'Total Abandon' was recorded in Australia on Deep Purple's 1999 World Tour which followed the release of the Abandon album the previous year. Now released for the first time in the U.S. (FYI - 'Total Abandon: Australia '99' was originally only available in DVD format in the 2008 box set, Around the World Live) the classic band line-up at the time was Ian Gillan on vocals, Steve Morse on guitar, Roger Glover on bass, Ian Paice on drums, and the brilliant Jon Lord on keyboards.

The album kicks off with the rousing 'Ted the Mechanic,' before heading into Lord's bluesy organ sway of 'Strange Kind of Woman.' After some terrific solo guitar work from Morse, the band then give us the electric 'Bloodsucker' and then the Lord-led 'Pictures of Home' - which Morse nails with some incredible (albeit a tad bit long) solo guitar work once again.

Gillan introduces 'Almost Human' (which includes a wonderful Lord solo moment) as a song about sticking to a night club floor one minute and then lighting up your first fag of the morning the next, before Gillan introduces always-brilliant-to-hear 'Woman From Tokyo' (a story of how Gillan used to drive women from Tokyo to Melbourne back in the day!).

The thumping 'Watching The Sky' is followed by the frantic guitar playing of 'Fireball,' before the trip of 'Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming' is delivered. And then, after a brief interlude (much like someone flipping through radio stations) into, amongst other, Zeppelin, Hendrix, Kinks, The Beatles, eventually the guitar work needle lands on on their classic, 'Smoke On The Water.' Bringing the album to a close with both 'Black Night' and the balls out 'Highway Star,' Gillan and company provide a still-important live encounter with the classic band.