William Shatner: Seeking Major Tom

The wait between Shatner’s original Transformed Man and the pop-poetry of 2004’s Has Been was thirty-six years, but fans of Shatner’s undeniably iconic musical voice only have to wait until October 11^th for his Seeking Major Tom, a splendiferous and sometimes heartbreaking application of his evocative style to a deep, sustained exploration of the loss, wonderment and humor found in science fiction themes.

As obvious a marketing idea as Seeking Major Tom might seem, Shatner was reluctant to pursue a sci-fi album until a draft songlist from a Cleopatra records producer inspired Shatner to see Major Tom, the hero of David Bowie’s classic Space Oddity, as a central figure, a kind of mystery folk hero. Shatner’s resulting album is a fractured and fracturing psychological epic exploring the mind of a man lost in space, reaching the depths of heaven, hell and everywhere in between.

There’s humor as well – no Shatner album would be complete without it. She Blinded Me With Science is an obvious shot to take, but the salvos keep hitting the funny bone; but there’s also the unexpectedly infectious remixes, like the easy-going guffaws of Space Truckin’.

Shatner describes the process of working on an album that includes tracks like Iron Man with the unquenchable fervor he brought to the record: “Rock and Roll and Heavy Metal is all about energy; it’s all about pushing that emotion.” The roll call of artists that join him on the album is impressive, including Zakk Wyld, Peter Frampton, Bootsy Collins and Ernie Watts.

The roster also includes some of Shatner’s recent and favorite collaborators – Brad Paisley wrote a song for Has Been and Sheryl Crow, who sings the original and exquisite Mrs. Major Tom on the new album, has also played for Shatner’s Hollywood Horseshow Charity event.

Fans can easily find the video of Shatner’s version of Rocket Man on YouTube and elsewhere, a notorious rendition that’s inspired many comic imitations, but the new track on Seeking Major Tom is a wonderfully understated poem. Shatner describes the process of discovering meaning alongside the musicians as “Along comes this musician who puts what I was thinking into his music - the longing, the outrage, the desire, the sentiment and yet the reality of it, it's just so gorgeous."

Shatner's album is a kind of meditation, and a worthy one. Although his iconic status and bombastic personality tempt many to think of Shatner as the king of camp...he is an explorer, himself a seeker, searching the depths, and this album finds his voice sounding out those depths, seeking beyond the symbol and the turn of phrase, even beyond the music, for those elusive things we need but cannot name.

Sample the tracks on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Seeking-Major-Tom-William-Shatner/dp/B005HMUPYW

Shatner video about the making of Seeking Major Tom on Trekmovie.com: http://trekmovie.com/2011/08/11/video-interviewpreview-for-shatners-seeking-major-tom-album-bill-going-on-canadian-tour/

WILLIAM SHATNER’S SEEKING MAJOR TOM:

Produced by Cleopatra Records
Distributed by EOne
Available on iTunes
2 CD Digipak - $19.98, Collectible 3XLP Box Set - $54.98
Release Date: October 11, 2011

www.williamshatner.com
www.cleorecs.com

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