Abandon

Eirik Solum (February 10, 2005)

Deep Purple's second opus with Steve Morse in the group is harder and heavier than this line up's debut (Purpendicular). Some of the seventies sound is back, but the songwriting, the spark and fun may not be as present as we remember Deep Purple from their glory days – or from the come back album in 1984.

Abandon sounds like a hard try to be loud and heavy, without really communicating a agressive feel or attitude. The album is very long and at the end of it all this listener feels that the creativity faded half way through.

The mix on this one relies heavily on the guitars. Though the sound is really good - produced by Roger Glover and the band – we miss the organic feel of a band pushing it self to the limit.

Highlight: The rather mellow "Fingers to the Bone".