Total Abandon Australia ’99 is a stellar live recording of Deep Purple. The live recording seems like a greatest hits, as the band authoritatively ends with Smoke on the Water and Highway Star. The crowd is raucous but adds considerably to the overall authoritas of the performance. The band sounds larger than life, while the amount of time that they have spent on the road by 1999 makes these tracks feel like alternative versions of studio tracks. Simply, what listeners will be hit with when they finish Total Abandon Australia ’99 is an act that has purified their form.
Eagle Rock Entertainment has released this previously hard to find release, which was a part of the Around the World Live release. I feel that the performance will be a great introduction for those that are looking to get into progressive rock or even into Deep Purple themselves. Sure, there are decades of other material that are not touched here, but there seems to be no other point at which the band felt so cohesive and coherent. Make sure to give Total Abandon Australia ’99 a few listens; I feel that the intricacies that are present here will take a number of listeners before one can truly “get” what is going on.
Check out the Eagle Rock website for more information about their releases, along with the titles (Blu-Ray, DVD, and CD) that they are slated to release in the next few months. Here’s to hoping that they can continue to dig through the depths of the Deep Purple live library to find other gems like this one.
Top Tracks: Strange Kind of Women, Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
Rating: 7.9/10
Deep Purple – Total Abandon Australia ’99 (CD) / 2012 Eagle Rock Entertainment / 12 Tracks / http://www.eaglerockent.com / http://www.deeppurple.com