Deep Purple have continued to tour

Ian Gillan said the album, recorded in Birmingham and titled NEC 1993, was one of their worst ever concerts and it had been re-released without his knowledge.

He said tensions within the band led to a bad performance, adding: "It was coming to the end, it was awful."

Sony BMG said it was recalling the album and would investigate why Gillan was not told about its plans.

Group feud

A spokesman for the company said: "Sony BMG is not in the business of releasing albums without the knowledge of the artists.

"It is in our interests to work with artists, so they can promote their records and continue to work with us."

He added that the album had been released before and it was unclear why this issue had caused a problem.

Gillan said he and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore were barely on speaking terms at the time of the 1993 concert.

Rock legend

"It was one of the lowest points of my life - all of our lives, actually," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"In fact, it lasted five or six shows after that Birmingham show.

"Then Ritchie left the band. And we've had 13 years of stability ever since then."