Leonard Nimoy - Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space (1995)

No television series has ever enjoyed success equal to the original Star Trek. This fanaticism has turned off many to anything involving the series, but what they are missing can be truly entertaining. Leonard Nimoy's first solo album is a prime example; his serious tone and refusal to break character makes this a first rate experiment in comedy. As Mr. Spock, Nimoy tries to communicate to earthlings with a warped logic that never seems too hammy, but instead has a good natured feel of parody. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Earth" and "Spock Thoughts" are funny narrated pieces, "Where Is Love" captures Nimoy's crooning barritone, but it is "Highly Illogical" that overshadows everything else. A swinging pop song about the lack of logic in most humans, it is Nimoy at his most droll and sincere performance on the album. Some songs get bogged down in serious sci-fi mumbo jumbo, but even those songs are usually so unusual that they warrant a listen. A few instrumentals, like the themes to both "Star Trek" and "Mission Impossible," are spread throughout to lengthen the album, but they are recorded in such a dated '60s pop way that it is hard not to like them. In fact, it is hard not to like the album as a whole; as obviously thrown together as it is, it still works. Even people who hate the series will probably get a kick out of this fun, oddball mix.