Time & Perspective Quote by Brian May

Brian May is admitting something that rock stars aren’t supposed to say out loud: even at the top of the mountain, your heroes can still make you feel like a beginner. The line isn’t just praise for Jeff Beck’s chops; it’s a confession of creative destabilization. “My whole view of guitar changes radically” frames listening as an event, almost a gear-shift in perception. Beck isn’t simply good within the rules of guitar godhood; he rewrites the rules in real time, forcing peers to rethink what the instrument is for.

The subtext is about risk. “Way, way out” isn’t a technical description so much as a cultural one: Beck as the musician who refuses to settle into the safe feedback loop of signature licks, stadium expectations, and brand-consistent playing. In a genre that can turn virtuosity into muscle memory, May highlights the rarer kind of mastery: surprise. “Doing things you never expect” signals an aesthetic of misdirection - phrasing that swerves, tone that speaks like a voice, restraint where a solo should scream, abrasion where it should resolve.

Context matters because May comes from Queen, a band built on meticulous architecture: stacked harmonies, composed solos, songs that land like engineered fireworks. Beck represents a different ideal - the guitar as an improvising intelligence, closer to conversation than composition. May’s intent is both tribute and challenge: if Beck can keep making the instrument feel new, the rest of rock has no excuse for sounding complacent.