I don�t know what to tell you about this album, particularly if you are alreadyk familiar with some of Shatner�s earlier work such as Transformed Man on which he sang Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Mr. Tambourine Man to such ill effect that it was somewhat pleasing. Me, I like kitsch, but even these two songs stretched that definition -- and that love.

But Has Been is a genuinely listenable album with authentically good music (including memorable bits from Joe Jackson and Henry Rollins). The album consists of Shatner talking over the music but his poetry is revealing, engaging and quite funny at times (funny where it�s meant to be funny).

But enough talking. Here�s a sample of the actual music.

Wow! I'm amazed!

My daughters used to play "Lucy in the Sky" and a few others just for fun. They were really BAD!

And he's also got a decent TV show now. Guess he hasn't stopped saying, "Let's see what's out there!"

Real
by William Shatner

I have saved the world in the movies
So naturally there's folks who think I must know what to do
But just because you've seen me on your TV
Doesn't mean I'm any more enlightened than you

And while there's a part of me
In that guy you've seen
Up there on that screen
I am so much more
And I wish I knew the things you think I do
I would change this world for sure
But I eat and sleep and breathe and bleed and feel
Sorry to disappoint you
But I'm real

I'd love to help the world and all its problems
But I'm an entertainer, and that's all
So the next time there's an asteroid or a natural disaster
I'm flattered that you thought of me
But I'm not the one to call

And while there's a part of me
In that guy you've seen
Up there on that screen
I am so much more
And I wish I knew the things you think I do
I would change this world for sure
But I eat and sleep and breathe and bleed and feel
Sorry to disappoint you
But I'm real