Californian hard rockers SALTY DOG formed in the mid-Eighties in Los Angeles and issued the album Every Dog Has Its Day in 1990. The band really did it very well, and at one point ruled the Sunset Strip and Hollywood. Things were looking so promising for this band but they were sadly lost in the shuffle when the grunge-rock movement hit in late 1991.
But before they fell silent they recorded some demos for a planned second release. These tapes featured Darrel Beach in place of original singer Jimmi Bleacher. The two do sound quite similar though to me and so an excellent fit.
Having received a brief European release in the past, the album is now long out of print and hard to find at a decent price. Now, FnA Records has given the ‘Lost Treasures’ album a new life with bonus tracks included (3 Golden Jewels).
“Lost Treasure” vaults into high gear right away with “Damned If I Do”. Musically, the song is total continuation of the 1990 album Every Dog Has Its Day. The track exudes that same catchiness and bluesy hard guitar riffs that we came to know from the debut. Numbers like the mid-paced “I Need More” simply bang and crash their way through their runtime while “Walk Softly” displays some catchy hooks.
Probably our top choice for pick of the litter comes in track four, “Open Sezme”. Some excellent bluesy slide guitar, thundering drum beats, and Beach‘s venomous vocals all come together for a fantastic song.
A great low-end grind can be found in “All That Glitters”, “Woman Scorned” speaks of the same old adage and “Didju” simply pounds. There’s a little bit of a country flavor showing through in “Old Fashioned Love”, but not too much. It’s just a good foot-tapper of a song.
There are a couple of lighter moments to the disc in “Mission On A Hill”, “Honeysuckle Wind” and “When Fools Rush In”, and we have an acoustic, finger-pickin’ ballad in “Honeysuckle Wind” with that early Nineties feel.
Among the bonus tracks or ‘3 Lost Jewels’ we find the first song professionally recorded by the band around 1987 titled ‘Strong Medication’, plus a couple of previously unreleased demos.
We’ve long cherished Every Dog Has Its Day and now “Lost Treasure” upholds that perfectly. Some real barn-burning rockers collected here, American late ’80s American hard rock played just as it should be.
The songs on “Lost Treasure” should have been released many moons ago, but it’s so good that the band have proved that a good dog can’t be put down, this dog lives to fight another day.
Highly Recommended
1 Damned If I Do 4:18
2 I Need More 3:25
3 Walk Softly 5:08
4 Open Sezme 4:05
5 Mission On A Hill 5:21
6 All That Glitters 4:21
7 Woman Scorned 3:31
8 Honeysuckle Wind 4:01
9 Didju 3:12
10 Old Fashioned Love 4:29
11 When Fools Rush In 5:31
12 Losin'
13 Strong Medication
14 Blue Prayer
Salty Dog – Lost Treasure + 3 Golden Jewels 2025 FnA Records Remastered, MP3+FLAC CD-Rip w/ Scans
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