Voice of America (Little Steven album)

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.

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. The digital deluxe edition also includes the reissued Vote! bonus EP.

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


 * 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)


 * "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


 * "Inside of Me"


 * Little Steven – vocals, piano

Charts
Album

Singles

 * "Vote!" was also released as a single but did not chart.