The Transformed Man is actor William Shatner's debut album, released in 1968, while the original Star Trek series, in which he starred as Captain James T. Kirk, was still on the air.
The concept of the album was to juxtapose famous pieces of poetry with their modern counterparts, pop lyrics.
The album is best remembered for showcasing Shatner's now-famous vocal style—spoken word with dramatic pauses and flourishes. Shatner started playing up this aspect of his career in the 1990s as he enjoyed a resurgence of popularity, this time as a pop-culture icon. The actor/singer appeared in a number of commercials for Priceline.com, where the unique musical style displayed in The Transformed Man was showcased for humorous effect.
Appearing with Shatner in some of those commercials was pop music's Ben Folds. The two formed a professional relationship that would ultimately lead to the release of Shatner's second album, Has Been, in 2004.
The album is often described as one of the worst albums ever released. For example, in 2006 Q Magazine ranked The Transformed Man 45th in their list of the 50 worst albums ever.[1] In the decades since its release, most of the "songs" in the album have been featured as comedy bits, either on compilation albums meant to showcase bad celebrity singing (the Rhino Records "Golden Throats" series) or by radio disc jockeys looking for laughs.
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