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The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook EP

Super Deluxe Edition, Deluxe Edition

LP (10" album, 33 1/3 rpm), Box Set, 1 CD

4.0 out of 5 stars 72

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Audio CD, Box set, December 6, 2011
$472.99

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1 I Hope You're Happy Now
2 Heart Of The City
3 Mystery Dance
4 Radio Radio
5 Everyday I Write The Book
6 God Give Me Strength
7 Watching The Detectives
8 Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution) featuring Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles
9 Out Of Time
10 I Want You
11 Stella Hurt
12 All Grown Up
13 Lipstick Vogue
14 Man Out Of Time
15 National Ransom
16 (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding

Disc: 2

1 I Hope You're Happy Now
2 Heart Of The City
3 Mystery Dance
4 Radio Radio
5 Clubland
6 God Give Me Strength
7 Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution) featuring Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles
8 Out Of Time
9 I Want You
10 Everyday I Write The Book
11 Stella Hurt
12 A Slow Drag With Josephine
13 Jimmie Standing In The Rain
14 Alison
15 Earthbound
16 (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding
17 Uncomplicated (Bonus Track)
18 Watching The Detectives (Bonus Track)
19 Monkey To Man (Bonus Track)

Disc: 3

1 Pump It Up (6/8)
2 Busted
3 Brilliant Mistake
4 Strict Time

Editorial Reviews

The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!! is a 3-disc (CD, DVD, 10" vinyl EP) live box set, recorded over a 2-night stand at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on May 11 and 12, 2011. Limited to 1500 copies worldwide, each set is individually numbered with a special commemoration card autographed by Elvis Costello. This super deluxe package includes a 40-page hardcover book packed with candid photos, a tour diary of Costello's musings from each tour stop, a 20" x 30" concert tour poster and a limited edition postcard.


The CD was recorded from both nights' performances at the Wiltern, shows which The Los Angeles Times called "the kind of uniquely invigorating experience that warrants a buzzword all its own: inspiring." The DVD is from Costello's show on May 12, 2011, and includes a special guest appearance by the Bangles, plus bonus footage including behind-the-scenes moments captured with the Imposters as well as extra performances not included in the main set of the show. The 10-inch vinyl record features four songs only available in this set.


All this is housed in a lavish box with a working spinning replica of "The Spectacular Spinning Songbook" on the front cover! Only 1500 copies were printed and autographed so don't miss out.


Since the super deluxe
Elvis Costello & the Imposters: The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!! is a limited edition set, a single CD, DVD, and double-disc version (CD/DVD) will be available next year.

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 10.75 x 11.77 x 1.42 inches; 2.73 Pounds
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ HIP-O
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ September 20, 2011
  • Label ‏ : ‎ HIP-O
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005O607UI
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 3
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 out of 5 stars 72

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
72 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2012
The king is dead! Long live the king! His royal highness Elvis Costello has established himself as music royalty with a lengthy career as a prolific, genius songwriter, a gifted singer, and, indeed, a SPECTACULAR showman for the ages. Time and time again, he has thrilled us, wowed us, and entertained us. With this, his Spectacular Spinning Songbook CD + DVD, he has lived up to his own stellar reputation, setting the bar as high as it can go and then going above it.

While some folks say the "sound quality" is a bit lacking, I say it doesn't matter because you won't even notice 2 seconds after blastoff with one of my favorite songs of all time I Hope You're Happy Now. Elvis and the boys rock out from start to finish with just a few ballads thrown in to catch their breath. Personally, I could have done without an 8:38 version of I Want You and a guest appearance by The Bangles--would have much rather heard Elvis doing Doll Revolution--but other than that this is simply an outstanding collection of live hits. And while some say he's lost a bit of vocal power, I ain't buyin' what they're sellin'. Numbers such as Watching the Detectives and Lipstick Vogue sound eerily similar to live versions he was doing some 30+ years ago only instead of Bruce, it's Davey Faragher ripping it up on bass this time 'round. Professor Steve Nieve and Mr. Pete Thomas are as masterful and artistic as ever! Another personal favorite, Man Out of Time, is likewise as powerful as when we first heard it. He belts out his famed anthem, Radio, Radio with the same up-tempo youthfull exhuberance he exhibited way back when we were calling him Prince Charmless.

