VOA

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineVOA was the last album Sammy Hagar recorded before he became the lead singer of Van Halen, and this effort shows why he was invited to join the band. With songs like "I Can't Drive 55," he adds a simple melody to the song which never distracts from the all-important, hard-driving riff. On "Two Sides of Love," he shows that he has the ability to pull off a power ballad, wrenching every bit of feeling out of the song. Like Hagar himself, VOA is never subtle, but in hard rock, that's a positive attribute.