{"id":791701,"date":"2019-01-03T09:28:53","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T16:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=774465"},"modified":"2019-01-03T09:28:53","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T16:28:53","slug":"hear-queen-guitarist-brian-mays-new-anthem-to-space-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/hear-queen-guitarist-brian-mays-new-anthem-to-space-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"Hear Queen Guitarist Brian May\u2019s New Anthem to Space Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Queen<\/a> guitarist Brian May<\/a> released a new song on New Year\u2019s Eve to mark the voyage of the New Horizons space probe as it passed by the trans-Neptunian object Ultima Thule. It\u2019s the farthest object in the solar system that a spacecraft has visited, and it took 12 years to get there. \u201cNew horizons to explore, new horizons no one\u2019s ever seen before,\u201d May sings to a propulsive beat on the song, \u201cNew Horizons (Ultima Thule Mix).\u201d The four-minute song contains well-orchestrated rock riffs, a typically soaring guitar solo and plenty of Queen-style vocal harmonies. He described the song<\/a> as \u201can anthem to human endeavor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ship\u2019s voyage was especially meaningful to May, an astrophysicist, since he had joined NASA\u2019s science team as a collaborator on the project in 2015. \u201cYou know, this is exploration, almost Victorian-style if you like,\u201d May told NPR<\/a> yesterday. \u201cIt\u2019s just there, so we have to know about it. So the song became about that, you know, the indomitable spirit of man to explore the universe around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the New Horizons spacecraft made it to Ultima Thule, May has been using his Instagram account to issue updates about it. Yesterday, he posted a photo of Ultima Thule<\/a> (taken \u201cfive minutes ago\u201d) and captioned it, \u201cThe Holy Grail of the Solar System?\u201d He also posted another photo<\/a> of the object in color.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, May\u2019s first-ever solo recording was also a tribute to space travel. In 1983, he released a mini-album, Star Fleet Project<\/em>, on which he made a hard-rock version of composer Paul Bliss\u2019 theme for British sci-fi series Star Fleet<\/em>. Billed to \u201cBrian May and Friends,\u201d the song features additional guitar by Eddie Van Halen and backing vocals by Queen\u2019s Roger Taylor, among others.<\/p>\n