I was a bit surprised and even disappointed that the DVD has virtually the same setlist as the CD with just a few variations. So when you're watching, you're basically hearing the CD with video, only some of the songs were recorded in a different show so the renditions do vary slightly. That said, the DVD is amazing unto itself for a couple of reasons: I love seeing Elvis and the original Napoleon Dynamite oozing excellence and hamming it up while The Imposters demonstrate once again that to play with the best you need to be the best. They simply live up to what's needed to support The King. Also, to see Elvis's interaction with the audience is priceless. Everyone who gets on stage to give the Spectacular Spinning Songbook a spin, drink at the Society Lounge, or go wild in the Hostage to Fortune go-go cage is obviously thrilled to death. One lady, on stage during Everyday I Write the Book, is simply beside herself with excitement--jumping up and down and dancing wildly the whole time. During God Give Me Strength, Elvis ventures out into the audience for virtually the entire song--the folks before him mezmerized by His presence and a few crying at the beauty and poignancy of the number and the moment. At times the DVD seems a bit disjointed like when there's a double spin or a triple spin but then only one of the songs is played. That doesn't make much sense but, of course, they couldn't show us everything--we receive but a healthy dose of The Spectacle that is the one and only Elvis. In the end: 5 STARS! Thank you, Elvis, for entertaining us once a gain.
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2012
I like "The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook" a lot. On this live album, Costello has successfully recreated a lot of the energy and feel of his early years. This is the way he sounded when he first toured with the Attractions, some 35 years ago. His live sound then was rougher and more aggressive than his recordings, demonstrating why some early reviewers considered him a punk artist.

Costello has recorded a lot of music over the years, much of it very ambitious and original. The problem in recent years is that, as intelligent and well-made as the music has been, it's just not that exciting. Even attempts to recapture the energy of his younger days, as on "Brutal Youth," (1996) fall a little flat. On "The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook," though, his attempts to rock out are completely convincing and, frankly, quite welcome. The quieter moments are wonderful, too.

The faux-gameshow format is a bit silly but not intrusive, and the setlist is a nice overview of his long and varied career, with a few ringers thrown in. His current band, the Imposters (which are really the Attractions with a different bass player) sound terrific; one can tell that Elvis and the band have worked together for a long time. Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles guests on one track, "Tear Off Your Own Head;" she sounds great, but her performance seems a little out of place and unnecessary. The highlights include such Costello faves as "Peace, Love and Understanding," "Lipstick Vogue" and "Radio, Radio." There's also a wonderful cover of Nick Lowe's "Heart of the City."

