VOA

1. I Can't Drive 55

2. Swept Away

3. Rock Is in My Blood

4. Two Sides of Love

5. Dick in the Dirt

6. Voa

7. Don't Make Me Wait

8. Burnin' Down the City

Tracks:

I Can't Drive 55
Swept Away
Rock Is In My Blood
Two Sides Of Love
Dick In The Dirt
VOA
Don't Make Me Wait
Burnin' Down The City

Customer Reviews:

surprisingly solid album from Hagar.......2006-12-19

In general, I don't consider myself a Sammy Hagar fan. Prior to picking up a copy of 1984's "VOA", I'd been listening to 1986's "5150", the first Van Halen album with Sammy, and was seriously turned off by Hagar's unimaginative, 'straight-down-the-middle' wailing, not to mention his extremely tasteless obnoxiousness in spots such as the beginning of "Good Enough".

Despite all that, I was reminiscing fondly over the unforgettable, gloriously 'dumb' rock classic "I Can't Drive 55", the first track here, so I grabbed a copy of "VOA", thinking, "what the heck, let's give it a try", and I'm pleasantly surprised indeed. The excellently crafted "Swept Away" alternates dreamy acoustic guitar-laden verses with driving hard-rocking choruses. "Rock Is In My Blood" is an irresistible, intoxicating rocker with an anthemic singalong chorus. The title track is a hook-heavy, fast-paced rocker that really gets the blood flowing, although the 'patriotic' lyrics are a tad much in spots. The downbeat album closer "Burnin' Down The City" is solid as well.

The major sore spots of the album arrive in the form of a couple 'pop'-flavored tunes. "Two Sides Of Love" is a cringe-worthy, screamingly generic 'power ballad'; "Don't Make Me Wait" is in the same general mold and also forgettable.

Overall though, if rock is indeed in your blood [sic], "VOA" is a highly worthwhile album.

We've got 50 million rockers... where are our GUNS!?.......2006-04-10

While this cd is quite short it is also quite good. Oddly enough, this cd is powered by none other than Ted "Van Halen" Templeton. I often wonder how much of a coincidence this all was since not more than a year later Sammy would join Van Halen.

The cd has many winners and all but one "loser". "Dick in the Dirt" just never measured up to the greats like "Rock Is In My Blood" or the much overlooked "Swept Away". While "55" would of course be the staple and the selling point of this cd songs like "Don't Make Me Wait" would be the ones I come back to more often. Oddly enough the title song "VOA" is as lyrically vital today as it was in '84. I suppose because the people by and large in the middle east have no interest in peace, and likely never will.

If you are looking to start a Sammy collection on cd I would first have to reccommend "Standing Hampton" and then possibly ''Marching to Mars'' which I consider both 5 star discs. For what it's worth VOA is a good cd which could have been great with a few more songs and a little less Dirt.

Commercial success at last.......2005-12-11

THIS IS IT - the album that established Sammy Hagar as the pre-eminent lyrical rocker. "I Can't Drive 55" was the song everyone had to have in the car; you put the top down, your shades on and your foot flat to the floor and DARED the cops to do anything about it.

"VOA" - the title track - was nothing but the Reagan "proud-to-be-an-American" ethos given a soundtrack. It was good to be a young serviceman when this album came out, and this was the song that put the world on notice that you didn't mess with the US.

For sheer, naughty, lick-your-lips-and-grin fun, "Dick In The Dirt" has no equal. The whole disc is that kind of fun; no Hagar library is complete without it.

Dated, but a great 80s rock album.......2005-05-28

In 1984, while Van Halen dominated the world with an album named after that year, Sammy Hagar wasn't doing too badly for himself either. 1984 saw the release of Sammy Hagar's thirteenth album (tenth solo album, plus two with Montrose and one with HSAS), "VOA," short for "Voice of America."

