 4:47
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
This is an interesting departure from the version we all know. Brian and Elizabeth sing this take as a duet. Brian starts with the first verse and from there on it alternates between Elizabeth and Brian. Choruses are mostly done together. The backing track is still just keyboards and drum machine at this point, no guitars.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - CDS Bit) 0:23
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
This short snippet is a take of Brian's opening vocal chorus that appears on the final version.

Too Much Love Will Kill You (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Piano Studio Demo) 4:09
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
This instrumental take is a much more complete keyboard backing track. There is some further keyboard sound effects and synthesized guitar.

Driven By You (Album Version) 4:11
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 6

Driven By You (Edited Version For DJ's In Something Of A Hurry) a.k.a. CHR Edit a.k.a English Edit 3:38
Appears on: UK Driven By You promo CD
An excellent single edit. It is actually quite hard to see what has been taken out to shorten the running time. The most noticable edit is the vocal outro being removed and the song instead being ended with the final "yeah!" Very nicely done. Note that this version appears on US promo CD's as the CHR Edit or the English Edit.

Driven By You (Pollarded Version For DJ's Under Pressure) 3:22
Appears on: UK Driven By You promo CD
A much more noticable edit than other versions. The vocal and drum intro has been completely removed. Instead the track begins with the first major guitar chord. The ending is the same as the DJ's In Something Of A Hurry edit, finishing with "yeah!"

Driven By You (Special Version for DJ's Under Extreme Stress) 0:04
Appears on: UK Driven By You promo CD
The most amusing of all of the edits is meant as a bit of a joke. The track is simply a guitar chord and Brian singing Driven By You a single time. This would qualify as the most edited version of a Queen song ever.

Driven By You (Proper Version For Connoisseurs and Relaxed DJ's) 4:11
Appears on: UK Driven By You promo CD
This is the album version, but is labeled as the "Proper Version" on the UK promo CD. This is just listed to clear up any possible confusion.

Driven By You (CHR Edit Shorter) 3:57
Appears on: US Driven By You 3-Track misprint promo CD
A US only edit that is actually longer than the CHR edit (even though it is labeled as "shorter." Very little is edited from the middle of the track; the intros and outros of the album version are retained.

Driven By You (CHR Edit Shortest) 3:33
Appears on: US Driven By You 3-Track misprint promo CD
Another US only edit that manages to take even more time off of the track. Still, the edit works extremely well to the point that it's hard to notice what was removed. The full intro and outro are retained on this version as well.

Driven By You (Cozy and Neil Version '93) a.k.a. New Version a.k.a Radio Mix 4:11
Appears on: UK Too Much Love Will Kill You CD single, UK Too Much Love Will Kill You - The Pill Sampler CD promo, US Back To The Light CD album, US Driven By You 3-Track misprint promo CD, US Driven By You Compass-Box promo CD, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Deluxe Edition, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Box Set
A remix by Brian Malouf and Brian May that improves upon the original version. Programmed instrumentation is gone, replaced with Cozy Powell on drums and bass by Neil Murray.

Driven By You (Rock Radio Edit) 3:40
Appears on: US Driven By You Compass-Box promo CD
An edit of the Radio Mix or New Version of Driven By You. The intro is completely gone and the track instead starts at the first major guitar chord (similar to the CHR edit). The outro is also gone and ends in a fade at &"yeah!" (which is barely audible).

Driven By You (Ford Ad Version For Collectors Only) 1:29
Appears on: UK Driven By You 12" vinyl, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Deluxe Edition, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Box Set
A much shorter and different version that appeared in UK Ford car commercials. The lyrics and vocals are different to accommodate the commercial. An interesting version just for something different.

Driven By You (Video Version) 4:22
Appears on: Unreleased
The video for Driven By You is a nice look at Brian's solo tour performances. The audio is the album version with some crowd noise added at the beginning and ending.

Driven By You Two 1:35
Appears on: UK Resurrection Part 2 CD single, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Deluxe Edition, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Box Set
A unique instrumental performance of Driven By You that was featured in a second set of UK Ford television advertisements. The track is slightly faster paced and only features Brian singing a singular "Driven By You" at the end of the track.

