William Shatner: “Ponder The Mystery Revisited” (2023) CD Review

Star Trek was my favorite show to watch with my dad when I was growing up. It was in re-runs on one of the UHF stations. And a little later I loved his work in Airplane II: The Sequel and TJ Hooker. But it wasn’t until I was working as a DJ at a college radio station that I learned that William Shatner also had a recording career. Someone had put two of his songs on a cartridge, and basically every DJ there played that cart, and played it often. The two songs (“Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”) were from his first album, The Transformed Man. It took me a while to find a copy of it for sale, and when I did, oddly, the CD in the case was not the William Shatner album, but a Grass Roots compilation. It was several years before I found another copy, and this time got the correct disc. And I loved it. Since then, William Shatner has released several more albums, including 2020’s The Blues, on which he was joined by several excellent guest musicians. Back in 2013, he released an album titled Ponder The Mystery, which also featured some great guests, and (what’s even more exciting) original lyrics written by William Shatner, making it a much more personal album. Now we are getting a new version of this release, titled Ponder The Mystery Revisited, featuring a new mix by Jürgen Engler. And with the new mix, this has become my favorite William Shatner album.

The album opens with a dramatic, but short, instrumental piece titled “Red Shift.” That’s followed by “Where It’s Gone…I Don’t Know,” which features Mick Jones on guitar. The difference between this mix and the original that is immediately noticeable is that the other vocals that joined with William Shatner are cut, so the focus is on his voice. Because of that, this version feels more intimate, more personal, even more confessional, which draws us in closer. His vocals are brought to the fore. “Where’s the peace/The lease on life that was supposed to come with wisdom/I look around me, nothing alive, nothing to strive for.” And as the track progresses, there is a greater sense of urgency, of need in this version. So, yes, I like this version much more than the original. The other vocals are cut from “Manhunt” too, with much the same effect, putting the focus on William Shatner’s voice. And he’s written some great lyrics on this album. From this song, the line “Life held such promise and didn’t deliver” in particular stands out.

On the album’s title track, interestingly, because the other vocals are cut, the song’s title line is actually mostly missing from this mix, at least in the early section. But what this does is put more weight, more emphasis on the lines that William Shatner delivers, which works especially well on this track. “The miracle of love and hate’s depravity/Death’s finality and life’s absurdity/A child’s love and man’s cruelty.” In the original mix, the line “Ponder the mystery” occurs after each of those lines, sung by Billy Sherwood, who also composed the album’s music. But those lyrics are so much stronger without that repeated line. Steve Vai is featured on this track, and that guitar work in the second half is especially striking. Then Al Di Meola joins William Shatner on “So Am I.” This one has a different feel from the others, mainly because the song’s subject is a dog. But it does still touch upon similar themes, heard in the lines, “And now he’s old and stiff and sore/And getting ready to die/And when I look at him with love/I realize… so am I.”

“Change” feels more like a poem than the others, though the delivery of all of them has been basically spoken word. In this mix, the crazy drum work that played under his delivery is cut, and that helps it feel more like a poetry reading. Rick Wakeman is on keyboards on this track, delivering some wonderful work. The vocals are in the first half, the second half being an instrumental section. That’s followed by “Sunset.” In this one, he speaks of how we’re all one in the sunset, how “in the twilight hour we’re all one color.” And of course I can’t help but think of death again, how we are all one in death. Our sunset comes all too soon. However, there is a rather cheerful delivery, particularly on lines like “That’ll kind of get ya” and “We have maroon but not too soon.” I love the playful, joyful aspect of his delivery on this track, the rhythm of the lines. Joel Vandroogenbroeck plays flute on this track. Then Edgar Winter plays on “Twilight,” which also has a lighter vibe. He plays both saxophone and Moog on this track, and I especially love his work on sax here. “A baritone is nice with just the right spice/Just listen to the sounds of the night.” “Twilight” is followed, fittingly, by “Rhythm Of The Night,” the first line delivered a cappella. Here all animals and plants are part of one great orchestra performing at night. Nik Turner (from Hawkwind) plays on this track, giving us some wonderful work on both saxophone and flute. Like Joel Vandroogenbroeck, Turner has passed on since the original recording.

Vince Gill plays mandolin and acoustic guitar on “Imagine Things,” delivering some pretty work. This is kind of a wonderful song, with an optimistic and hopeful and excited tone in William Shatner’s vocals. “I’m imagining things…just imagining things.” That’s followed by “Do You See?” “The past is the future/And we’re still going through it,” he tells us at the beginning of this one. Again, he’s crafted some good lyrics on this album. This track also features really nice guitar work by Edgar Froese, yet another musician who is no longer with us. Then the first lines of “Deep Down” made me laugh aloud: “Deep down I’m afraid/Never told anyone ‘cause I’m afraid to.” This is another wonderful track, there is something so endearing about this one, particularly in Shatner’s vocal delivery. “Everything scares me/The world is coming to an end.” Robby Krieger (of The Doors) joins him on both sitar and guitar.

I love the humor of “I’m Alright, I Think.” Check out these lines, which open the song: “I’m alright, I think/Just don’t blink ‘cause that could change/Yesterday I felt the pain but at the moment I’m okay/The other day was really bad.” As we get older, we are more and more in touch with these thoughts, these feelings, and the best way to face them is with humor, which William Shatner does so well here. This is another of my favorite tracks. I absolutely love this song. Dave Koz plays saxophone on this one. That’s followed by “Where Does Time Go?” And at the beginning, he asks that very question. That is certainly a question that is on my lips at least thirty times a day. “I finish the dishes, I go to the store/Before I know it time is no more.” That is why I hate doing the dishes and going to the store. But this song soon moves into a more beautiful place. Check out these lines: “With only you is there peace/And everything slows down/At last my mind rests and all I see is profound/I need you beside me to push back the past/With us holding each other/We can make the time last.” And isn’t that what this is all about? The album concludes with another optimistic number, “Alive,” and his delivery reflects that sense. This album leaves me in a really good mood. “The day is alive with color and sound/My joy is back and I’m glad I found it/Before it was too late.”

CD Track List

1. Red Shift
2. Where It’s Gone… I Don’t Know
3. Manhunt
4. Ponder The Mystery
5. So Am I
6. Change
7. Sunset
8. Twilight
9. Rhythm Of The Night
10. Imagine Things
11. Do You See?
12. Deep Down
13. I’m Alright, I Think
14. Where Does Time Go?
15. Alive

Ponder The Mystery Revisited is scheduled to be released on August 25, 2023 on Cleopatra Records.