In 2010
Vicentico scored an unexpected multi-platinum success with
Sólo un Momento, an album that found the former
Fabulosos Cadillacs leader moving away from Latin pop and into 1960s bubblegum pop. Its 2012 successor,
5 (curiously named with the exact same title as
the Fabulosos Cadillacs' fifth album), mines pretty much the exact same terrain. Cachorro López is back at the helm for another set of melodic, simple tunes set to basic guitar/bass/drums arrangements, with some keyboards in the background thrown in for mood. Mood may be the main difference between
Sólo un Momento and
5, as the latter is distinctly sunnier. In fact, its first two songs, lead single "Creo Que Me Enamoré" and "No Te Apartes de Mí," are probably the finest and catchiest of both records, setting the tone for an album made almost entirely of seriously pretty love songs that grow with every new listening. Actress Valeria Bertuccelli (
Vicentico's wife) joins for two of the sweetest moments, the aforementioned "No Te Apartes de Mí" and "Esto de Quererte," providing a hushed boy-girl contrast reminiscent of the songs of
Lee Hazlewood and
Nancy Sinatra. In another highlight,
Vicentico puts the hurt on a surprisingly effective Spanish version of
ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" by stripping away its ornate grandiosity and turning it into an acoustic guitar ballad. It ranks among the singer's best vocal performances to date. Overall in
5,
Vicentico continues to do as he pleases at the risk of confusing his fan base -- his latter-day mainstream Latin-American audience will not find much to dance to in this album, and the rock/ska/punk crowd to which he originally belonged is not going to welcome the prodigal son with open arms if he insists on covering acts such as
ABBA,
Roberto Carlos, and
Xuxa all in the same album -- but hey, so far it has worked wonders for his solo career, both in commercial and artistic terms. ~ Mariano Prunes