Walter Egan - Mad Dog - The Lost Album

Walter Egan
Mad dog - The Lost Album (Red Steel Music) - new expanded version of the once lost 1985 studio album, including a starry supporting cast and new bonus tracks, including two previously unreleased songs.

“a highly accomplished pop rock album from a master songwriter, who melds mood and melody, with flair and finesse, often in gloriously unexpected ways.”
9/10
By Andy Rawll

Walter Egan’s early West Coast renown was built upon his songwriting prowess with the break-out success of tender, yearning ballads like Hearts On Fire and Magnet And Steel. Yet, the native New Yorker’s natural style owes more to the eclectic urban grit of his birthplace of Queens than the smooth and uniform sands of the Californian coast. Just as he stated in a recent interview: “I was always more of a rocker. I was playing hard edgy songs with good melodies and clever lyrics”.

Originally recorded in 1985 at Venice Beach’s Mad Dog studios, this once anonymous album was originally intended to be this accomplished singer-songwriter’s sixth solo release as a major label artist. However, at the time, it was shelved by MCA/Backstreet Records after a change in management and remained unreleased until the new millennium.

Featuring a stellar supporting cast including Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, Randy California, Jackson Browne, and Chris Darrow it provides a fascinating bookend to the ten year period that saw him rise from Laurel Canyon scenester to major label artist. It also reveals an artist continuing to stretch his musical canvas and paint from an increasingly vibrant musical palette.

Indeed, Mad Dog evolves the sun-kissed 70s Californian cool of Fundamental Roll and Not Shy with the Buckingham-Nicks influence still strong, with the propulsive Stop, Don’t Stop anticipating the sound that the Mac would tout two years hence on Tango In The Night.

The Loneliest Boy is built around the same type of rich acoustic guitar lick that fired Never Going Back Again and is complemented by the equally rumour-fuelled Only Love Is Left Alive. The latter includes an exultant coda that recalls the classic crescendo of The Chain, complete with perfectly transcendent backing vocals from Christine McVie, whose ethereal voice elevates the somnambulant psychedelia of Silvery Sleep.

Not to rest on his canyon laurels, Egan’s Mad Dog asserts more East Coast boardwalk bark and rhythmic bite than its predecessors’ relatively breezy, beach-side puppy-dog whimper. The scuzzy garage pop of Invisible Man has real spirit, strengthened by the potent presence of Randy California and prominent cowbell. You could hardly anticipate the angular new wave of The Challenger as featuring soft rock icon Jackson Browne, but like so much of this album, the quality and variety of the songs, shines as bright as the midday sun in Malibu.

The Stevie Nicks penned Sisters Of The Moon was originally intended as the closing track for Walter’s 1978 breakthrough Not Shy album but it was nixed by producer Lindsey Buckingham to be held back for inclusion on Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk the following year. Ironically, it was that track’s last-minute omission that forced Walter to dig deep to produce a worthy and suitably rousing replacement, which turned out to become one of his most-covered and beloved songs: Hot Summer Nights.

The ‘Egan Mac’ version of ‘Sisters’ on Mad Dog features Annie McLoone’s bewitching voice that melds perfectly with Walter’s and is every bit as good as the Nicks-led rendition that appears on Mick and John’s Tusk.

Although this ‘lost’ album was first released on CD in 2002, it’s long been out of print and consistently in demand for premium prices. This latest version not only benefits from remastered sound performed by Bella Corich of Loudpaw but also adds 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks plus live versions of perennial favourites Hot Summer Nights and Magnet And Steel.

There is also two supporting singles: Only Love Is Left Alive b/w Jean and The Loneliest Boy b/w I’ve Had It (non-album track).

Mad Dog is a highly accomplished pop-rock album from a master songwriter, who melds mood and melody, with flair and finesse, often in gloriously unexpected ways.

It’s a worthy conclusion to Walter’s six-album cycle of West-Coast releases, and an excellent reference point for the next phase of his solo career that followed his relocation from New York to Tennessee in addition to fruitful collaborations with The Malibooz, Spirit, The Burritos, Brooklyn Cowboys, and Gail and the Tricksters.

MORE INFORMATION:

Mad Dog (redux remaster) - CD Album Purchase Link (Amazon)

Mad Dog (redux remaster) - Digital Album Purchase Link (Amazon)

Walter Egan - official web page

Walter Egan - social media (Facebook)

Walter Egan - fan page (Facebook)

NEW STUDIO ALBUM

Following the groovy psychedelia of 2017’s excellent True Songs comes this year’s darkly delicious ‘Fascination’ that continues a rich vein of form for this songwriting King of Queens. “A diverse and diverting tale of surf and suffering from an enduring, magnetic talent.” More info.

BACK CATALOGUE RELEASES
In parallel to the redux remastered release of Mad Dog - The Lost Album, there are three further redux releases, already available for his acclaimed albums: The Meaning Of Live (1978), Walternative (1999), and Apocalypso Now (2002).

Each redux album includes unreleased material and is accompanied by a two-track single with a previously unreleased B-side.

There's also a further release of two new EPs of Hot Summer Nights and
Magnet And Steel with both containing extra tracks.

Visit www.walteregan.com or follow him on @waltereganofficial for the latest