Spaced Out Very Best Of [Best of]

This absurd CD opens the window to two cult favorites who found second careers as outlandishly kitsch performers. Much has been said of Nimoy's earnest, flat baritone; the reams of Shatner critiques could fill a large, easily combustible windmill -- but that would be too convenient, and a loss to people like me who occasionally need to be reminded why they (and others) actually listen to this stuff -- closely.

These recordings are either dizzying, hardcore, lovable dreck, or, to some, aural manure. History won't decide: you will, if you dare.

I have a complaint about this disk. Yes, just one, about two selections. One of the "Nimoy" tracks doesn't belong here for any reason, as it's nothing more than forgettable lounge muzak with zero artistic input from the Green One. "Music to Watch Space Girls By" sounds like a Herb Alpert outtake where he forgot his trumpet. Also, "Spock Thoughts" is just "Desiderata" recited blandly over third-rate background noise. I can do better, and so can you.

Instead, the compilers should have included "You Are Not Alone," a hideously warbled message of solidarity in this vast, impersonal universe (certainly a theme dear to Spock), and "Alien," a superior spoken dissertation on, well, alienation. They're featured on some other CD that costs nearly $60 used. I'll stick with my cut-out bin cassette for now.

The highlights of "Spaced Out" for me are the most famous offerings: the delirious Shatner takes on Dylan and the Beatles, plus the Nimoy novelty "Bilbo Baggins." The "Golden Throats" CD includes a quizzically-voiced, faded-in lead-in to Shatner's "Lucy in the Sky" edited off for this CD, but it seems we completists will always suffer a little. Also not to be missed are the bathyspherical depths of Nimoy's faulty tone and phrasing found on "Where is Love" and "Sunny"; the pure, howling turgidity of his deconstruction of "Proud Mary"; and a horror actually released as a single (according to the entertaining sleeve notes), and possibly written just for the Vulcan maestro -- "I'd Love Making Love to You," which exudes as much sultry seduction as a frozen duck on an antenna.

I try to imagine how the backing musicians made it through these sessions without screaming themselves, and wetting the floor with laughter.

P.S. I don't know how to create the "voting buttons."

Nimoy has more disc time than Shatner does, but since Shatner tends to recite Shakespeare at loud decibels more than anything else, this really isn't a problem for me (though I must confess his "Hamlet" is strangely catchy). And if you're in a bad mood or have had a rotten day, "Spaced Out" will definitely bring a smile to your face.

Certainly, we're not talking great musicians or great music here, which anyone even casually acquainted with Nimoy's and Shatner's musical efforts should already know. Nimoy doesn't screech like Shatner, which is in his favor. However, though Nimoy tries really hard, he can't seem to stop himself from going off key from time to time, as is the case in his rendition of the legendary Bobby Darin's "If I Were A Carpenter."

But - it's his very off-keyness and his earnest enunciation (he pronounces EVERY syllable of EVERY word, unlike most rock "artists" who think mumbling is cool) that makes this disc...well...hysterically funny. (And his spoken-word Spock-isms like "Highly Illogical" are a scream too). And of course, Shatner's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" are always good for a laugh. It's so bad, it's good, as the saying goes.

But for the record, I also want to note that some of Nimoy's tracks actually aren't that bad. For example, he does a very passable rendition of "If I Had a Hammer" wherein he actually does sing on key, and his "I Walk the Line" is certainly no worse than Johnny Cash's. In fact, Nimoy's "I Walk the Line" may even be better than Johnny Cash's, since Nimoy actually sings, whereas Johnny Cash talks his songs.

So - to sum up - buy this disc. It's a great cure for a bad mood or a rotten day - and you may be surprised at how some of Nimoy's tunes aren't half bad!

1) The fanatical star trek maniac who absolutely has to have everything related to the classic TV show. He/She is so blinded by their love for the Captain's character that they don't realize that the album is crap, and they actually take it seriously. (I've become aware that some people actually refer to this garbage as a concept album?)

2)Then there's people like me, who buy it for the sole purpous to share the joke with Nimoy and Shatner.

True, you can only listen to this stupid CD once in a while, and then only to cheer yourself up. It is quite possibly stronger than prozak in that sense. Come one people, how can you not burst several internal organs during a raucous fit of laughter when Shatner starts his insane psycho ramblings or when Bilbo's story is rendered beautifully (cough, cough) by Nimoy. I don't think I've laughed so hard in my entire life, so then, why shouldn't I buy it. $18.00 is a small price to pay for infinite laughter. Yes, I get harrassed by friends, and why shouldn't they harrass me? I just "wasted" money on a piece of crap. But I enjoy it, just by imagining what it would have been like to record an album like this. With Nimoy on the verge of cracking up during "the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" and Shatner flamboyantly overacting each line in his trademark Cpt. Kirk voice. This is the kind of thing that 20 years from now, my kids will find in an old box covered in dust,to be put into the ole' Compact Disc player and enjoyed again. A true relic, and a treasure.