The spectacular spinning songbook. A great idea. Have the setlist be decided by audience participation and mere chance. A great idea from Elvis Costello and, gathering from the fans and critics responses, a sucessful tour.

So, it made sense to do a release of this tour. The return of the spectacular spinning songbook is a two cd, one dvd and one vinyl boxset with a book detailing the whole shebang.

You do get to hear the band doing their best at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, a seal of guarantee that Elvis Costello has stamped to his live performances. Classic tracks like ‘Radio Radio’, ‘I hope you’re happy now’ and ‘Every day I write the book’ (1983 represent!) are all here. Heck, even Susanna Hoffs from The Bangles  drops by to sing (‘Tear off your own head’ )

The DVD is pretty cool. Elvis Costello  hams it up a bit (calling himself Napoleon Dynamite, wearing a top hat) in a special intro that’s pretty cool. Even cooler is 93 minutes of pure Elvis Costello goodiness. Never has a punk rocker looked so classier and he gets to do his classy showmanship (he might even be channeling Bob Barker). The whole concept of having a lucky member of the audience choose a song by mere luck after spinning the wheel is right there and probably made the night out of a couple of people. Can’t say they didn’t got a good night of entertainment.

Now, there is a big problem with the release. The music isn’t bad, the DVD is entertaining if you’ve never been to one of his gigs (I’ve never have) and the band does what they do best. The problem does not reside with anyone in creating the music or painstakingly putting all the little details in the final product.

No, the problem is whoever decided the price. 200+ dollars for one cd, one dvd and one vinyl does not add up. It’s hard to recommend this if you’re not a completist. The price is too high and no matter how good the music by Elvis Costello and his cohorts play for our listening pleasure, it can’t justify the price. Sure, the packing is cool and the book is a good addition, but I’m afraid I can’t recommend this without compromising my own values. Too overpriced for what it is, and even the artist himself said  so. You can read their opinion here.

Words: Sam.

Elvis Costello & The Imposters Website. Myspace.