Released as the work of Brian May + Friends, the album features May, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alan Gratzer (then of REO Speedwagon), Phil Chen (session bassist who played with Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart), and Fred Mandel (keyboard player for Alice Cooper and additional keyboard player on Queen's Hot Space Tour and The Works).

"[T]he result is high-octane rockist instrumentals, instantly Queenish, and not unlike Flash with added fretboard pyrotechnics".

[2] "Star Fleet Project was called a 'mini-album' by [May] because he thought it ... too short to be a proper album, but too long to be even an EP single".

[4] The idea for the album came from May's son Jimmy, a fan of Star Fleet, the English title of Japanese sci-fi puppet TV show X-Bomber.

[5] The show, which aired on Saturday mornings, "was compulsive regular viewing for [May] and his 4-year-old son Jimmy ... inspiring [May]'s attachment to its title song".

"[8] "[M]y little boy had been watching this science fiction series and I always thought that the theme tune for it would be a great vehicle for all-out guitar playing".

'"[10] "If [composer] Paul [Bliss] hadn't written a very catchy song as the theme tune for that kid's TV science fiction drama series, things would have been different," said May.

Later I got in touch with him, and he said it was a pity that I couldn't find him in the early days because he's got some more verse in the middle – which I'm dying to hear – but it was too late for the project.

[24] "Let Me Out", "an old song of [May's] which found new life",[5] "turns into a blues jam, with Brian and Van Halen trading licks".

[5] The song "received its first live performance on 7 December 1990 at the Astoria Theatre, when Brian guest-starred on guitar for the last four minutes of The Cross' Fan Club gig ....[and got] one additional airing on 7 July 2001 at [the Auditorium Stravinksi] as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival), with Brian on guitars and vocals, Jon Clearly on piano, Chris Spedding on guitar, John Hatton on bass, Bernie Dresel on drums, and Emily [May], [Jim May], and Anita [Dobson] providing backing vocals.

said that the song "has something epic, as if every one of the players touched deep into [the] collective music lexicon, and promptly replied to his previous speaker.

"[29] This song and "Let Me Out" were more spontaneous than "Star Fleet", with May showing off his signature sound and Van Halen using his unique tapping technique to great effect.

It was first re-issued as part of May's "Back to the Light" single, in two CDs: the first featured "Star Fleet" and "Let Me Out", the second "Blues Breaker".

125 in the US,[36] with the "Star Fleet" single being counted as "a non-starter at 65"[34] that "received no daytime radio airplay",[35] individuals took a liking to the mini-LP—so much so that by 1984, it was reported that the album was "already a cult guitar favorite.

Where solo efforts often tend to be politely applauded and then forgotten as an artist's 'indulgence', the raw power of this album has given it instant, unanticipated acceptance .... [May admitted:] 'I must contest I still enjoy it — I still put it on the record player and like what I hear.

"[19] "[T]here is so much spirited byplay among ... May and ... Van Halen ... Alan Gratzer ... Phil Chen and ... Fred Mandel that [the mini-album] was just too good to be left sitting in the can.

"[43] Referencing Star Fleet Project in comparison to the Ultima Thule Mix of May's song New Horizons, Rolling Stone journalist Kory Grow wrote that "May's first-ever solo recording was also a tribute to space travel.

"[45] Following Van Halen's death on 6 October 2020, May stated that "[a]t some point it would be lovely to revisit [Star Fleet Project] in depth, but at the moment I'm not.

You'll hear the development of Eddie's solo, which I always thought was one of the greatest things he did ... a real immortal classic of Ed Van Halen pieces.

"[49] This re-release is set to include "'every take of every song,' along with conversations, outtakes and musical experimentation recorded during the sessions.

The 14 July release, titled Star Fleet Sessions, includes "a spectacular 23-track CD filled with previously unreleased material.

"[4] As part of the marketing for the re-release, May uploaded two videos to his YouTube channels, one promoting the preorder, another of the digital version of "Star Fleet".