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Voice of America
Voice of America
Studio album by Little Steven
Released	May 7, 1984
Recorded	1983–1984
Studio	The Hit Factory, New York City; Polar Studios, Stockholm; ICP Recording Studios, Brussels;
Genre	Rock, Pop, AOR
Length	40:51
Label	EMI America
Producer	Little Steven
Little Steven chronology
Singles from Voice of America
	"Solidarity"; Released: August 1983; "Out of the Darkness"; Released: May 1984; "Undefeated (Everybody Goes Home)"; Released: August 1984;

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
Robert Christgau	C+^[3]

Voice of America is the second solo studio album by Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul released on May 7, 1984, four weeks before Bruce Springsteen released Born in the U.S.A.^[1]

This album traded in the horns and the R&B influences of the previous Men Without Women for a raw, garage rock sound. Politics came to the lyrical forefront, with the general theme being opposition to the Reagan Era's American foreign policy.

"Out of the Darkness", a synthesizer-led anthem with sweeping arena rock and hair metal atmosphere, garnered some airplay, as well as music video play on MTV, and was effective in concert, while the somewhat softer and evocative "Checkpoint Charlie" also received considerable radio airplay. "Los Desaparecidos" gained praise as an effective protest song on behalf of the 1970s and 1980s victims of state-sponsored forced disappearance in South America. On other songs, the political viewpointing became more strident and was criticized as somewhat artless.

"I Am a Patriot", which held roughly that dissent was not disloyalty, became a favorite song of Jackson Browne, who covered it on his 1989 album World in Motion, and who frequently performed it in his concerts. In 2004, the two would duet on the song during the last of the Vote for Change shows. Pearl Jam has covered the song as well.

In 2019, the album was remastered for release as part of Van Zandt's career-spanning box set Rock N Roll Rebel: The Early Work. The digital deluxe edition of the album was released on October 25, 2019, containing 10 bonus tracks, including the studio outtake "Rock N Roll Rebel", which was written following Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen's 1983 removal from Disneyland due to their clothing being deemed inappropriate.^[4] The digital deluxe edition also includes the reissued Vote! bonus EP.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Steven Van Zandt, except where noted

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Voice of America"	3:30
2.	"Justice"	3:18
3.	"Checkpoint Charlie"	4:37
4.	"Solidarity"	3:26
5.	"Out of the Darkness"	4:34
6.	"Los Desaparecidos (The Disappeared Ones)"	5:15
7.	"Fear"	4:43
8.	"I Am a Patriot (And the River Opens for the Righteous)"	3:26
9.	"Among the Believers"	3:54
10.	"Undefeated (Everybody Goes Home)"	3:40
Total length:		40:51

1991 CD bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Vote!" (non-album single, 1984)		3:59
12.	"Caravan" (live; B-side of "Forever", 1982)	Juan Tizol, Duke Ellington	3:56
Total length:			48:46

2019 digital deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Voice of America radio spot" (1984)		1:07
12.	"Rock N Roll Rebel" (studio track, 1983 – previously unreleased)		5:02
13.	"Caravan" (live at Marquee Club, London, October 18, 1982 – previously unreleased)	Tizol, Ellington	4:17
14.	"I Don't Want to Go Home" (live at Marquee Club, London, October 18, 1982 – previously unreleased)		4:35
15.	"Alive for the First Time" (writing session, the birth of a song, 1983 – previously unreleased)		9:10
16.	"Out of the Darkness" (12" single, 1984)		5:31
17.	"Inside of Me" (live, French TV, 1983 – previously unreleased)		5:14
18.	"US Festival radio spot" (1983)		0:21
19.	"It's Possible" (studio track, mono, date unknown – previously unreleased)		4:23
20.	"Vote! (That Mutha Out)" (12" single, 1984)		4:36
Total length:			85:07

2019 *"Vote!"* digital bonus EP
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Vote! (That Mutha Out)" (12" single, 1984)	4:36
2.	"Vote! Part II" (rap version) (1984 – previously unreleased)	6:56
3.	"Vote! Part III (After World War III)" (rap version) (12" single, 1984)	6:25
4.	"Vote! Part IV" (instrumental) (12" single, 1984)	4:36
5.	"Vote! Part V" (rap version) (1984 – previously unreleased)	5:11
Total length:		27:44

Personnel

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul

Little Steven – lead vocals, guitar, arrangements
Jean Beauvoir – bass, vocals
Dino Danelli – drums
Monti Louis Ellison – congas, African talking drum, shekere, wind chimes, tambourine, timbales, backing vocals
Pee Wee Weber – keyboards, backing vocals
Zoë Yanakis – oboe, backing vocals, additional keyboards

Additional musicians

Gary U.S. Bonds – backing vocals ("Among the Believers")

Technical

Little Steven – producer, package design
John Rollo – engineer, production assistance
Leif Mases – engineer
Jean Trenchant – engineer
Bob Clearmountain – mixing
Zoë Yanakis – production assistance, assistant engineer
Peter Hefter – assistant engineer
Malcolm Pollack – additional engineer, assistant mixing engineer
Peter Millius – additional assistant engineer
John Davenport – additional assistant engineer
Mikael Hogstrand – additional assistant engineer
Dave Greenberg – additional assistant engineer
Bruce Lampcov – additional assistant engineer
Wally Traugott – mastering
Henry Marquez – art direction
Dino Danelli – package design, song titles design
Jim Marchese – photography
Mark Weiss – photography
CLE Print – reprographics^[5]

Bonus tracks

"Vote!"

Little Steven – lead guitar, producer, arrangement
Darlene Love – backing vocals
Jean Beauvoir – co-producer
Zoë Yanakis – engineer
Steven Escallier – engineer
Paul Ray – engineer
Dominic Maita – engineer
Steven Thompson – mixing
Mike Barbiero – mixing
Greg Calbi – mastering
Recorded at Pantheon Studios (Arizona), Sunset Sound (Los Angeles), RPM Studios (New York City)^[6]

"Caravan", "I Don't Want to Go Home"

Little Steven – vocals, guitar
Jean Beauvoir - bas
Benjamin King - keyboards
Dino Danelli - drums
Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg - trombone
Crispin Cioe - baritone saxophone
Arno Hecht - tenor saxophone, flute
Paul Litteral - trumpet
Nelson Bogart - trumpet
Monti Louis Ellison - percussion
Zoë Yanakis - oboe^[7]

"Inside of Me"

Little Steven – vocals, piano^[8]

Charts

Album

Chart (1984)	Peak position
US Billboard 200	55
Norwegian Albums Chart^[9]	6
Swedish Albums Chart^[10]	8

Singles

Single	Chart (1984)	Position
"Los Desaparecidos (The Disappeared Ones)"	Mainstream Rock^[11]	27
"Out of the Darkness"	Norwegian Singles Chart^[9]	8
"Voice of America"	Norwegian Singles Chart^[9]	9