Walk Away

Today's Song: Walking On The Moon by William Shatner

I have long proclaimed the greatness of 2004's most surprising album: Has Been by William Shatner.  Have you every played the "What 10 XXXXXXX would you take with you to a desert island?" game?  If the XXXXXXX is albums then Has Been would be one of my ten.  The album is eclectic, poignant, and wonderful.   Shatner's partnership with his fellow Priceline.com huckster and cowbell enthusiast Ben Folds produced real art.

I also have a copy of The Transformed Man.  Ben Folds has recommended it on several different occasions.  Folds has good taste in music so I took a chance and paid five bucks for a copy.  It was five bucks well spent.  Next time Ben Folds recommends an album that is thirty or more years out of print, I'll probably pick that up too.  Like I said, he has good taste in music.

Now that my bona fides as a fan of Shatner's musical efforts are out of the way, we can talk about the tragedy of Seeking Major Tom.  I remember looking forward to this album.  It had been seven years since Has Been.  Shatner had a good run on Boston Legal picking up an Emmy and four additional nominations.  So he was busy, probably had no time harken Euterpe's beckoning.  But by 2011 Shatner was ready to bless us with his genius once again, or so I thought.

I first heard Seeking Major Tom when it was leaked over the internet.  I thought, "No, this isn't it."  I thought what was leaked must be an unfinished work, maybe a rough cut, not unlike the Wolverine movie that was leaked without the CGI.  But alas I was mistaken.  The leak was real, almost as real as my disappointment.

The genius of The Transformed Man is an accidental genius.  Shatner had and still does have an amazing speaking voice.  Had I his voice perhaps like Denny Crane I too would have spent my legal career undefeated.  The musical arrangements and Shatner's spoken words just go together perfectly.  I know you don't believe me, but trust me.  If you doubt me, trust Ben Folds.

The genius of Has Been was the synergy between two great men.  The album was produced and arranged by Ben Folds and most of the songs are co-written by Folds and Shatner, with Folds creating arrangements for Shatner's prose-poems. (Wiki).  The album was given four stars by The Rolling Stone, so you don't have to trust me when I say it was good.

So what went wrong on Seeking Major Tom.  It followed a similar formula to Has Been's cover songs.  Shatner speaks over the music. Maybe the contributions on Has Been between Folds and Shatner weren't even.  Rarely is a joint enterprise an equal product of its two collaborators.  But I don't think that was the problem.  Oh it was part of the problem, to be sure; if I were making an album I would pray whatever benevolent deity that looks out for me would send Ben Folds to produce and arrange my album.  I think the problem is that Seeking Major Tom is nothing but a crass money grab.

Now I have no problems with crass money grabs as such.  I have attended a lot of opening days for movie franchises that had long run their course.  But Seeking Major Tom lacks the experimentation and innocence of The Transformed Man.  It lacks the raw honesty of Has Been.  And it lacks a genius producer.

Whatever the explanation, Seeking Major Tom is a failure and is awful.  It is so awful, in fact, that it has kept me away from Shatner's Ponder the Mystery. Ponder the Mystery was released in October of 2013, the same month Erin released me from my marital vows.  As I have said 2014 was a bad year for me.  I dared not heap any more misery upon myself, I did not want any further disappointments.

But 2015 is going to be a great year.  The dark clouds of 2014 brought with them a cleansing rain that has washed clean my life.  I face this year full of hope.  I see things in my community getting better, sometimes as a result of my pushing them forward.  I need not always be on guard, constantly vigilant to avoid further hurts and disappointments.  It is time to take risks again.  One of those risks will be Ponder the Mystery.  The price is right, so long as you are a Prime customer.

Later

Bob