William Shatner's new album is appropriately themed

Captain Kirk sets phasers to beam another album of musical curiosities directly into your ears. That's a good Star Trek pun, right?

I have a love/hate relationship with all things Star Trek. On one hand you have the thoughtful, almost graceful, mixture of science fiction themes and campy fun of the original series, but on the other you have the Enterprise theme song, which makes me want to put my head in a replicator and press the button to materialise cabbage.

But whilst each series has had it's ups and downs, one enduring factor that gives me hope for the future is William Shatner's enthusiasm for doing whatever the hell he wants, whenever the hell he wants. And right now that's recording an albums of covers featuring an impressive array of guest musicians. The full run-down can be viewed on Shatner's website, but here are a few highlights just so you know what to expect:

• Space Cowboy originally by Steve Miller - Country artist Brad Paisley has added guitar and vocals.


• Space Oddity originally by David Bowie - Ritchie Blackmore (ex-Deep Purple) has added guest guitar. Alan Parsons is adding guest keyboards.


• Mr. Spaceman originally by The Byrds - Dave Davies from the Kinks has added guest guitar on this track.

Did you guess the theme? Also included is a studio version of Elton John's Rocket Man, which Shatner famously put his unique spin on at the 1978 Science Fiction Awards show:

Don't ever change, Bill. Except for getting better at singing.