Nothin' But Blue (Album Version) 3:31
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 7

Nothin' But Blue (Guitar Version) a.k.a. Somewhere In Time 3:53
Appears on: UK Back To The Light 7" vinyl, UK Back To The Light CD single 2, UK Back To The Light promo CD single, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Deluxe Edition, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Box Set, The Drums Are Back LP by Cozy Powell
A proper instrumental version of the album track with no vocals. This version is longer than the album version by 20 seconds; featuring some additional guitar work from Brian. There's a lot of great guitar work here from Brian that might be otherwise missed on the standard version with vocals.

I'm Scared (Album Version) a.k.a. Justin's Mix '92 4:00
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 8

I'm Scared (Original Version) 4:01
Appears on: UK Too Much Love Will Kill You 7" vinyl, UK Too Much Love Will Kill You CD single
The original version of I'm Scared appeared as a B-side to the Too Much Love Will Kill You releases. The album version is actually a remix, dubbed the "Justin Mix '92", possibly remixed by Justin Shirley-Smith. You can easily tell the mix is different, with various audio cues happening at different times. The middle rambling section is missing in this version and it seems like there are some differences in drums, guitar, and even vocal takes.

Last Horizon (Album Version) 4:10
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 9

Last Horizon (Radio Edit) 3:07
Appears on: UK Last Horizon CD single, UK Last Horizon CD promo single
A very basic edit. The Radio Edit basically starts a minute and three seconds into the album version. Amazingly, it works rather well.

Last Horizon (Backing Track) 3:06
Appears on: Brianmay.com Free Download
The backing track of the Last Horizon radio edit was uploaded on Brianmay.com as a "reverse birthday present" from Brian to the fans. Brian's lead guitar is mostly gone, leaving the bass, percussion, and keyboard backing track.

Let Your Heart Rule Your Head (Album Version) 3:51
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 10

Just One Life (Album Version) 3:37
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 11

Just One Life (Guitar Version) 3:43
Appears on: UK Back To The Light CD single 2, UK Driven By You 12" vinyl, UK Driven By You CD single, Holland Driven By You CD promo single 1, Holland Driven By You CD promo single 2, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Deluxe Edition, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Box Set
Another great instrumental version. The backing track is the same as the album version. Instead of Brian singing lead vocals, his Red Special guitar plays the vocal part. Very impressive.

Rollin' Over (Album Version) 4:36
Appears on: Back To The Light, Track 12

Tie Your Mother Down (Live at The Tonight Show) 3:29
Appears on: UK Resurrection Part 2 CD single
The second performance from Brian's appearance on The Tonight Show. A very fun version that features some additional guitar by Slash.

Tie Your Mother Down (Live at The Tonight Show - Gold Series Version) 3:22
Appears on: Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Deluxe Edition, Back To The Light 2CD Gold Series Box Set
The 2021 2 CD Deluxe Edition of Back To The Light included a bonus disc entitled Out Of The Light. Brian's performance of Tie Your Mother Down from The Tonight Show is included with a fade-in intro, much is much more pleasing than the harsh beginning of the original 1993 release.

Sleepy Blues (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Excerpt) 5:14
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
A vocal demo done by Brian, most likely in his home studio. The beginning of the track starts with some mumbling from Brian, stating that the track is for his upcoming solo album. There is no instrumentation, just Brian humming and singing some melody to form the skeleton of a song.

Keyboard Sounds One (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Excerpt) 1:47
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
From the "Bell-Boy" demo tape, this is Brian experimenting with some ambient keyboard sounds. This isn't so much of a song but rather just trying out different sounds.

Keyboard Bells (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Excerpt) 2:57
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
From the "Bell-Boy" demo tape, this is more of Brian experimenting with the keyboard. This bit is a little more fleshed out with some proper chords. Synthesized "bell" sounds are featured here as well.

Keyboard Panpipes (The Bell-Boy Demo Tape - Excerpt) 1:02
Appears on: Unreleased Bell-Boy cassette tape
From the "Bell-Boy" demo tape, this is Brian experimenting with panpipe sounds on the keyboard.