William Shatner Records New Album

I can't decide if this guy has a really terrific sense of humor or is just flat-out insane. Hopefully we've got another Rocket Man on our hands:

The one-time James T. Kirk of "Star Trek" fame has released an 11-song collection this month, a follow-up to his 1968 spoken-word debut that garnered such critical infamy it became a camp classic.

So it must be asked: Is this a trick or a treat?

"It's a treat for me," Shatner, 73, said by telephone from Los Angeles, where he was taping an episode of "Boston Legal," his latest TV show. "I hope nobody turns a trick on it."

The new album -- slyly titled "Has Been" -- once again puts Shatner's choppy, emphasis-added words to music. But this time he's penned his own lyrics and tempered the cheese quotient with a few musical friends. Ben Folds, who produced and arranged the new album and co-wrote many of the songs, wrangled guest appearances by Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann, Henry Rollins and Brad Paisley.

Still smirking?

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As is often the case with Shatner's projects, the CD seems to forever flit between self and self-parody.
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And in "You'll Have Time," he bluntly counsels "Live life like you're gonna die / Because you're gonna / I hate to be the bearer of bad news / But you're gonna die."

Ahem. I sense gold.

Thanks to RDB.

posted by Ace at 05:13 PM

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