It is both beautiful and reassuring with an album that defines itself as an ultra high fidelity recording and was recorded by none other than Mr. Spock, or Leonard Nimoy as his real name is. I found this album a month ago in a second hand store with a brilliant selection of LPs, at really nice prices. I actually had no idea that Leonard Nimoy also had a musical career, but I have to my surprise now understood that he recorded about a dozen albums. Although his acting career was far more successful than his musical.
A couple of the songs on the album are written by Nimoy himself, a couple are a collaboration with George Tipton who arranged the music, and the rest are covers. This was Nimoys fourth album.
Before I had listened to the record, it was difficult to know which category it belonged to. Was it recorded by a man with serious musical aspirations? Was it a record company who wanted to milk money out of a famous name? Was it a joke? Was it the character Mr. Spock who was singing? Shall the cover give any clue it's undeniably Mr. Spock one is thinking of.
However, it doesn’t take many seconds before the listener realizes that this is an album seriously recorded by Leonard Nimoy, and not by Mr. Spock. Nimoy’s dark voice sings nice little melodies with plenty of strings, some harmonica, female choirs, and it resembles somewhat of Lee Hazlewood. There is a certain seriousness and a pinch of melancholy in the songs. My wife, whose musical knowledge, one must say, has a potential of development, associated spontaneously to just Lee Hazlewood and also Leonard Cohen.
One song that stands out is Contact, one of the cooperations between Nimoy and George Tipton, with a perhaps not entirely successful result. Here we hear Nimoy talk about weird cosmic things with a sound background of a more psychedelic kind. Reminds me of some musical experiments Timothy Leary did at the same time, with a spoken-word theme. This is probably the only time one can wonder if it is the character Mr. Spock that’s being used. However, I am forgiving toward this odd bird on the album, the year was 1969 and I guess it was hip to be experimental.
The song that stands out in a more positive way is I Think It's Gonna Rain Today, written by Randy Newman. This is the album’s highlight and a really nice creation. The other songs on the album are OK and definitely worth listening to, even if some other artists in the same genre are better. Obviously the factor Leonard Nimoy / Mr. Spock makes the music more interesting and fun to listen to, not least for Star Trek fans. But even if it wasn’t Nimoy who had recorded the album, I had given it full approval.
From what I have read on the net, this album is considered to be one of Nimoy’s better, if not the best.
Tracklist
Side A
1. I Search For Tomorrow 2:20
2. Maiden Wine 1:42
3. Now’s The Time 2:38
4. Cycles 2:52
5. I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today 2:58
Side B
1. I Just Can’t Help Believin’ 2:37
2. Nature Boy 2:10
3. Contact 2:50
4. The Man I Would Like To Be 2:50
5. A Trip To Nowhere 2:42
6. Piece Of Hope 2:42
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