Shatner is making an album with 35 metal icons

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Late-Life Creativity and Admiration

  • Many commenters are struck by Shatner’s age (early 90s) and continued productivity, grouping him with other very active nonagenarian entertainers.
  • His ability to keep working and clearly having fun is seen as inspirational; several say that’s all that matters, even if the result is odd or uneven.

Shatner’s Musical Back-Catalog

  • A large part of the thread is people sharing favorite Shatner tracks: “Common People,” “Rocket Man,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “That’s Me Trying,” “Real,” “You’ll Have Time,” “It Hasn’t Happened Yet,” and the album “Has Been.”
  • His style is described as spoken-word or oration over carefully arranged music, with collaborators (e.g., Ben Folds, Henry Rollins, notable session players) doing much of the musical “heavy lifting.”
  • Several say his “Common People” cover is not just good but better than the original; others highlight how his performance gradually “clicks” emotionally.

Quality vs Novelty

  • Opinions split between “please don’t let him sing” and genuine praise.
  • Some see his work as objectively bad but still charming, fun, or even occasionally profound.
  • A recurring view: the new metal album doesn’t need to be great—its mere existence is delightful.

Metal and Other Elder Icons

  • Comparisons are made to other elderly actors doing metal or narration over metal (e.g., a famous knighted actor’s albums, Orson Welles with Manowar, Pat Boone’s metal covers).
  • Mixed reactions: respect for them doing it at all, but not everyone thinks the results are good.

Broader Shatner Persona

  • Commenters note his wildly eclectic career: experimental music, a movie entirely in Esperanto, paintball enthusiasm, animated/parody appearances, and cross-franchise pop-culture moments.
  • His acting is described as often hammy yet capable of sudden, real poignancy.

HN Meta and Star Trek Culture

  • Some question why this story tops Hacker News, arguing it’s mainstream celebrity fluff and pointing to stricter treatment of political/war topics.
  • Others respond that “anything good hackers find interesting” includes Star Trek–adjacent nostalgia and that Trekkie culture has long overlapped with hacker culture.