Music * Support iranian.com * FAQ * Write for Iranian.com * Editorial policy Amr Diab Review May 9, 2002 The Iranian I have a confession to make. Amr Diab's album Tamally Ma'ak is the first album of Amr Diab and the first Arabic music album for that matter, that I have ever bought. Let's face it, as an Iranian you don't really go out of your way (especially nowadays) to buy Arabic music. And I'm here to tell you that this is wrong. Sure, we've got almost all of Sting and Sade's albums (def. for you younger punks out there, an album is what we old timers call CD's), but we don't typically go out of our way to consider what I am slowly finding out is a wealth of damn good Arabic music. If you are like me and looking to correct this, Amr Diab's Tamally Ma'ak is a good album to start with. Amr Diab is one of those singers whose youth and sheer talent makes you wonder how he can have such an old soul. Amr Diab is from Port Said, Egypt and at an early age, his father who himself possessed a fine singing voice, encouraged the young Amr to sing. At age 6 his father took him to a Port Said festival. At the festival in a booth was a local broadcasting station and Amr made his first public singing debut on Egyptian Radio performing the National Anthem. The Governor of Port Said heard the young child with the voice, and rewarded him with a guitar. Amr began his musical studies at the Cairo Academy of Art and graduated in 1986. His first album "Ya Tareeq" was an instant success. Since then, there have been over 24 top selling albums amounting to nothing short of a sensational career which has established him as the super-star of the Pop Arab world. Amr has toured throughout Australia, Canada, Europe & the USA. Amr has created his own unique style known by Arabic music lovers as "Mediterranean Music" a blend of Western and Arabic rhythms. MUSIC: (MP3's) A'Mel Eh Sa Ban Alayya Habibi And as you ladies can see he's a fine looking guy too. To me he looks very "toghs" (bratty) which I relate to even though I am not as toghs as I would like to be. Like Googoosh, he has a penchant for changing hair color and styles. Sometimes he's skinny, sometimes he's buff, but his incredible vocal tone never changes. He has the kind of subtle control over his voice that can belt out or whisper the slightest and strongest emotions of pain, anger, pleasure, tenderness, love, and probably 6 more that I can't name. I find myself singing along even though I don't speak Arabic and I have absolutely no idea what he is saying. The songs are so well done, you might even be tempted to look up the lyrics just to find out what all the emotion is about. For thos of you who are the technical sound purists out there, the music is recorded exceptionally well too. It appears that the studios in the mid-east have embraced modern recording technology quite nicely thank you very much. Expect your speakers to come alive in ways you never expected. There are Oud's and keyboards, strings, and spanish guitars coming at you from all directions, at all levels, hushed, echoed, and above it all that wonderful sensuously throbbing, get up and dance Arabby beat. It's awesome! And better than that, it's refreshing! My favorite tracks from Tamally Ma'ak are here. There's also a track you may have heard before called "Habibi". Click to download them if you want to prove me wrong, but be warned, you will probably like it and we all know what that means don't we? Exactly! Better get your $14.98 ready right now! Purchase Amr Diab CDs HERE Comment for The Iranian letters section Comment for the writer Bruce Bahmani ALSO By Bruce Bahmani Bahmani's features MUSIC * Songs * Reviews * Dedication * Music store * Video store SECTIONS * Recent * Covers * Writers * All sections

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