Deep Purple Album: “Abandon”

After being amazed by Rapture of the Deep, I had to get the other three Steve Morse albums. Not having any preconceptions, I have to say I have found myself rather impressed with this album. These days, any album that has at least five songs that I like has to be pretty darn good. There are few modern albums that have all four and five star songs in my opinion. So this album sounds pretty good to me. Since I got it along with Perpendicular and Bananas I can only say that I think I like this one the best, simply because after one week I find this album has the most songs of three that I find myself playing over and over again. Probably my favourite is Seventh Heaven which seems to be the among the heaviest tunes DP has ever put out. Excellent guitar sound. When I was a teenager, guys Jon Lord's age said metal was nothing but racket. What does Lord think as he rocks away with Morse on this song? She Was is an interesting heavy tune that seems just beyond the borders of DP's previous stuff but fits nicely into their repetoire. One of the joys of having Steve Morse in the band is the use of more melodic and acoustic guitar which was rare under the Blackmore banner. The opening to '69 and the folksy sounding parts of Work Your Fingers to the Bone are a real pleasure to listen to. Lyrically, Work Your Fingers... is a wonderful new step for DP. There are a couple of other memorable tracks like Any Fule Kno That and Watching the Sky, the latter again combining hard rock guitar with experimental sounds and a softer touch. The whole album starts to come across as a stage for a variety of guitar sounds that are played excellently. The big surprise was to hear Bludsucker, one of my all-time favourite DP songs. Gillan is hard pressed to deliver the vocal performance he did back in 1970 but he pulls it off nicely, albeit with a few variations to accomodate his 'mature' vocal talents. I was starting to write him off after The House of Blue Light and the live performances on Nobody's Perfect but on this album Gillan proves that a man in his fifties can still scream to a hard rock guitar and do it well.

Though some people give this album a poor rating, I am overall very pleased with it.

This is vital hard rock. Deep Purple is sticking a** and deserves your support. This disc doesn't skip a beat it just plain rocks, what else can I say? Minus a half a point because I like Purpendicular just slightly better. Now buy them both!

This album rocks harder than Perpendicular. Steve Morse has become Purple's guitarist, and it leaves one thinking "Ritchie Who?" I know that it is almost heretical, but it is the truth. I also got to see the band in concert and they have lost none of their edge. Unlike most 70's dinasaurs who play as an oldies act, Purple is still releasing albums, and good ones at that.

This is the classic Deep purple sound once again! The previous album, "Purpendicular" sounded like a Steve Morse showcase. "Abandon" is again a full band effort well mixed and strong. I would venture to say it is the best Deep Purple album since "Perfect Strangers". It has the feel of a new and revived band effort much like the "Perfect Strangers" reunion album did. A full review of each song is below

1."Any Fule Kno That" - Nice rocker, very strong opener to the album with the classic Deep Purple sound

2."Almost Human" - Slower tempo but still good, love the guitar work on this song

3."Don't Make Me Happy" - Slow bluesy feel

4."Seventh Heaven" - Another great track, slow crunching guitar in the classic Deep Purple style. Steve Morse is starting to catch on to the Purple way of doing business.

5."Watching the Sky" - Mid tempo rocker, okay, not stellar but okay, sounds like a late 60s tune and then takes off...is this alternative Purple?

6."Fingers to the Bone" - slowing it down through the middle of the album, good song

7."Jack Ruby" - Another slow song, I love this tune, nice groove, shrieking Gillan (It's been a while), great keyboards and good lyrics

8."She Was" - Okay song, good keyboard / guitar interplay on this one. I love that aspect of of the Deep Purple sound

9."Whatsername" - Slow jam, respectable, not bad at all

10."'69" - Welcome back the rockers, love the keyboard solo, classic Deep Purple

11."Evil Louie" - Respectable song, not great but respectable

12."Bludsucker" - Deep Purple covers Deep Purple! Very nice! Steve Morse shows his talents on classic "In Rock" track. Great ending to a great album!!

Steve's use of pitch harmonics seem toned down on this album and appropriately placed in the solos. Jon Lord shines as does Ian P., Ian G. and Roger. This is what Deep Purple should sound like. This is a full band playing at their finest. Great studio album for Jon Lord to retire with.

Before i bought this album i looked at the reviews on this site and was dissapointed to see that many critisized it as a poor effort. I went ahead and bought it anyway coz im going to see them in march 2002, and its great. A truly cool album made without having to try and impress. This music just flows out of the cd player and fills the room, some real cool riffs, great singing, hard drumming, wicked bass and awesome organ playing.

It is just a really good album with lots of melody and 'feel'. Dont be put off by others reviews, listen to me instead! ;)