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Neil Diamond
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Toby Keith
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William Shatner
Anybody familiar with Shatner’s previous forays in the recording studio might be expecting this disk to be a hoot and a holler, as if he were some kind of misfit outsider artist with no tangible grasp of reality. Having heard his version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (which he recorded in the ‘70s), I can understand why some would expect this disk to be the accidental laugh riot of the century. Well, hold your tongues, shaddup and listen before formulating an opinion on this one. Against the odds, and certainly against expectations, Shatner, with tremendous musical support from producer Ben Folds, has made one of the most personally honest and truly entertaining CD’s of the year. Has Been takes its cue (and title) from a tabloid that rather haughtily referred to Shatner using the term. Quite rightly, Shatner put a healthy spin on the expression, dodging its insulting innuendo by realizing the advantage it implies over a ‘never was’. By running with that idea and placing it over a western motif, he comes up with an idea that is as truly funny as it is condemning of know-it-all critics (“Never Done Jack, Two Thumbs Don, and sidekick Don’t Say Dick”). “You’ll Have Time” is just as blunt and amusing, offering advice that you should live like you’re going to die, because…you most certainly are.
All isn’t fun and games on “Has Been”, though. A harrowing spoken word piece places us inside Shatner’s consciousness as he discovers his drowned wife at the bottom of the pool. Due to the subject matter, it’s a frightening, but also revelatory, and perhaps even beautiful piece of work. “Together” addresses his remembrance of her since that awful day, while “Familiar Love” takes a more playful and slightly cavalier view of intimacy. “That’s Me Trying” stretches the breadth of topics even further, portraying a father estranged from his daughters, trying to find the means where they might communicate once again.
Special guests include Joe Jackson, Brad Paisley, Henry Rollins (on the near-hysterical “I Can’t Get Behind That”), Lemon Jelly, Aimee Mann and of course, Ben Folds.
Has been? Not anymore, “Jack”.
Grade: 
 
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