Warp Speed, Mr. Folds!

October 5, 2004 8:45 AM

William Shatner's new album hits the stores today. Produced by Ben Folds, of course.
posted by eustacescrubb (45 comments total)

From Fold's site: "has been includes appearances by artists such as henry rollins, brad paisley, aimee mann, lemon jelly, and joe jackson, who duets with shatner on a cover of pulp's "common people." also contributing to the project is british author nick hornby ("high fidelity, "about a boy") who co-wrote "that's me trying" with ben for the album."
posted by eustacescrubb at 8:47 AM on October 5, 2004

THIS IS SO GONNA ROCK!

*ducking*
posted by ZachsMind at 8:52 AM on October 5, 2004

What, the man who gave us a cover of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" has still more to give?
posted by orange swan at 8:58 AM on October 5, 2004

The whole thing in Windows Media Audio
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:58 AM on October 5, 2004

I gotta give Shatner props for pushing the envelope of self-deprecating "irony" to the breaking point, if not beyond. Someday he will be looked back upon as a visionary within this particular area of celeb culture.
posted by soyjoy at 9:02 AM on October 5, 2004

Anyone that willing to poke fun at himself while still trying new stuff in earnest has to be a cool person.
posted by eustacescrubb at 9:10 AM on October 5, 2004

"What's white on the outside, and green on the inside? -
A frog sandwich!"

I put that here because I can just tell that William Shatner loves bad, ancient frog jokes.

"Why did the frog stop in the middle of the road? -
To get hit by a steamroller"
posted by troutfishing at 9:13 AM on October 5, 2004

The clip that was posted here a few months ago was superb. I am SO going to buy this disk! And actually, it will be the first CD I'd bought in about three years.
posted by ParisParamus at 9:16 AM on October 5, 2004

Seriously though (well sorta), does anyone remember 2Nu's "This is Ponderous"? or whatsisface with the Sunglasses Song? I wish there was more crap like that, so bring it on Shatner! Talk your way into singing stardom. Crunch all you want we'll make more.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:19 AM on October 5, 2004

"Denny Crane? Denny Crane!"

I'm w/ eustacerub & soyjoy. He's great at self-mocking comedy -- the kind that makes you cringe like someone's got a thumb on your scab. I still think sometimes about that SNL sketch he did, posing in front of a mirror telling himself what a goregeous speciman of manhood he was while Julia Louis Dreyfuss as his wife dolled herself up and made small talk in the background.

Besides, what I've heard so far from this (not much) is actually not bad.
posted by lodurr at 9:25 AM on October 5, 2004

There's a track on that album with Ben Folds and Aimee Mann doing vocals in the chorus. It's amazingly great. Ben Folds and Aimee Mann HAVE to do more tracks together.. Mann's vocals with Folds' piano work just flow.
posted by wackybrit at 9:28 AM on October 5, 2004

Are there any other CDs released this week? Perhaps we could have a FPP for each of them too....
posted by brettski at 9:42 AM on October 5, 2004

Riverside, Iowa: Future Home of Captain Kirk
posted by jpoulos at 9:47 AM on October 5, 2004

(Also, read that link to learn that Shatner may not be the swell guy some of us think he is.)
posted by jpoulos at 9:48 AM on October 5, 2004

Are there any other CDs released this week? Perhaps we could have a FPP for each of them too....

Ah, but this one must needs be here to counter the recent excessive Klingon-related FPPs.

Plus: this isn't just any CD.

It's William fucking Shatner!
posted by eustacescrubb at 9:51 AM on October 5, 2004

ZachsMind:

You mean Baz Luhrmann's Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen?
posted by bob sarabia at 9:51 AM on October 5, 2004

I've been hearing "Common People" on a Sirius channel for a couple of weeks now. It's actually catchy and cool. Love it -- looking forward to more.
posted by Tubes at 9:55 AM on October 5, 2004

I don't understand the point of the FPP. (It is actually also a double post, but that's another story.)
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:11 AM on October 5, 2004

Yes, and, apparently some of here are too young to appreciate how remarkable it is that someone can still be a star in 1960, 70, 80, 90, 2000 and '04.
posted by ParisParamus at 10:12 AM on October 5, 2004

(well, maybe not a star in 1960, but...
posted by ParisParamus at 10:12 AM on October 5, 2004

Can it, Grandpa.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:14 AM on October 5, 2004

It's a surprisingly good album. He's self deprecating, but also honest. There's a track on there What Have You Done where he talks about finding his wife dead in a pool that is probably the best thing on there, even if it is spoken word.

