Though he’s best known for playing Captain Kirk, William Shatner has creative pursuits that don’t end with acting. Now, the TV icon is writing a direct rebuttal to one of Guns N’ Roses’ most famous songs: “Patience.”
Shatner, 95, revealed that one track on his upcoming heavy metal album, “A Gathering of Forces,” was built as a response to the Guns N’ Roses song. The band’s 1989 acoustic ballad about waiting out a relationship’s ups and downs is now reimagined by Shatner, flipping the sentiment around entirely. “Impatience” by William Shatner is a defiant refusal to wait around for anyone or anything.
Shatner Keeps Things Mysterious
In June, Shatner shared a cryptic Instagram post announcing that the project may become a larger tour-run. “All has been made clear. Now… should I or shouldn’t I?” He wrote, keeping the mystery around the new venture.
Shatner’s Relationship to Music and Metal
“I’ve spent a lifetime exploring in both reality and fiction,” Shatner said to Parade in an interview. “Now I am stepping out into the unknown once again with my new project in heavy metal.”
Shatner said he will be covering Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden on his new album. He also promised the album would include original songs as well.
“The whole project is destined for this year. I hope you will join me in the exploration,” Shatner said.
The heavy metal genre has turned out to be something of an education for Shatner, too. He admitted he went into the project with some misconceptions about what heavy metal actually sounds like. Where he expected noise and aggression, he found the musicality of the genre.
“Heavy metal does have guitar solos in it. I didn’t know! I thought heavy metal was ‘Bing, bang, crash, boom.’ And it isn’t only that, so I’m learning,” the actor said of the project.
“Metal has always been a place where imagination gets loud,” Shatner said in an interview with Cleopatra earlier this year. “This album is a gathering of forces—each artist bringing their fire, their precision, their chaos. I chose them because they have something to say, and because metal demands honesty.”
A Look at “A Gathering of Forces”
The choice to reimagine a Guns N’ Roses song is not entirely random, either. Shatner’s recording career dates back to 1968, and over the years, he has tackled covers and reinterpretations of well-loved artists before. The Emmy-winning actor’s music debut was a spoken-word album called “The Transformed Man” (1968), which included performances of The Beatles and Bob Dylan. Above all, however, Shatner cited Queen and “Bohemian Rhapsody” as his favorite artists and song ever.
A release date for “A Gathering of Forces” has not been shared publicly yet, but he said the project would feature 35 hand-picked icons of metal. In many ways, this new album is just another way Shatner is choosing to defy fan expectations. The actor has never strayed from concept albums and spoken-word performances, and his partnership with musical legends is next on his list.
