Has been --- William Shatner --- 2004 (Shout! Factory)
As I mentioned when I featured one of the tracks a while back, once upon a time someone here at Music Banter put forward this album as a recommendation, with the (perhaps vain) hope that someone would see beyond Shatner's laughable musical career and 1968's "The transformed man", and give it a chance. I don't know who that was, but I would like to thank them. While this album is certainly not the best I've ever heard --- not even the best this year or indeed of today --- it's far from the worst. It's not that it's so great, or so bad (the latter of which you would probably expect to be associated with "the Shat") but that it's so .... interesting. Interesting good or interesting bad, you ask? I really don't know. The tracks vary from very very good to meh, but they're always --- oh, what is that word again? Oh yeah --- interesting.
Anyone who knows Shatner will more or less know what to expect in terms of singing, ie none. Captain Kirk does not do the "s" word. He talks, narrates, eulogises poetically across some really fine music, and in this endeavour he is helped by Ben Folds, who co-wrote and arranged the album with him, and also by several other "guest stars" such as Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann and Henry Rollins. Yeah, that one. The genre of the songs vary, from lounge pop to out-and-out pop to (almost) punk and even country, so there is really something in there for everyone.
But it's in the opener that Shatner drops his major bombshell, with the only cover version on the album --- yeah, I know: you'd expect him to have played safe and covered Sinatra, Cole, Martin, that sort of thing, wouldn't you? But no, all of these songs bar the opener are his own creations, and the cover: well! It's Pulp's classic "Common people" and by god he does a fine job on it. People have slagged him off and no doubt will continue to do so, but I feel he puts his heart and soul into this song, sneering the lyric with all the worldly wisdom and hard cynicism of a man who has been (sorry!) there and done it all, and knows himself what life is all about. When Joe Jackson comes in to take the chorus it's great, but almost an anti-climax as he has been carrying the song so well himself up to that point. The music behind him is hard rock and punchy and the choir is an inspired idea. It's a great performance on a great song, and I think Jarvis Cocker would be proud.
It all calms down then on gentle piano as we move into "It hasn't happened yet", and Shatner shows how he can carry a tune completely on his own, narrating the way the singer's life is going. It's quite a talent really, the way his voice phases with the music, but without singing. They call this spoken word I think, but even then it's more than that. Takes a little getting used to, but it really works very well. This song though bitter in one way and perhaps naive in another, is nevertheless relaxing, but the next one is like a stand-up routine as Shatner tells everyone that they're going to die. "You'll have time" is I think an idea that went wrong, or was carried out the wrong way. For one thing it's incredibly repetitive. It opens on church organ and introduces the Shat as a sort of drunken preacher, and that's good as far as it goes but it gets real old real fast. It's five minutes long and that's about three minutes too long. It's like an idea that sounded good on paper or in his head but once transferred to the studio it falls very flat indeed, and comes across like an unwelcome visitor who doesn't know when it's time to go. Ironic really, as the song is about people dying, but this song doesn't want to see that it's time for it to shuffle off this mortal coil.
But then things turn around with a heartbreakingly beautiful and touching rendition of a father wanting to reconnect with his estranged child, with lyrics partially written by Nick Hornby, so perhaps it's from one of his books? I don't know. But "That's me trying" becomes one of the highlights of the album and it just brings a tear. Again it's piano that backs Shatner, softly, almost reminds me of something by the Eagles or Dan Fogelberg. Just beautiful, and will strike a chord with many fathers who no longer see their children. The chorus, sung by Aimee Mann and Ben Folds, is gorgeous and recalls the best of David Gates to me, with elements of Alan Parsons and a definite feel of country too. The next one is weird. It's almost completely unaccompanied, the tale of the discovery of a dead body underwater. "What have you done" is a scary, stark, bleak tale of powerlessness and impotence, written by Shatner solo. It then goes into "Together", backed by organ guitar and maybe mandolin? Some interesting loop samples used on this too. A sort of uptempo country-ish, folky tune, the longest on the album at just over five and a half minutes, and another of my favourites.
"Familiar love" has a forties high-pitched piano and a lounge pop feel, very easy-listening. It's okay, with a very Carpentersesque backing vocal chorus, and has its own quirky humour regarding the everpresent spectre of growing older, but "Ideal woman" takes this idea and kind of turns it on its head. It's tongue-in-cheek, irreverent, a little too clever and smart, with a kind of tango rhythm. Meh, it's okay but it kind of annoys me. The title track is a western-styled country effort with Mexican overtones, reminds me of Stan Ridgeway's "Camouflage" and indeed that trucker's favourite, "Convoy" as Shatner takes on his critics, those who call him, well, a has-been but have done nothing in their own lives. There is a jokey, half-wish half-warning when he says
"Has been could be again!" One of the best moments though of the album is when Shatner goes punk! Well, not really, but it is Henry Rollins from Black Flag helping him out, with the fastest percussion and an almost "Hawaii Five-o" intro. Shatner rails on about everything in the world that he doesn't understand or like. "I can't get behind that" is a great track that is totally atypical of Shatner, and a real triumph for a man seen as washed up. It's quite hilarious when he growls
"Everybody's lifetime is longer than mine!" What's even funnier is that he argues
"I can't get behind singers / Who can't carry a tune/ But get paid for talking!/ How easy is that?" in a wonderful piece of self-deprecating humour.
Speaking of humour, he finally lays to rest his alter-ego in "Real", the only song other than the cover on which he has no input. It's written by Brad Paisley, who also sings the chorus. It's a sobering message to those who think that Shatner=Kirk as he croons
"Sorry to disappoint you/ But I'm real" and Shatner admits
"I'd love to help the world/ End all its problems/ But I'm an entertainer/ And that's all!" A great and simple song that seeks to separate fiction from reality, the star from the character, the man from the legend. It's a great closer, sung in a very country style and with real feeling both by Paisley and Shatner.
TRACKLISTING
1. Common people
2. It hasn't happened yet
3. You'll have time
4. That's me trying
5. What have you done
6. Together
7. Familiar love
8. Ideal woman
9. Has been
10. I can't get behind that
11. Real
When I started this album I had no idea what to expect. Silly me: when Joe Jackson picked up the chorus in "Common people" I thought "Wow! Shatner can really sing!" He can't of course, and the point to remember is that he realises this, but still manages to put across his feelings, his ideas and his sincerity through his odd style of spoken words against music. It really is something to hear, and if you've been put off by "The transformed man", I can't tell you this is better as I have never heard that album. But if it's anything like this I'd certainly be willing to give it a go.
It's nice to see Shatner poking fun at himself; the very title of the album speaks of a man who no longer believes he has to prove anything, or has to take himself so seriously. There was a time when he enraged Star Trek fans with the famous "Get a life!" speech. Seems that he's taken his own advice, put Star Trek behind him, and concentrated on the things he enjoys. He's never going to be a rock star, or a musician, and he knows it, but hell, you know, he's not a bad songwriter and this album is not at all bad for a guy who can't sing.
As I said, interesting.