Shatner followed in the footsteps of his co-star Leonard Nimoy, who had released two albums of his own in the previous year — and while Nimoy had performed most of the songs conventionally, he had performed several of them as spoken-word versions in Mr. Spock's trademark deadpan style. Someone got the idea of having Shatner perform the entire album in this spoken-word manner, and in the Large Ham style associated with his most famous role. The end result would go down in musical history for all the wrong reasons... and yet, somehow also the right ones.
The album consists of Shatner performing a mixture of pop songs — most famously "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Mr. Tamborine Man"note — and monologues from novels and plays, with only three of the eleven tracks — the titular "The Transformed Man", "Elegy for the Brave", and "Spleen" — being wholly original.
Tropes include:
- Darker and Edgier: "Spleen" features the darkest lyrics and noticeably more downbeat music than the rest of the album, making it come across more like Shatner is reciting a horror story.
- Large Ham: Would you expect anything less from William Shatner? It says everything that he manages to make the Beatles' performance of a song that was (at least unconsciously) inspired by contemporary drug culture seem positively subdued by comparison.
- Mood Whiplash: While "Spleen" for the most part is a lot more somber and subdued than the rest of the album, that changes big-time in the final verse, when Shatner starts hamming it up like crazy.
- Never Trust a Title: Between Shatner's starring in one of the most famous science-fiction shows of the era, you might expect the title to refer to someone undergoing a physical transformation. However, the title song actually focuses around a man turning his back on modern civilization and embracing nature.
- Suddenly Shouting: While this happens in a lot of the songs, the most famous instance has to be Shatner bellowing "HEY MR. TAMBORINE MAAAAAAAN!" at the top of his lungs at the end of that song.
- Vocal Dissonance: While the background singers in "Mr. Tamborine Man" sing the song largely in the manner that you'd expect, Shatner comes across more confused and angry at Mr. Tamborine Man.
