The promotional billboards feature a larger-than-life, buffed up Amr Diab, strutting his bare, tanned and toned upper body. He looks at least 20 years younger than his real age, which must have taken Egypt’s number one singer a lot of hard work.
Those hours would have been better spent working on his music.
“El-Lilah Dih (This Night), Diab’s latest album, features ten songs. Technically, they’re all new. Actually, they sound like remakes of Diab’s older hits.
The title track, written by Ayman Bahgat Amar and composed by Amr Moustafa, is a failed attempt to recapture the success of “We Malouh (So What), the hit song from last year’s album.
Both songs are about letting go, escaping with your loved one to enjoy fleeting moments of romance. The melody accompanying this year’s version, however, clashes with the lyrics that are meant to be romantic.
It was also shocking to hear the intro to “El-Lilah Dih, was obviously taken from Dean Martin’s classic song, “Sway. It was not even done subtly, and it was easily noticed by many listeners.
Diab composed one song called “Dahaket (She Laughed), which is the only track I liked. It was bright and cheerful, and we’ll probably be hearing a lot of it on the radio and at weddings.
Interviews conducted by The Daily Star Egypt showed that mostly teenage girls liked the album, but most did not think it was as good as the previous one.
Renowned Egyptian DJ Khaled Abdel Rahman told The Daily Star Egypt that the album is requested a lot in weddings and parties. He also said that Hassan Al Shafey s music arrangement was “very creative.
Almost every song on the album is arranged by Al Shafey, except three that were arranged by Fahd, one of the best known young music composers.
As for the quality of the album as a whole, Abdel Rahman says, Amr Diab will always be Amr Diab. In other words, the king will always remain the king.
Diab is originally from Port Said, and found fame in the 80s with the release of his first album “Ya Tareeq (The Way).
In 1990, Diab sang at the opening ceremony of the 5th All Africa Games where he performed a special song in English, French and Arabic. In 1996, his album “Nour El-Ain (Apple of My Eyes) went triple platinum, becoming the best selling album by an Arab artist. A year later, Diab won three awards at the Annual Arabic Festival (Best Video Clip, Best Song and Artist of the Year) for “Habibi (My Love). He then won World’s Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist at the World Music Award in Monaco in 1998.
