Abandon is the 16th studio album by the English hard rock band Deep Purple, released on 25 May 1998 in the United Kingdom and on 2 June 1998 in the United States. It was band's second album with guitarist Steve Morse and their last to feature founding member Jon Lord prior to his departure in 2002. The cover art was designed by acclaimed artist Ioannis Nikolaos Vasilopoulos.
The album was followed by a successful 1998–1999 world tour, which saw Deep Purple visit Australia for the first time in 15 years. In 1999, a double live album and DVD, Total Abandon: Australia '99, recorded in Melbourne on 20 April was released.
Background
Following the departure of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple recruited Steve Morse and released their 1996 studio album Purpendicular with the new line-up. Abandon was the band's second studio album featuring Morse. It continued the new musical direction established on its predecessor while retaining the band's characteristic hard rock sound. The album's title originated from a wordplay devised by vocalist Ian Gillan, "A Band On", which the band later used as the name of their A Band on Tour tour.
Abandon was recorded between September 1997 and February 1998 at Greg Rike Studios in Altamonte Springs, Florida, United States. Deep Purple and bassist Roger Glover co-produced the album, while Darren Schneider handled the recording and mixing. Mixing took place at Platinum Post Studios in Orlando, Florida, and Greg Calbi mastered the album at Masterdisk in New York City.
According to the studio diary kept by bassist Glover during the recording sessions, the band members gathered in Orlando, Florida, in September 1997 and began recording in earnest on 19 September. At the time, the band was working on several songs, with only some of the twelve tracks initially prepared having completed lyrics. The songs were subsequently developed through a combination of songwriting, arranging, recording and revision sessions.
The track "Any Fule Kno That" also underwent several revisions during the production process. According to material documenting Glover's studio diary, he became dissatisfied with the work-in-progress track "Talk Radio" and subsequently began working on a new song, "Any Fule Kno That". The song was also performed during the band's concerts in the United States in December 1997, before the album's release. This demonstrated how the band continued developing new material while combining studio recording with live performances.
Musically, the album features an interplay between Steve Morse's guitar and Jon Lord's keyboards, with blues-based guitar riffs and powerful instrumentation throughout. Most of the tracks were co-written by Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Steve Morse and Ian Paice. The final track, "Bludsucker", also credits former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore as a songwriter. It is a re-recorded version of "Bloodsucker", originally featured on the band's 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock.
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