Metal Anarchy

During an interview with The Moynihan Report, William Shatner (“Star Trek”, etc.) discussed his upcoming heavy metal album. He also revealed that the effort will be called “What The F Is Heavy Metal?.”

Shatner said the following:

“I am in a fervor of creativity. I am writing books. I’m doing albums. This heavy metal album is like… They want me to do… I’m gonna do a concert. I’m gonna do 30-minute concert — 30 minutes of heavy metal [laughs], with a band. 30 minutes on stage.”

He continued:

“Cleopatra, the label that I work with frequently, said to me, ‘Why don’t you do a heavy metal album?’ And I said, ‘What the F is heavy metal?’ Then I heard ‘Patience’, the song ‘Patience’ [by Guns N’ Roses]. So we write a song called ‘Impatience’. ‘I’m not gonna wait around for you. I’m not waiting for you. Here, read my lips.’ And it’s all about, ‘I’m not waiting around for you. Yeah. You hear me? You hear my lips? I’m not waiting.’ And it’s got that kind of rage and tempo… Impassioned. ‘I’m tired of old age. I’m tired of losing hair. I’m tired of not eating. I’m tired of catching a cold. I’m tired of being tired. I’m tired!’”

He also added:

“The music is a distillation of emotion. It’s so right there.”

He went on to unveil the title:

“The name of the album — I hope; I mean, everybody agrees —is ‘What The F Is Heavy Metal?’ That’s the name of the album.”

He also revealed that he knew “nothing” about heavy metal before pursuing this project:

“You gotta start with the premise that I really know nothing,” he said. “I’m inquisitive. Apparently, I’m inquisitive, and I’m reading and looking up all the time, stuff. So I began to experiment. I fastened on to emotions. I thought heavy metal has gotta be about emotions — violent, passionate… Not violent — passionate emotions. ‘The Black Sky’ is about what we’re doing to the planet. ‘Impatience’ — don’t keep me waiting. ‘Rage’. Five songs with meaning to me. I’m enraged, I’m angry about, I am disgusted with.”

He also confirmed that he still has rage at his age:

“Oh, yeah. I wanna get on my horse and run the way I used to. My legs don’t have the strength that they once had, so I’m careful. I don’t wanna be careful. These albums that I have written with Rob [Shatner’s longtime friend and collaborator Robert Sharenow] are all personal. They all have to do with my growth.”

He also added the following when asked if there are any metal artists he likes:

“I don’t know. ‘Cause I don’t know their names. Brian May plucks an anguished guitar. It’s crazed. And it moves me. There are 50 well-known heavy metal geniuses who wanna be on the album, led by Brian May. Why? Brian May laid his track down over a song that Rob [Sharenow] and I wrote called ‘Rage’. ‘Rage against the dying of the light,’ to use that — what’s his name’s phrase. That’s the name of the song, and we’ll make it into a music video.”

[via Blabbermouth]