William Shatner made a name for himself to many Star Trek fans as Captain Kirk, but after his days in the big chair were over, he released spoken-word albums.
William Shatner is known to many as Captain James T. Kirk, of the U.S.S. Enterprise, a role he played for three seasons of television and four movies. Before Jean-Luc Picard arrived in the late-’80s, Kirk was the best captain in all of science fiction without a debate being needed. Then Picard came around and the debate was on. Fans flocked to take sides and looked at each character, and actor’s resume to see if one side couldn’t find an advantage. When looking at Shatner’s history, he may have one leg up on Picard (Patrick Stewart). Well, a leg up depending on how you feel about spoken-word albums.
You see, Shatner has a series of albums that he’s released in his career that sees him, well, not singing, but talking. Talking to a song. It’s as bad as it sounds. It’s made even worse when you realize that his long-time friend and colleague Leonard Nimoy (Spock) released his own albums of him singing (and singing well.)
Considering the Christmas season caps off the year that was 2020 and some levity needs to be had, we figured it was a good idea to let you guys sample some of Shatner’s Christmas Album, which came out in 2018. The album features an icon of the punk and spoken word genre, Henry Rollins and if you know how Rollins is, then this should give you an idea what kind of nonsense you’re about to get into.
If you’re curious about getting into the album during your Christmas festivities, here’s what you can expect.
"Shatner Claus – The Christmas Album Tracklist:01. Jingle Bells (feat. Henry Rollins)02. Blue Christmas (feat. Brad Paisley)03. Little Drummer Boy (feat. Joe Louis Walker)04. Winter Wonderland (feat. Todd Rundgren & Artimus Pyle of Lynyrd Skynyrd)05. Twas The Night Before Christmas (feat. Mel Collins of King Crimson)06. Run Rudolph Run feat. (Elliot Easton of The Cars)07. O Come, O Come Emmanuel feat. (Rick Wakeman of Yes)08. Silver Bells (feat. Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull)09. One for You, One For Me10. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (feat. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top)11. Silent Night (feat. Iggy Pop)12. White Christmas (feat. Judy Collins)13. Feliz Navidad (feat. Dani Bander)14. Jingle Bells (feat. Henry Rollins) (Punk Rock Version)"
You read that last part right, a punk rock version of Jingle Bells. Oh boy. What have we released upon you?