Amr Diab - The Very Best of Amr Diab
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Free Music Notes for The Very Best of Amr Diab
Free Music Review: Much loved music, this!
Hit: 5 Stars
Amr Diab is legendary in the Maghreb. His music is omnipresent, and never seems to grow old. Fresh, exotic, stimulating, both danceable and listenable, I couldn't recommend it more highly. Millions worldwide would agree! My favourite tracks: Awedony (a HUGE hit in the late 90's), Tamally Maak, and Nour El Ain. Buy this CD and find out for yourself!Free Music Review: from a mexican point of view
Hit: 5 Stars
My very good friend, from Morocco, introduced me to Amr Diab. I speak english and spanish, no arabic at all, but Amr's songs transcend all of that. I have no idea what he is saying, but i just love the way he says it!!! A lot of feeling, a lot of passion, he just sounds great. There is a track in arabic w/a salsa beat, now, how cool is that?! Good music is good music, no matter in what language, or from what country!!!!!Free Music Review: RECENT ARABIC POP MUSIC
Hit: 5 Stars
Some ARABIC POP MUSIC Angham, Babihik Washteeny (2005). Amr Diab, Kammel Kalamak (2005). Marwan Khoury, Asr El Sho' (2005). Ahlam, Al Thokol Sanaa (2005. Muhammad Abdu, Al'amaken (Jeddah ghair 2005)
What I know about Arabic pop music can be put in a thimble with room left over for my thumb, but I listened to it regularly when we lived in Dubai from 2001-4 and grew to like it quite a bit. So this spring, when we visited Dubai, I picked up some more pop records. Well, four are pop records; the other (Abdu) lies somewhere between traditional (incantatory) music and pop music.
Angham, Diab and perhaps Ahlam are from Egypt. Khoury (and perhaps Ahlam) is from Lebanon; Abdu is a Saudi (Saudi Arabia). Angham, Diab, Ahlam and Khoury represent the liberal pop wing of Gulf music. There are echoes of western lounge music in all four disks. Khoury, in particular, comes across as the Middle Eastern version of someone like Neil Diamond: rich voice cushioned in lush orchestration (strings, woodwinds, rhythm). Sentiment drips from each note he sings. Listening to individual songs, especially a cut like "Helwi El Hayat," is fine but listening to the album in one dose is like eating a dozen puff pastries in one sitting. But ... hey, give the guy credit! He can emote. (C+)
From the evidence of the cover photo, Ahlam is a hot young babe -with pouty lips, kohl-rimmed eyes, faintly puffy cheeks. "Veree sexee!" as they say. Her singing isn't bad and the rhythms pulse, but the orchestration is thin and the musical content modest. (C)
Amr Diab has a nice voice which conveys not only emotion but urgency. The arrangements on this fine album move along at a good pace and the album is well orchestrated -guitar dominates but there are nice passages for organ, the somewhat Arabicized electronic rhythm section kicks, and the backup vocals don't get in the way. The songs are interesting enough to bear repeated listenings. The title cut, "Kammel Kalamak," is a standout, as is the more relaxed, loping tempo "Agheeb," on which Diab shows that he can sing. Diab is more than a pretty face. (B)
Angham is the gem of the lot. An earlier album of hers, Leih Sebtaha (2004), was superior. This album, Bahibik Washteeny, isn't quite as good but it is still clearly superior pop music. She too is a hot babe but more than that, she is a diva with a real voice: insinuating, strong, appealing. Arabic singers differ from western singers in the use of grace notes; they frequently sing a quarter tone above or below the melody line. When someone like Angham sings a ballad, her smoky voice wavers on, around, and below the melody line. It is very effective when you have a voice as good as she has. If Leih Sebtaha is a 5* album, Bahibik Washteeny is a 4-1/2* one.
A word about Arabic pop instrumentation and rhythms. For all they borrow from MTV and the international music market, there is something unique about this music. In the richest scores, like those on Angham's albums, string and woodwind sections play mostly in unison or octaves, not in more complex harmonies. The effect is hypnotic; the massed sound of unison and octave strings DRIVES the music. Arabic rhythms, even with the use of drum machines, are different than western rhythms. Instead of 1 -2 -3 -4, they lope and canter, place accents behind or ahead of the beat, or add second and third drum beats providing counters to the straightforward rhythm we expect to hear in this kind of lounge music.
If the model of western straightforward rhythm is the ball bearing rhythm section of the Count Basie band ca. 1940, the model of Arabic pop music is the camel's gait.
Muhammad Abdu is sui generis. Al'amakeen is a live album, recorded in Jedda in 2005. The rhythm section backing him is the equal of any rhythm section I've heard on Afro-Cuban records: insistent, driving, and complex. The strings and woodwinds are thin but they fit this music. Abdu has a nasal tenor voice and he chants as much as sings, but hey, it works! This is incantatory music, building strength through repetition of notes and phrases, driven by the reedy sounding string section and horns and propelled along the tracks by a kickass rhythm section. I wish I knew more about this music: I suspect it's not pop music at all but rather religious or semi-religious in nature. Whatever it is, it's good! (5*)
Free Music Review: Egyptian Pop for the World
Hit: 4 Stars
I bought this album because five years ago I spent four months in Cairo, Egypt, and every time I got into a taxi, there was a 50/50 chance that I would hear "Amarain." It was a catchy song, and got stuck in my head, despite the fact that I only understood one word out of every five. I decided to buy the album titled "Amarain" to check out the rest of Amr Diab's music. I fell in love with "Ana," which was also a single off of the album. "Ana" combines the Egyptian pop sound with Latino rhythms and a vaguely techno riff. It also has call-and-response and a driving beat. All in all, a great song. The rest of the album was very listenable too. So, I came back to the US, and lost the tape, much to my chagrin. This year, I was wandering around Amazon.com, and found the greatest hits. It had "Amarain" and "Ana" on it, so I decided to get it. Nearly every song is very good, and all are good. A few have a pre-packaged "Listen to this unspecific world music while selling cars or 'ethnic' food" feel, but they're still catchy. My husband, who only understands five (or so) words of Arabic, enjoys the insistent beat of Amr Diab. You can chill to it, you can dance to it, you can attempt to read the rather badly translated English lyrics, or you can just put it on in the car and drive to it.Free Music Review: Bravo!
Hit: 5 Stars
Bravo, Amr Diab! You are truly an outstanding singer! Music lovers, buy this CD you will not regret.
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