Revolver Mag debut William Shatner Iron man feat. Zakk Wylde by Cleopatra Records
A lot of people felt that I was too harsh on both William Shatner and Zakk Wylde when it was revealed that the two were recording a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” As Bram pointed out, there was a good chance this could be really awesome (it worked when Henry Rollins and Shatner teamed up). Well, the cover of “Iron Man” has just been posted online, and…so much for potential.
Unlike his previous recording work, Captain Kirk’s cover is less spoken word and more actual singing. Actually, to be more direct, the cover features more singing from Zakk Wylde than it actually does of Shatner. Nothing against Wylde, but it sounds like he covered “Iron Man” with a really crappy backup vocalist. Sure, the kitsch factor of The Shat doing his over-enunciating speak/sing thing could’ve been way fun, but Zakk doesn’t even give him a chance to do what he does best.
Maybe you’ll think I’m being too harsh again, but trust me when I say that I really did want to give this a shot. Give it a listen for yourself in the Soundcloud player up top, and THEN tell me whether I’m still being too critical.
The song will be featured on Shatner’s new rock covers album Searching For Major Tom. The album will be released on October 11 via Cleopatra Records, and features appearances from Mike Inez, Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, and many others. Hopefully his covers of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Space Oddity” are better than “Iron Man,” but why re-record“Rocket Man” when his original cover of it was pure genius?