Other reviewers complain about the recording quality and I couldn't disagree more. This is what an Elvis Costello concert sounds like. If you expect concerts to be note-for-note recreations of an artist's studio recordings, you're being unrealistic. For long-time fans, this is the live Elvis Costello album you've been waiting for. He hasn't been this exciting in years. The CD is also available in combination with a DVD of the performance; I suspect the gameshow aspects are more apparent on the video version.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2012
I saw my first Elvis show on the "Imperial Bedroom" tour. I've been a fan every since. I was fortunate to see two shows on this last tour (Chicago and Indianapolis). Both were fantastic. The man is better live now than he was 30 years ago. I was pumped to find out he'd be releasing a live disc of this tour, especially after "The Costello Show" series of live recordings crashed and burned. What we do get on this disc is quite dynamic. The versions of "I Want You" and "Watching the Detectives" are the standouts for me. I even like Susanna Hoff's singing of "Tear Off Your Own Head." Unlike other reviewers I have no problem with the sound. But where's the rest??? Shows on this tour ranged from two to three hours, and in some cities Elvis belted out over 30 songs. Why aren't we getting a complete show? Fine, he wants to keep it to a one cd set. Whatever. But if he's going to include a dvd, why not a whole show, which fits easily onto one disc? A lot of bands out there offer live recordings of all their shows. Even Genesis did this with their last European tour, despite the fact that every show had an identical setlist. The two Elvis shows I saw last summer were very, very different from one another. Not only were the setlists very different, the tones were different. Having some kind of souvenir would've been nice. Two-thirds of one show doesn't cut it. More, please!
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jean-louis Lampel
1.0 out of 5 stars Ö vieillesse enemie
Reviewed in France on June 9, 2012
Costello nous refait "This Year's Model" 30 ans après et c'est raté sur toute la longueur, il a perdu sa voix , éraillée comme celle de Dylan (eh Dylan raccroche). Il arrive a massacrer "Watching the Detectives" et le public en redemande, c'est pathétique, quand il pousse sa voix c'est terrible, lui qui avait une voix merveilleuse. Rien ne se détache de ces 100 000volts en vain, pas un morceau ne rachète l'autre et l'on est triste pour lui; Il y a un âge pour le rock et passé la cinquantaine c'est dur dur.Il y a dix ans ça passait encore et je suis indulgent mais qu'est-il arrivé à sa voix ? Cette critique n'est pas faite de bon coeur car j'ai vu Costello en 1977 ( et après) l'année phare pour la New Wave et c'était autre chose.Rachetez les premiers Costello et exultez !
3 people found this helpful
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T. C. Casagranda
5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the Best of his live albums
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2012
Elvis doesn't release all that many live albums, but when he does he pulls out a cracker of an album.

More often than not, Elvis's live tracks appear as bonuses on reissues, i.e the live recordings on the 2cd sets of Almost Blue, Punch the Clock, Goodbye Cruel World, and King of America. I know these are now long-since deleted. Likewise, I think the collaboration with Bill Frisell from 1995 at the Meltdown Festival is also deleted. Archive recordings from El Mocambo and Hollywood High have been issued, but we tend not to have anything contemporaneous. This, however, redresses the balance.

Now the contentious issue: who's better, the Attractions or Impostors ? By far The Impostors, as Bruce Thomas' tenure was becoming impossible. The Impostors backed Elvis on, quite possibly, his greatest album, The Delivery Man, and on the amazing River In Reverse with Allen Toussaint. They also show, as evinced from this album, that they can be brilliantly subtle on God Give Me Strength and All Grown Up, unlike the Attractions.

I would also add that the opening salvo, from I Hope You're Happy Now through to Radio Radio, are improvements on their previous recordings. Steve Nieve's organ work has certainly improved from his time, way back when, as an Attraction. It is also a nice tip of the hat to the Nick Lowe basher productions. I would also add that Every day I Write The Book is a great improvement upon the over-produced Clanger Winstanly version on Punch The Clock.

Years' back, in 1995, Elvis supported Bob Dylan at Brixton Academy. I had the pleasure of hearing God Give Me Strength for the first time. Herein, it retains its greatness, and is on a par with the My Flame Burns Blue live album version. I would also add that Watching the Detectives follows, and is given a wonderful treatment. I prefer the Bernard Hermann influenced version from My Flame Burns Blue, but this is almost as good.

I Want You is nine minutes of a tour de force. I have always liked this track, be it with the Attractions at Royal Albert Hall, in which Elvis medleyed it with I Say A Little Prayer, or with the Rude Five during an unplugged session. It is nice to see a live version of it on an official album.

The surprise of the album is Out of Time, a cover of Aftermath era Rolling Stones. The Stones wrote some corking Brit pop, be it Yesterday's Papers, Who's Been Sleeping Here, Mother's Little Helper, She Smiled Sweetly, which influenced Elvis on This Year's Model. I think he refers, within the sleeve notes to Girls Girls Girls, as using Aftermath as an influence. Here he returns to this influence with aplomb.

