Classic hard rock band Deep Purple is warning fans against buying a newly released live album, which lead singer Ian Gillan has described as one of the British band's worst performances.

Ian Gillan, lead singer of British hard rock band Deep Purple, calls Live at the Nec an awful recording and says Sony BMG's re-release of it is opportunistic.
(Sandro Campardo/Keystone/AP)

Released last month, Live at the Nec 1993 was recorded in Birmingham when he and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore were barely on speaking terms, Gillan said in an interview with BBC.

At the time, the record company decided to bury the concert album, Gillan said.

He said he was appalled to find out recently that Sony BMG was planning to re-release the "awful" recording, a move he criticized as "opportunistic."

"It was one of the lowest points of my life — all our lives, actually," he said. "There is no nostalgia involved."

Deep Purple rose to fame during the 1970s as one of the U.K.'s best known hard rock acts, bolstered by its legendary hit Smoke on the Water.

Though the band's lineup changed frequently over the years, members continue to tour, including a slate of U.K. performances coming up this spring.