1/5
Going into this review with much excitement, it saddened me greatly to have to give this such a low score as one thing out of five. I have been quite a fan of some of Shatner’s earlier attempts, in particular his 2004 album Has-Been, which contained along with some humorous pieces, intensely tender prose-poetry. Seeking Major Tom was just not very enjoyable, a huge disappointment. Before listening to the album, I went in knowing it would not be another Has-Been, but I was optimistic that I would get a laugh out of it. Instead, I sat through 95 minutes of a tired joke. The intended humour in Shatner’s musical career is made painfully obvious, whereas before it was more subtle in that no one really knew if his wonderful cover of Rocket Man was entirely serious or not. This album feels like he is poking you in the ribs himself intermittently saying “This is funny, isn’t it? Ha-ha, do you get it?”
The album consists of covers of classic songs that fit in
with the concept of the record: space and space travel. Song choices range from
Bowie’s Space Oddity to Hawkwind’s Silver Machine to Sabbath’s Iron Man. The
gimmick of his infamous version of Rocket Man even shows its face in the form
of the 6th track on the record.
On each song of the album, Shatner is host to a different musical partner, all
of which being huge musical icons. Some contributors include Nick Valensi of
the Strokes, Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic and Wayne Kramer of the
MC5. The album was promoted with a music video for Bohemian Rhapsody, which is
probably one of the lowest points on the record. It is perhaps the most
contrived moment of a Shatneresque reworking. However, the album has it’s brief
moments through the 95 minutes of pain. One of these moments comes in the
lighthearted tweeness of The Byrds’ Mr. Spaceman, on which legendary Kinks
guitarist Dave Davies plays. Also, the take on Sinatra’s Lost in the Stars
seems very natural and works particulary well. It is perhaps the only pleasant
track to listen to on the whole record, sharing with Mr. Spaceman the title of
being the only enjoyable tracks.
Over all, this album is a pained joke; it is less a
comedy of errors and more just an error in comedy. Avoid at all costs, no laugh
shall be gotten from it.
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