Abandon (album)

Abandon
Studio album by Deep Purple
Released	May 1998
Recorded	September 1997 – February 1998 [1]
Studio	Greg Rike Studios, Altamonte Springs, Florida
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	56:18
Label	EMI Switzerland
Producer	Deep Purple & Roger Glover
Deep Purple chronology
Purpendicular (1996) Abandon (1998) Bananas (2003)

Abandon is the sixteenth studio album by the English hard rock band Deep Purple, released in May 1998.^[2] It was Deep Purple's second album with Steve Morse on guitar and the last album to feature founding member Jon Lord prior to his departure in 2002.

The album was followed by a successful 1998/1999 world tour which brought Deep Purple to Australia for the first time in 15 years. In 1999 a live album and DVD Total Abandon: Australia '99 recorded in Melbourne on 20 April 1999 was released.

The album title is actually a pun from Ian Gillan – "A Band On" – and the album was followed by the "A Band on Tour". It featured a reworking of a previously recorded song – "Bloodsucker" from Deep Purple in Rock (here spelled "Bludsucker"). "Don't Make Me Happy" was mistakenly mastered in mono and not amended on the album, one of the two versions of the song released on a promotional single was mastered in stereo.

The album cover art was designed by acclaimed album art designer, Ioannis.^[3]

Songs

"Any Fule Kno That" is the first song on Abandon.^[4] Vocalist Ian Gillan takes a spoken word approach in the verses to the song, comparable to rapping. The title is a popular phrase from the Nigel Molesworth books.^[5] "Any Fule Kno That" became the band's last charting single in the US, as it peaked at No. 25 on Billboard's Heritage Rock Chart.^[6]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Blogcritics	(favourable)[8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	10/10[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Steve Morse, Ian Paice, except where noted

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Any Fule Kno That"	4:29
2.	"Almost Human"	4:26
3.	"Don't Make Me Happy"	4:56
4.	"Seventh Heaven"	5:25
5.	"Watching the Sky"	5:26
6.	"Fingers to the Bone"	4:47
7.	"Jack Ruby"	3:48
8.	"She Was"	4:19
9.	"Whatsername"	4:26
10.	"'69"	4:59
11.	"Evil Louie"	4:56
12.	"Bludsucker" (Ritchie Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice)	4:27

Personnel

Deep Purple

• Ian Gillan – vocals
• Steve Morse – guitar
• Jon Lord – Hammond organ, Korg synthesiser
• Roger Glover – bass
• Ian Paice – drums

Other

• Ioannis – art direction, artwork

Production notes

• Recorded at Greg Rike Studios, Altamonte Springs, Florida, 1997/1998
• Produced by Deep Purple and Roger Glover
• Engineered by Darren Schneider
• Additional engineering by Keith Andrews
• Mixed at Platinum Post Studios, Orlando, Florida by Darren Schneider
• Assistant engineer – Kent Huffnagle with Shannon Brady
• Mastered at Masterdisk, New York by Greg Calbi

Charts

Chart (1998)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10]	25
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[11]	14
French Albums (SNEP)[12]	65
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13]	16
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[14]	22
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[15]	58
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[16]	6
Scottish Albums (OCC)[17]	87
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18]	32
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19]	46
UK Albums (OCC)[20]	76
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[21]	2

References

1. Popoff, Martin (2018). The Deep Purple Family, vol 2 (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-908724-87-8.
2. "Abandon".
3. "Abandon".
4. Martin C. Strong, The Great Rock Discography: Complete Discographies Listing Every Track Recorded by More Than 1,200 Artists (Canongate U.S., 2004), 396.
5. Dave Thompson, Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story (ECW Press, 2004), 299.
6. "Deep Purple Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
7. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Deep Purple - Abandon review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
8. Bowling, David (14 February 2017). "Music Review: Deep Purple – Abandon". Blogcritics. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
9. Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Deep Purple – Abandon" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
11. "Deep Purple: Abandon" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
12. "Lescharts.com – Deep Purple – Abandon". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Deep Purple – Abandon" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
14. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 1998. 25. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
15. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
16. "Norwegiancharts.com – Deep Purple – Abandon". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
17. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
18. "Swedishcharts.com – Deep Purple – Abandon". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
19. "Swisscharts.com – Deep Purple – Abandon". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
21. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2024.