Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are always new worlds to explore, even those you have been briefly to before can still hold a world of wonder within its dark caverns and forbidding forests. For William Shatner, the man who first took Star Trek fans on an adventure that shows no signs of running out of steam, the music quest has been taken before but not perhaps to the best of receptions.  Times have changed, William Shatner has grown older and wiser and his life has taken many different turns since those heady days of the 1960s at the head of the Enterprise. This certainly feels like the best time to Ponder The Mystery.  

Ponder The Mystery is a seismic concept album which owes more to thought of a man than probably might suggest itself at first. Age creeps upon us all and in those that have been favoured with a gift, be it academic, sports or in the arts, the passing of time can play heavily on the mind. It is a natural though, especially when having been in the public conscience for around 50 years, being seen by generations of audiences, that somewhere along the line time seems to be a valuable commodity and thoughts that may go unmentioned during life come creeping out.

The man and the mystery, the music which weaves its way through his sentences of hope, despair and careful consideration, are all captured within the framework of the album and echoed by the sound of the voice being doubled. Throughout every track the second voice is there as if confirming the presence of a guide holding Mr. Shatner’s hand and showing that no matter what, there is always hope and courage for us all.

Listening to the spoken word poetry delivered by Mr. Shatner, there are moments of pure and undulated joy. The poetry is delivered with the skill of a man who has lived, not just lived but who has taken life by the scruff of its neck, taken every drop of blood, sweat and tears available from its carcass and then who revels in his words. No matter what some quarters might think of the poetry, the insights into a man’s thoughts work incredibly well alongside the music contributed in abundance by former members of British Progressive Rock super group Yes, namely Billy Sherwood, Rick Wakeman and Tony Kaye. It is a collaboration that was made in the stars.

There will no doubt be detractors, the usual crowd that find it easier to criticise something new and bold but in tracks such as Where It’s Gone…I Don’t Know, the title track Ponder The Mystery, Do You See, Where Does Time Go? and the life affirming Alive, the artist and his muses are very much in control and have given fans of both Progressive Rock and Sci-Fi the best possible present.

Ian D. Hall