This album was actually released twice in the same year on two different labels in two different countries. First it was released in the U.S. on Renaissance Records and was titled The Lost Album (see scan of cover below). Then it was released in the U.K. on Red Steel Music and was titled Mad Dog: The Lost Album (see scan of cover above).

Besides the title, there are three main differences betwen the two releases. Firstly, Mad Dog contains seven bonus tracks. It also boasts a much better sound quality than does The Lost Album. Then there's the issue of the covers and liner notes. As you can see from my scans, the covers are vastly different. The cover of The Lost Album sports a photograph of Walter holding his infant son, Walter Jr. and I prefer it to the (I'm assuming) computer generated image on Mad Dog. The text of the liner notes are virtually identical, but Mad Dog has more photographs. Confused yet? I'll stop here.

As for the music, this album was actually recorded in 1984 and 1985, after Walter Egan was dropped from Backstreet/MCA. The idea was to record the album and then shop it around to record labels. Somehow that never quite happened and many of the songs on the album remain unfinished.

It's quite a shame that this would not see the light of day until some 15 years after its recording. The music is just as strong and catchy as any of Egan's other material and many of the tracks even feature guest performances by well known artists - including Randy California of the band Spirit, Jackson Browne, and Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac. Personal favorites include "Only Love is Left Alive," "Silvery Sleep," and "The Loneliest Boy."