This CD and DVD double pack was originally released including a 4 track 10″ vinyl disc and a 40 page hardback cover signed by Elvis Costello (real name Declan McManus).

Costello, not known to shy away from controversy slammed the record label for its release at £269 saying “the price appears to be either a misprint or a satire.” He advised fans not to buy it and if they wanted to spend that much he could recommend Ambassadors of Jazz by Louis Armstrong. He added: “Frankly, the music is vastly superior.”

In contrast, the current release can be picked up for a street price of under £12 and must surely be the bargain of the Century?

Released on April 2nd, “The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook” is a live album taken from two nights played at The Wiltern in Los Angeles in May last year. The ‘spinning songbook’ in question is a game-show type wheel spun by select fans and featuring songs from Costello’s back catalogue. Spin the wheel, where it lands is what gets played. This is an interesting idea and one to keep the musicians interested on a long tour as much as it does the fans.

The 16 tracks on the main CD cover a fair selection of Costello’s earlier albums with only a couple of tracks drawn from his seven albums since the turn of the century. To be honest that’s not a bad thing for me and I own five of those!

The overall impression I get from this album is a frenetic, rush through. This could be seen as having drive and enthusiasm but seems to me more like going through the motions. Kicking off with “I Hope You’re Happy Now” and rushing straight into “Heart of the City” a Dr Feelgood song but written by Nick Lowe who produced Costello’s first five albums. There is no let up in the pace as no sooner has the band hit the final chord then we are straight into “Mystery Dance” and again without a breath we have the first of Costello’s hits with his rant on the state of broadcasting, “Radio Radio”.

It’s only now that we get our first chance to breath as Elvis’ band ‘the Imposters’ introduce a new groove to “Everyday I write the book” with Steve Nieve on Hammond organ showing just how talented he is. Elvis “fell out of love” with this hit song he “wrote in a spare ten minutes” until Canadian Songsmith Ron Sexsmith reminded him about the rough diamond that was at the core of the song. It’s also at this point that we get a feel for what the Spinning Songbook was all about as Costello brings the audience member selecting the song into “the society lounge” and shows her the “hostage to fortune go-go cage” in case she feels like dancing. Costello’s on-stage banter has often been entertaining and he seems to revel in this format.

Elvis was introduced to us back in 1977 with his album “My Aim is True”. It was shortly after the album recording that Costello put together his own band to tour with called ‘The Attractions’. The band playing on this album ‘The Imposters’ are the same guys, with the exception of Bruce Thomas who Costello famously fell out with over his book “The Big Wheel”. Bruce’s place in the band is taken by Davey Faragher.

Fans following Costello have had a job keeping up with his many style changes including an album with legendary song writer Burt Bacharach. That album, “Painted from memory”, while at first challenging was a real gem and the next track played was the initial track they worked on together. This was for a great film for music fans called “Grace of my heart“. The track, “God give me strength” was played over the closing credits and it’s one of the very few times I have seen an audience routed to their seats until the very last credit rolled.

So the track is a cracker and live it can carry the same emotion, however this time the drama and emotion of the song is spoilt by Costello wandering away from the melody line. With Bacharach being the king of melody, it’s a surprise that Elvis would do this. Now this is not to say that the song is a bad one with this delivery, only that it can be so much better. This is the same way I felt about another dramatic track “I want you”. This song, focused on obsession about a previous lover, needs a very careful balance so as not to tip over too quickly into the psychopath and in my opinion it fails.

By now you may be thinking about avoiding this album, however if you do you’ll be missing some good stuff. My criticism is based on knowing these songs can be better. Without the “reference card” they are still powerful. The American audience are heard whooping and hollering often, during the performance rather than at the end of a song, however that is their way.

As well as the tracks that are the staple to recent Costello set lists there are a few rare tracks such as “Tear off your own head (it’s a doll revolution)”, a Costello song sang tonight by Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles who released it as a single. You also get “Out of time”, not Costello’s “Man out of time” but the Stones’ song from their Aftermath album that was taken to number one in the UK charts by Chris Farlowe. Fans aren’t left short-changed as you also get “Man out of time” too.

I started by saying this album could be the bargain of the Century, Well perhaps of THIS Century, compared to the original release price. It is a release worth having, however there have been better Costello live releases. Start by grabbing “Live at the El Mocambo” which was originally a promo disk but had later full releases and was a bonus disk on an earlier Costello re-release programme. Then grab yourself, the now hard to find box set Costello/Nieve where their stripped down shows really allowed the songs to talk.