May's second solo release following his 1983 EP Star Fleet Project, Back to the Light was co-produced with Justin Shirley-Smith and recorded between March 1988 and November 1992 at Allerton Hill—May's home studio—and mixed at Metropolis Studios.

"Headlong" and "I Can't Live with You", released on Innuendo, were originally intended for Back to the Light; but when May heard Freddie Mercury singing the songs, he decided they would be recorded by Queen.

"The Dark" is the album's "short keyboard and guitar intro,"[6] "an atmospheric opener...recorded during sessions for Flash Gordon in 1980 at Anvil Studios with orchestrations by Howard Blake.

"The lyrics feature few references to organized religion, being of a more personal nature, as elsewhere on Back to the Light, [May] channels his confusion of life without [Mercury] into song.

[17] "Nothin' But Blue" was "initially recorded as 'Somewhere In Time' on Cozy Powell's 1992 solo album, The Drums Are Back,...with John [Deacon] on bass".

In June 2021, May announced that the album would be reissued as part of the Brian May Gold Series, packaged with a second disc of bonus tracks titled Out of the Light.

The Chicago Tribune wrote that "trademark riffs brighten 'Back to the Light', 'Nothin' but Blue' drips notes of languorous splendor, and May stretches out on the straightforward arena rock of 'Rollin' Over'.