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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Retro Spins: Public Image Ltd - 9

Well, here we are. The final entry of Public Image Ltd. for the 80's. They're a band, for me, which started off the decade somewhat struggling, but ultimately got better and better as their sound evolved, and new members came into the fold.

By 1989, the band was reduced to a quartet with the departure of Lu Edmonds, who left from difficulties associated with tinnitus. However, while he wouldn't contribute guitar to the ninth PiL studio album, appropriately called, 9, he would be credited as co-writer. He would eventually be replaced by Ted Chau. However, Chau doesn't perform on the album.

Evolving again, the band settled into a new wave pop rock sound for their decade ender. While it was initially intended to be produced by Bill Laswell, who had worked with Lydon on 1986's Album, once again Laswell caused waves. Much like with 1987's Happy? which saw the producer wanting to replace the band with session musicians, Lydon simply wouldn't agree to do that. The end result was that the agreement was dissolved, with Steven Hague, and Eric Thorngren being brought in to fill the role.

9 produced the band's most successful single to date, Disappointed. It would reach number thirty-eight in the UK, and hit both the Billboard's Modern Rock Charts, and Dance Club Songs charts. Further, Lydon himself has stated it's his favorite song he's ever written.

When it first kicked on, I felt the album was definitely bigger than previous releases. It included what felt like a full band sound, while also incorporating female background vocals. Extravagant comes to mind.

By track four, while I hadn't heard anything I disliked, it would be the odd U.S.L.S. 1, which would be the first track I actually wanted to add to my shuffle list. Worry would be the next which hit this mark, but again, I stress that I wasn't hearing anything bad. If anything, I kind of want to listen to the album from front to back again.

Was it a smashing ending to the decade? No, not really, but 9 was an enjoyable album overall. If nothing else, I'm really glad that as a whole I found some new tunes in this journey.

The irony is that when I first got into buying PiL albums, it was at the same time as when I started getting the Psychedelic Furs. If you would have asked me at the time, I would have told you the Furs were going to be the superior of the two. That turned out to be quite the opposite.

Years of living in the excess of the party life, Bruce Smith felt it best to step away in 1990 to get himself cleaned up. The band, consisting of remaining member John Lydon, John McGeoch, and Allan Dias, would continue on, recruiting Gregg "J.P." Arreguin, and Curt "Kirkee B." Bisquera for the 1992 released That What Is Not.

Virgin Records would decline to pay for a tour in support of the album, culminating in Lydon disbanding PiL. Rather than return to the music scene, he would spend 1993 working on his memoire, Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, which was released the following year. in 1996, he participated in the reunion, Sex Pistols' Filthy Lucre Tour with Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook. This was followed in 1997 by his solo album, Psycho's Path.

2009 would finally see PiL reemerge, but unfortunately only Lu Edmonds, and Bruce Smith would return, with new member, Scott Firth. This new iteration would release three albums, This Is PiL (2012), What The World Needs Now... (2015), and End Of World (2023).

Sadly, Lydon's wife of forty-four years, Nora Foster, would pass away from Alzheimer in 2023. The singer would announce his retirement shortly thereafter but thankfully end up changing his mind. Public Image Ltd. is currently on tour, with shows scheduled to wrap up in May of this year.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.