Retro Spins: Nuclear Valdez - I Am I

If you haven't heard of Nuclear Valdez, don't be sad. You're in good company. I found their 1988 debut while perusing my local used CD shop. While a bit costlier than most, I opted to grab it because of the alure of being something unheard of, but also the band's first studio release. Without those two factors, I would have left it behind, filing the group away in the bank of my mind.

The band was formed in 1983 by Froilan Sosa and lead guitarist Jorge Barcala, who brought in bassist Juan Diaz, and drummer Robert Slade LeMont. They spent several years performing around the local clubs in South Florida before being noticed by Epic Records, who signed them, releasing their debut, I Am I in 1989.

Their single Summer would be a minor hit, and the video featured in rotation on MTV. They'd appear latter in the year on MTV Unplugged to perform the song for the show. Despite this exposure, Valdez's subsequent tours would be as support acts for The Hooters, The Church, Living Colour, Jane's Addiction, Dead Milkmen, Ronnie Wood, Hoodoo Gurus, among others.

With little expectation, I turned on the CD to be greeted by the tune, Summer. Admittedly, it hooked me pretty quick. It was catchy. The vocals of Sosa surprisingly inviting, and the instrumentation on par with any hair band of the era.

Slick guitar solos were sewn into each track to follow, and a relative upbeat tempo came with each one. Granted, there was the inevitable power ballad thrown in. If nothing else, I miss the overall style of a good 80's hard rock album, and it was nice to find something "new".

Unfortunately, the peak of it all was the opening track, and while enjoyable as a whole, nothing else really stood out as superior. Not a bad album, but not a great album either. I can certainly understand why most people paid little to no attention, but it's worth checking out if you're a fan of this style of music. I would also go as far as to say that I would listen to this one again if the mood struck me.

If I had to offer a critique, it would be that someone should have told Sosa that he doesn't have to make some kind of noise after each song intro. He's definitely a fan of his, "oooh," "ehhhh," and "ahhhh's". It got almost comical at points.

Epic would release their follow-up, Dream Another Dream in 1991, but then drop them from the label. A press release on the band’s website states they got left in the cold by the record company as a result of the emerging grunge scene in Seattle.

Rafael Tarrago would replace Barcala on guitars, and Nuclear Valdez would go on to release two additional albums to date, 2000's In A Minute All Could Change, and 2017's Present From The Past. However, as of these days, the band is relatively dormant.

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