The angry song with Henry Rollins I Can't Get Behind That where Rollins and Shatner go off about things they hate has the line "I can't get behind so-called singers that can't carry a tune, get paid for talking, how easy is that? Well maybe I could get behind that."

Don't write this off as a gimmick album...
posted by revgeorge at 10:19 AM on October 5, 2004

mr_crash_davis wins. Well-played.

bows
posted by eustacescrubb at 10:20 AM on October 5, 2004

Shatner sucks. His 15 minutes was over at least a decade ago.
posted by fenriq at 10:21 AM on October 5, 2004

The title track is genius.
posted by papercake at 10:23 AM on October 5, 2004

I wasn't even into my teens when he was James T. Kirk and even then I knew there was something funny going on with his midsection and hair (I was much older before I realized anything about the acting). By the time he was T.J. Hooker, even a blind man could tell he was wearing a corset and had a toupee. But it's like he knows we know, like we're in on the joke. And that's cool.
posted by tommasz at 10:40 AM on October 5, 2004

I'm loving Common People a little too much. Oh my.
posted by kevspace at 10:45 AM on October 5, 2004

(well, maybe not a star in 1960, but...

Maybe, though. Shatner's appearances as of 1960:

The DuPont Show Of The Month - - The Scarlet Pimpernel (1960) One Step Beyond - Carl Bremmer - The Promise (1960) The Twilight Zone - Don Carter - Nick of Time (1960) Adventures in Paradise - - Once Around the Circuit (1960) The Play of the Week - Lewis Rohnen - Night of the Auk (1960) Alfred Hitchcock Presents - John Crane - Mother, May I Go out to Swim? (1960) Sunday Showcase - Gore - The Indestructible Mr. Gore (1959) The Ed Sullivan Show - scheduled guest - scheduled: William Shatner; Lou Costello; Dody Goodman (1958) The United States Steel Hour - - Old Marshals Never Die (1958) Kraft Television Theatre - - The Man Who Didn't Fly (1958) Playhouse 90 - - A Town Has Turned to Dust (1958) Climax - Ben Tate - Time of the Hanging (1958) Suspicion - - The Protege (1958) The United States Steel Hour - - A Man in Hiding (1958) The United States Steel Hour - - Walk with a Stranger (1958) Kraft Television Theatre - - The Velvet Trap (1958) Studio One - - No Deadly Medicine (Part 2) (1957) Studio One - - No Deadly Medicine (Part 1) (1957) Studio One - - The Deaf Heart (1957) Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Jim Whitely - The Glass Eye (1957) Alcoa Hour - - Protege (1957) Studio One - Kenneth Preston - The Defender (Part 2) (1957) Studio One - Kenneth Preston - The Defender (Part 1) (1957) Kraft Television Theatre - - The Discoverers (1957) Goodyear Television Playhouse - - All Summer Long (1956) The Greatest - Host - 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders (0) The Oregon Trail - - The Return of the Baby (0) Eek! the Cat - voice of Commander Berzerk - Eek Space-9 / Fridays - Host / Insight - - Locusts Have No King / Match Game PM - panelist - Match Game PM #1-17 / Match Game PM - panelist - Match Game PM #1-03 / The Music Scene

Ha! He was even on the music scene way back then! Visionary, I tell ya.
posted by soyjoy at 10:45 AM on October 5, 2004

I'm with papercake, the title track is very smart. At once a parody and an incisive comment.
posted by lowlife at 10:53 AM on October 5, 2004

This is, so far, surprisingly good. The ACTUAL kind of good, not "good."
posted by kevspace at 11:02 AM on October 5, 2004