With "VOA," Sammy Hagar basically sticks to his tried-and-true formula that had been successful with his 80s Geffen hits "Standing Hampton" and "Three Lock Box." It's another collection of well-written, all-American 80s rock n' roll. But with "VOA," the songs sound more melodic than ever, probably due to the amount of keyboards that were used. The whole album is tinged with synthesizers. Truth be told, in part because of the keyboards, this album has not aged very well. It sounds VERY dated, even by Sammy Hagar standards. Some of the songs are downright cheesy, but that's okay, they're still well written and a lot of fun. Sammy Hagar's songwriting and guitar playing was as strong as ever, and he had a great back-up band-Bill Church (bass), Jesse Harms (keyboards), David Lauser (Drums) and Gary Pihl (guitar). This album has a great, up-beat vibe and rocks pretty hard. All eight tracks on "VOA" are solid, each with a good hook and sing-along chorus.

The album starts out strong with the classic anthem "I Can't Drive 55." "Swept Away" has an almost mystical feel to it, but rocks hard. The mid-tempo "Rock is in my Blood" keeps up the momentum. "Two Sides of Love" is similar to a million other 80s power ballads, but this song is so catchy, and Hagar sounds so vitalized, it's impossible not to rock along to this song. "Dick in the Dirt" is sophomoric, for obvious reasons, but not without humor, and is imposible not to sing along to if you know the words. My one real bone to pick with this album is its title track "VOA." This fast-paced rocker is actually musically a really good song. But the lyrics are so bad, so embarrassingly awful, that it's hard not to cringe whenever I hear it. Sammy Hagar may not be Bob Dylan or John Lennon, but he can do better than this. It's pseudo-patriotic gibberish at its worst. For example:

"You in the middle east, you be on your toes.
We're bound to strike, everybody knows.
Just tell your friends, the USSR
We're gonna, we're gonna crash that party, 'cause they've gone too far, yeah!
We don't like it. (Oh, no!)
We can make it stop (Oh, yeah!)
We won't take it (Uh!)
Let it rock!
When we're together, we're the best.
We think as one, there's no contest.
We've got the power, they know the score.
We'll get so strong there'll be no war."

"Don't Make me Wait," much like "Two Sides of Love," is another 80s sounding AOR power-balled, and is just as good. The no-holds-bar mid-tempo "Burin' Down the City" is solid and a good way to close the album.

After listening to this album, it's easy to see why Van Halen chose Sammy Hagar to be their lead singer after the departure of David Lee Roth. He's a gifted singer/songwriter and definitely has a knack for writing catchy songs with good hooks and sing-along choruses. Despite the fact that this album sounds pretty dated, it should please most fans of Sammy Hagar, and of 80s rock in general.

SAMMY HAGAR: VOICE OF AMERICA!.......2005-05-26

My opinions on an album I have listened to since it's release in 1984...Sammy Hagar's VOA: Many people associate "I can't drive 55" with Sammy way to much. Okay sure it's the signature song, but this entire album is a MASTERPIECE and is not all about car songs with basic lyrics and decent hooks, okay? Here are a few of the songs I what I thought of them.

Swept Away - A folky, spacey, mystical song that takes you to far away places..one of the deepest song by him! If you have not heard this song you are missing out!

Two sides of love - a great love themed power ballad that has some emotion but does not lose all it's metal!

VOA - THE ARENA ANTHEM of all time! This song starts off with an awesome drum solo that cresendo's into some great guitar riffs...

Sammy belts out the message:
"You in the middle East, be on your toes...
we're bound to strike..everybody knows!
Just tell your friends, the U.S.S.R.
we're gonna, we're gonna crash that party, cause they've gone to farrrrrr =eyah!"

Though at one time those lyrics seem dated, it's weird how things come around...Sammy's patriotic message may not be heard today but being an american makes you proud when you hear some of the tunes associated with this CD. It's not all about not driving 55, so check these songs out, Hagar and Van Halen/Hagar fans should find this album to their liking!

1. I Can't Drive 55
2. Swept Away
3. Rock Is in My Blood
4. Two Sides of Love
5. Dick in the Dirt
6. Voa
7. Don't Make Me Wait
8. Burnin' Down the City