OK, so I went all-out and got the 2004 "24 /96 digitally remastered" version of Transformed Man as well as the brand-new Has Been.
For the un-initiated, "Transformed Man" is one of the most coveted pieces of debris from the '60's. It's a totally unhinged album made by Shatner at the height of his Star Trek fame. It's a "spoken word" album that features selections from Shakespeare, Dylan, Sinatra, and the Beatles. It's one of those classic "novelty" albums (though it wasn't supposed to be a "novelty" at the time) that people in the know now collect.
Transformed Man is remastered by Erick Labson, one of my own favorite remastering engineers, this CD sounds GREAT! As music, it's way way way out there. Shatner's in his own world, it dances on the edge of self-parody and brilliance. Whether you find it laughably absurd or unaccountably intriguing, you can't deny he's clearly going way out there and is totally commited to this bizarre piece. He's accompanied by carefully-arranged and intricately-orchestrated music, clearly the people around him also intended this to be taken very seriously. Is he having a break-down? Does he not know he's only William-freakin' Shatner, Captain Kirk, not Bob-bloody-Dylan or Lawrence-freakin'-Olvier? How disappointed he must have been to be *merely* a TV star of a cheesy 60's science fiction melo-drama, instead of a great stage performing artist reciting great works by great play-wrights? To me, this album shows Shatner as a man in crisis, fighting against what he really is/has become vs. what he maybe wished he was or saw himself as in his own mind. Or maybe that's just too deep an analysis for such a kitsch-y piece of music? Is it a "vanity project"? Oh hell ya, but essentially, that's the crux of its mis-guided charm.
Personally, I LOVE IT! What a weird and wonderful "thing" it is, for want of a better word. I was smiling the whole time I listened to it, and I think you will, too.
Has-Been is also great, but for better or worse, by this time he gets the joke, too, as signalled by the (frankly) bravery of the album's title. It's not as SERIOUS or pretentious as Transformed Man. By this point, he knows he only ever was Captain Kirk or maybe T.J. Hooker, not some great ARTIST, and he's got his millions to make it all OK, so he doesn't have to work that hard. But that begs the question of whether or not that defeats the whole purpose of a William Shatner album... Has Been may be too informed by post-ironic culture we now live in as well as his silly MTV movie/music award bongo performances. He's no longer trying to be a great musician, merely satisfied with doing "that William Shatner thing" the kids like so much. He now knows his music is ludicrous and absurd, and that maybe waters the whole experience down a little or makes it less potent somehow. Still, Ben Folds does a fine job creating arrangements for his musings which are oddly touching at times. I'm a HUGE Pulp fan, so his cover of "Common People" is just a gas for me (not to mention that Joe Jackson sings on it, too). I have to admit, this is one of the better new albums I've bought.
Either way, both these projects show what a combination of blind vanity and naked ambition can produce. FWIW, I can heartily recommend the Transformed Man, as well as Has Been. If you put aside your pre-conceptions or prejudices and can enjoy them for what they are, I think they can be richly rewarding.
For the un-initiated, "Transformed Man" is one of the most coveted pieces of debris from the '60's. It's a totally unhinged album made by Shatner at the height of his Star Trek fame. It's a "spoken word" album that features selections from Shakespeare, Dylan, Sinatra, and the Beatles. It's one of those classic "novelty" albums (though it wasn't supposed to be a "novelty" at the time) that people in the know now collect.
Transformed Man is remastered by Erick Labson, one of my own favorite remastering engineers, this CD sounds GREAT! As music, it's way way way out there. Shatner's in his own world, it dances on the edge of self-parody and brilliance. Whether you find it laughably absurd or unaccountably intriguing, you can't deny he's clearly going way out there and is totally commited to this bizarre piece. He's accompanied by carefully-arranged and intricately-orchestrated music, clearly the people around him also intended this to be taken very seriously. Is he having a break-down? Does he not know he's only William-freakin' Shatner, Captain Kirk, not Bob-bloody-Dylan or Lawrence-freakin'-Olvier? How disappointed he must have been to be *merely* a TV star of a cheesy 60's science fiction melo-drama, instead of a great stage performing artist reciting great works by great play-wrights? To me, this album shows Shatner as a man in crisis, fighting against what he really is/has become vs. what he maybe wished he was or saw himself as in his own mind. Or maybe that's just too deep an analysis for such a kitsch-y piece of music? Is it a "vanity project"? Oh hell ya, but essentially, that's the crux of its mis-guided charm.
Personally, I LOVE IT! What a weird and wonderful "thing" it is, for want of a better word. I was smiling the whole time I listened to it, and I think you will, too.
Has-Been is also great, but for better or worse, by this time he gets the joke, too, as signalled by the (frankly) bravery of the album's title. It's not as SERIOUS or pretentious as Transformed Man. By this point, he knows he only ever was Captain Kirk or maybe T.J. Hooker, not some great ARTIST, and he's got his millions to make it all OK, so he doesn't have to work that hard. But that begs the question of whether or not that defeats the whole purpose of a William Shatner album... Has Been may be too informed by post-ironic culture we now live in as well as his silly MTV movie/music award bongo performances. He's no longer trying to be a great musician, merely satisfied with doing "that William Shatner thing" the kids like so much. He now knows his music is ludicrous and absurd, and that maybe waters the whole experience down a little or makes it less potent somehow. Still, Ben Folds does a fine job creating arrangements for his musings which are oddly touching at times. I'm a HUGE Pulp fan, so his cover of "Common People" is just a gas for me (not to mention that Joe Jackson sings on it, too). I have to admit, this is one of the better new albums I've bought.
Either way, both these projects show what a combination of blind vanity and naked ambition can produce. FWIW, I can heartily recommend the Transformed Man, as well as Has Been. If you put aside your pre-conceptions or prejudices and can enjoy them for what they are, I think they can be richly rewarding.
), but i think Shatner was deserving.