Do they still have record stores in NYC? Where are they? Oh, I'll go to J&R...
posted by ParisParamus at 11:36 AM on October 5, 2004

More than halfway through the audio stream. Thanks, PG. It's poignant and compelling, I have to admit, and as such it is more worthy of my earned cash than most mainstream radio pablum.
posted by grabbingsand at 11:58 AM on October 5, 2004

The only thing wrong with the album's that it's only 40 minutes long. Best thing I've heard all year. 'What have you done' is painfully poignant.
posted by punilux at 12:21 PM on October 5, 2004

My copy's importing now! That clip of "Common People" that's been circulating gave me reason enough to buy it.
posted by bitpart at 12:30 PM on October 5, 2004

"Eek! the Cat - voice of Commander Berzerk - Eek Space-9"

Eek Space-9?

EEK SPACE-9??!!?!

eek space-9... deep space nine... eek space... deep space...

OMG!!!?!

EEEEEEEEEEK!!!

my trek-addled brain asplode!
posted by zoogleplex at 12:47 PM on October 5, 2004

bob sarabia: ZachsMind, you mean Baz Luhrmann's Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen?

uh. yeah. that. Thanks Bob. =)

To the haters, hey you may not be a fan of Shatner. He may not even be a nice guy in real life, but as a performer he's done his part. Twilight Zone. Star Trek. TJ Hooker. Tek War. Boston Legal. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. Now this. Those who like what he offers are more than welcome to appreciate him and those who don't are more than welcome to wipe my butt with toilet paper. Granted, Shatner's no Sean Connery, but then again, Connery's no William Shatner!

Shatner's the best at what he does... whatever that is. Kinda hard to classify or define precisely what he does, but take some great music by one of the best music producers ever, and let Bill read copy over it, I'm there. Heck, he's one of those guys who could read a phone book at a lectern and make people laugh or cry. Not many who can do that. Okay, so you're laughing more than crying, but that's still pretty impressive! Honestly!

And when he and Vanessa Redgrave costar in that remake of Othello next year you'll see, and all you haters will be profusely apologizing to air, sayin' "we're not worthy" over and over. You'll see! You'll all see!

...

*ducking*
posted by ZachsMind at 1:44 PM on October 5, 2004

I remember 2NU. I have their (first) album.

And damnit, I want this album too.

Hell, I have Shatner's first album too.
posted by codger at 2:18 PM on October 5, 2004

Shatner really should collaborate with Lemon Jelly. That would so rock. Gently.
posted by Mossy at 2:20 PM on October 5, 2004

That would be somewhat the bomb.
posted by soyjoy at 2:30 PM on October 5, 2004

Finally, something to MP3 and put in my Tungsten E!
posted by ParisParamus at 2:35 PM on October 5, 2004

Mossy: He has. Listen to the damn album already!
posted by Pretty_Generic at 2:42 PM on October 5, 2004

I own other musical creations of Shatner's, mostly to pop into the player when friends are over as background music you can laugh at, but I have to say ... I'm not laughing about this one. It's actually pretty good. Even if it is Shatner, father of the worst rendition of Lucy in the Sky. :D

I do admire him for having longevity and the tenacity to keep doing stuff ... even when people sometimes laugh at him. After listening to You'll Have Time, I think he's just trying to not have any regrets about doing what he wants to do with his life. And that song about his wife ... just wow.
posted by Orb at 3:03 PM on October 5, 2004

All this talk about 2NU makes me want to speak the language of love...with a Texas accent.

The local college radio station has been playing Shatner and Rollins' "I Can't Get Behind That" for a couple of weeks. it's been pleasing me mightily. I may have to pick up this CD.
posted by MrBadExample at 5:31 PM on October 5, 2004

"My ship.... my... crew..."

That's what Shatner does. Shatner is the coolest.
posted by bwg at 7:06 PM on October 5, 2004

And then later this evening, I went to the record store, and they already had a used copy of the CD.

What gods did I please tonight?
posted by MrBadExample at 9:29 PM on October 5, 2004