Brian May’s playing on the Masters of the Universe soundtrack has a touching personal element: “He shows up carrying two giant boxes of He-Man toys that he still had in his attic”
When Brian May revealed that his Red Special was “all over” the soundtrack of the new Masters Of The Universe movie, we knew we were in for a treat. Eternia is riling with killer riffs, fuelling He-Man with the ultimate power of a rock god – and the Queen guitarist was giddy with excitement to offer his services.
Speaking to Polygon, director Travis Knight recalls how he was out-fangirled when meeting the Queen guitarist. While Knight was basking in the “surreal moment” of watching a legend perform on his Red Special, May couldn’t help proving how much he loved He-Man. “At the end of the session, he disappears,” Knight says. “I thought he was just tired, but then he shows up and he’s carrying two giant boxes of He-man toys that he still had in his attic from his son Jimmy.”
READ MORE: Steve Vai struggled to play Brian May’s Red Special guitar due to its strange neck: “I just remember thinking, ‘I can’t play this thing’”
Despite the toys belonging to his son, May was totally familiar with the He-Man collection. He rallied off the story arcs, character names and lore with ease. “He put them on the ground in his recording studio, pulled out the characters – and he knew who they were,” Knight explains.
“It was a crazy bizarro moment for me to be sitting there with Brian May as he’s talking about Skeletor and Man-E-Faces,” he continues. “It was so weird and also so cool.”
May has posted the moment on his personal Instagram. Alongside Knight, sound designer Sam Okell, and composer Daniel Pemberton, May shows off his his vintage toy collection. And he’s smiling like a kid on Christmas that has got absolutely everything he wanted. “I have the POWER!!!!” he wrote in the caption. “Great joy to work tonight on the scrumptious, brand new He-Man movie.”
View this post on Instagram
Elsewhere in the Polygon article, Knight explains why enlisting May was so important for the soundtrack. He reveals that a “big musical touchstone” throughout the process was the score of 1980 sci-fi movie Flash Gordon – a score written, performed and produced by Queen.
“I loved Flash Gordon as a kid and I think one of the many reasons was that incredible, iconic score that Queen famously did,” the director says. “It was amazing. It had such joy, such spirit, such theatricality – this operatic, larger than life feel – but it also had real sincerity at its core. And that comes down to those incredible musicians. So Queen was definitely a touchstone for me and Daniel.”
Masters Of The Universe is in cinemas now.
The post Brian May’s playing on the Masters of the Universe soundtrack has a touching personal element: “He shows up carrying two giant boxes of He-Man toys that he still had in his attic” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
