Another World

When Brian May finished touring his debut solo album, Back to the Light, he began to throw open his doors to fresh possibilities. “I got all these little kinds of commissions and triggers and inspirations from outside,” said Brian, who took ownership of these “triggers” and moulded them into a second solo album in his own image. Now released as the second strike in Brian’s Gold Series reissues campaign, Another World pays rich, raucous and fully felt testimony to the legendary Queen guitarist and songwriter’s roots and reach: between its expansive energies and immersive craft, the album’s world-class quality rings out.

The album receives multi-format release April 22 along with the album’s original single release ‘On My Way Up’.

Driven by the potent drumming of the much-missed Cozy Powell, who tragically passed away prior to the album’s release, Another World is a superlative successor to Back to the Light. Drawn from many sources of inspiration, the record emerged in June 1998 as an album of roof-raising rock’n’roll and scorching guitar and indelible melodies, plus a couple of impassioned covers. The album is full of dangerous unguarded feelings and uplift, with guests including Jeff Beck and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins helping to stoke its fires.

Warmly received by the press on its original release in 1998, the album birthed four electric singles in ‘The Business (Rock on Cozy Mix)’, ‘On My Way Up’, ‘Another World’ and ‘Why Don’t We Try Again’. It also ushered Brian and his band out on a hugely successful 42-date tour covering a large swathe of the world and packing out prestigious venues including London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Long unavailable in any format, this timely re-issue in a variety of formats has been personally overseen by Brian himself along with original co-producer Justin Shirley-Smith, Queen and BM Pro Tools expert Kris Fredriksson and longtime Queen art designer Richard Gray.

Meticulously restored with mastering by Bob Ludwig, working from the true original mixes for maximum quality, the album will be reissued in multiple formats, including 1-CD and – on 180g heavyweight black vinyl – 1-LP versions. The 2CD Deluxe set adds Another Disc (mastered by Adam Ayan), while a 2-CD + 1-LP Collector’s Edition includes both CDs and a sky-blue vinyl LP in a 12” lift lid box, complete with 32-page booklet and enamel badge. Queen Online Store exclusives will include picture disc and cassette options.

On all fronts, Another World documents Brian’s personal journey, with ‘A Different Place, way across Time and Space” in mind, and pure emotional honesty at its core. As he explained of the record’s concept, “I hoped that by the time I got to the end of the project, I would have brought about a change in myself. I thought, ‘When the album is finished, I will have made this journey, and I will have got to this other place, and I can tell everyone how I did it’; but to be honest, I didn’t really manage it. The truth of the album is that it’s a journey which is still taking place.”

In his new 2022 liner notes, Brian notes how far we have all travelled since the album’s release in 1998, but also that the exploration feels very appropriate at this time. “It seems perhaps that in 2022 we ARE in Another World,” he writes, “but if it’s not quite the world we asked for, perhaps we can still reach that perfect world… in our dreams. JOIN ME !!!”

Bursting with forceful rock anthems, open-hearted yearning, lush melodies and galvanizing guitar work, Another World sends out a gloriously irresistible invitation to do just that.