n the 1960s, Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner were best known to SF aficionados for making history on the TV series Star Trek. But they were also busy making music, and both released albums that contained, among other highlights, their interpretations of contemporary pop tunes. At the time, these excursions into the strange, new musical world were critically panned, but over the ensuing years, these melodies have become fan favorites. In some ways they are even as legendary as Star Trek itself.
The Spaced Out! CD from Universal represents the first time that a significant number of works by the two performers have been featured on a single disc. Seven tracks are from Shatner's 1968 LP The Transformed Man, while 17 cuts are culled from Nimoy's five original platters. Featured on the collection are many of the pair's most infamous recordings, including Shatner's renditions of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," and Nimoy's takes on "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)," "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," "I Walk the Line" and "Both Sides Now."
Although currently available in many stores in the United States, the album was initially distributed in North America through Space: The Imagination Station, which is the Canadian equivalent of The Sci-Fi Channel. The packaging on some discs therefore spotlights the Space logo, while other versions simply feature two vintage black-and-white photos of the actors. Writer Marcus Hearn's informative liner notes augment the CD, offering enlightening yet somewhat tongue-in-cheek analyses of the various selections.
Set phasers on warble
Spaced Out! clearly reminds Star Trek devotees that not everything associated with the original show was invariably inventive and insightful. Diplomatically subtitled (on the Canadian cover) "A Unique Collection of Songs by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner," the recording packs the sonic wallop of a phaser on stun, exhibiting an amazing assortment of simultaneously mind-blowing and mind-numbing music.
Surprisingly, Shatner's contributions, which include dramatic readings of "King Henry the Fifth" and "Hamlet" as well as pop selections such as "It Was a Very Good Year" and "How Insensitive," actually come across better than those of his costar. The highly emotive performances are so over-the-top that, when the good captain is quoted in the liner notes as saying "...the bane of my life is I really can't sing...," listeners wonder whether the actor is, at least on some level, in on the joke.
On the other hand, Nimoy's contributions to this--ahem--enterprise are significantly more somber. Whether performing in his Vulcan persona on "Highly Illogical" or "Spock Thoughts," or addressing societal problems on tunes like "A Visit to a Sad Planet," the singer's gravelly voice is unerringly dreary and consistently dreadful.
While more tracks from Shatner would have been welcome--his rendition of "Rocket Man" is a regrettable omission--Spaced Out! is definitely an entertaining CD. The melodies are unintentionally absurd, but hearing Kirk and Spock warble these weird compositions remains incredibly fun and, as the first officer himself might say, remarkably fascinating.
