When it comes to matters science fictional, the band Queen is best known for their soundtrack to Flash Gordon (although Freddie Mercury's encounters with Wolverine are near and dear to us).

But back in 1983, Queen guitarist Brian May teamed up with Eddie Van Halen and members of REO Speedwagon and Alice Cooper's and Rod Stewart's bands for The Star Fleet Project, an EP whose most famous track was a cover of the theme song from the Japanese-British TV show Star Fleet. As Brian May recalled of these unvarnished jam sessions way back when:

There weren't any rehearsals, except that we played around at each other's houses a little bit, acoustically. I'd been to Edward's studio in his home, and I played a little with him — nothing very organized [...] I've been working very hard on making a video for "Star Fleet." The people who made the series, which originally was Japanese, have very kindly given me access to footage that I'm using. We're putting a whole little story together using the original shots of theirs. I'm also telling the story — a sort of figure who appears, a background narrator.

Riffs and mechs and falsettos and laser sound effects and all is well in the universe.

SIMILAR AESTHETIC VISION: The greatest French Star Wars cover.

[Via MeFi]