What else do I like about this album ? The fact that Elvis revisits the 1986 Spinning Wheel vibe by collaborating with The Bangles on Tear off Your Own Head. The Bangles appeared in 1986, supplying harmonies on Blood & Chocolate's Next Time Around. They also covered Tear Off your Own Head, too. I would add that it was nice to see this underrated track appear, as When I Was Cruel seriously slipped under the radar, and is, in my opinion, the most underrated of Elvis's back catalogue.

Furthermore, I also like the fact that Elvis returns, albeit more maturely, to the revenge and guilt era of the 1970s and 1980s with Lipstick Vogue and Man Out of Time.

All in all, this is a fine album, and anyone that thinks that Elvis has lost his voice, and that he is destroying his back catalogue is a Man Out of step, out of time.
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Hermann Borgerding
5.0 out of 5 stars Die Musik ist klasse, die Produktbeschreibung war zuerst einfach falsch
Reviewed in Germany on April 12, 2012
Die erste Produktbeschreibung war falsch, wurde aber mittlerweile korrigiert, so dass ich mich jetzt auf die Musik und die DVD beschränken kann.
Zwei Sätze aus meiner ersten wütenden Rezension (und da hatte ich dann nur einen Stern vergeben):
"Ich komme in den Genuss der Audio-CD und der DVD, das Ding ist im netten Digi-Pack mit kleinem Beilageheft aber es ist eben nicht das Superding, dass mir versprochen wurde!
Ich schicke die CD trotzdem nicht zurück, weil ich halt die Musik geil finde. Und hätte wahrscheinlich ne 5-Punkte-Bewertung geschrieben, wenn ich mich nicht über die gelogene Produktbeschreibung ärgern würde..."
Die Produktbeschreibung ist mittlerweile geändert worden und ich bin froh, die CD nicht zurückgeschickt zu haben: Costello and the Imposters spielen die alten Hits des Helden. Voller Spaß und Energie. Wirklich klasse und ich hebe jetzt mal die "Schweineorgel" besonders hervor! Bei der DVD kommt der Spaß an den Liedern und dem Konzert noch besser rüber, auch wenn der Auftritt der Bangles eher ein witziges Beiwerk ist.
Wer Elvis Costello liebt kommt an dieser CD eigentlich nicht vorbei.
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Rabe
3.0 out of 5 stars Gitarre lärmt nur
Reviewed in Germany on February 25, 2015
Pro:
- Die Live-Atmosphäre ist spürbar.
- Einige Stücke rocken ganz nett.
- De Titel "I want you", "(What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love And Understanding"

Contra:
- Costellos Gitarre ist extrem verzerrt (eigentlich nur noch Krach statt Klang) - ich denke, das meinen viele Rezensenten mit "miese Soundqualität". Das GItarrensolo beim Titel "(What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love And Understanding" ist nur noch Klangmatsch. Und zwar mieser (ich vergleiche mal mit Neil Youngs "Rust Live", wo die Gitarre am Ende auch stark verzerrt ist).
- Die Lautstärke-Bearbeitung ist mies. Beispiel: Der Titel "All Grown Up" endet mit leiseren Pianoklängen - darauf ruft Costello zweimal den Namen seinen Pianisten "Steve Naive" in einer Lautstärke, dass es einem fast die Boxen zerreißt. Einfach gedankenlos bis lieblos gemacht.
- Die Idee mit dem Glücksrad zur Songauswahl halte ich für "originellen Schwachsinn".
Chris Swan
5.0 out of 5 stars I hope your happy now
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2012
Surely Elvis Costello is one of the most underated artists of our time , with a unique instantly recognisable voice, you cant help but be drawn in by his fabulous lyrics.
Yes there are much better singers than Elvis , but his voice just seems to capture the mood of every song he performs perfectly , but then listen to "God give me strength" and try and tell me he hasnt got a fabulous voice.
With an array of classics being performed such as - Man out of time , Watching the detectives , I hope your happy now , lipstick vogue , you will not be dissapointed when purchasing this album , the only dissapointment is that it doesnt go on for another couple of hours more. 5 Stars from me
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