Customer Reviews

Story of Arabic Song

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The Story of Arabic Song is a very good musical collection of Middle Eastern music. There are so many interesting qualities to the music - and most likely attributed to my love of music and my travel to the region beginning in my teenage years. So, let's begin the analysis:

Ayouh has a melody which remind me of my travels through Morocco and northern Africa, while the screams toward the middle have the aura I've experienced passing a funeral procession in Turkey ,,, Ala Balad El Mahboub is enjoyable and has an obvious discrete level of tonality as the singer progresses through the lament ,,, Khayef Aqool is very, very soothing (my favorite) ,,, Kunt Fein has an interesting mix of Middle Eastern, western, and Indian influence - whether this fits classically, I'm not certain ,,, Hebeena --- the first half is similar to celebration songs that are played at wedding, reunions, or birthday parties - however - the middle shows that it is truly a middle eastern piece - the transition toward the end of the song is well done - reverting back to its roots ,,, Sanatein is relaxing to listen to - and its instruments - Yes ,,,, (my 2nd favorite) ---/--- The only two songs that I have not appreciated are Alla Allah Ta'Oud (boring) and Yalli Naweit (reminds me of an epic story from the 1920's put to pre-dated musical themes) ,,, Maza Aqool had good background with vocal accompaniment (although the singer was a bit nasally).

Overall, I would recommend buying it.

After seeing this album recommended on Amazon, I decided to order it. Don't expect to find any Algerian rai, Moroccan Gnawa, Bedouin dances or contemporary pop from Cairo, Beirut and Dubai here. In contrast with Hemisphere's earlier 'Camelspotting' and 'Sif Safaa,' both of which deal with Arabic pop, this collection is focused on the older Arabic classical styles. Naturally, the collection includes 'Ala Balad el Mahboub,' one of the better known songs from the vast repertoire of Egyptian diva Oumm Kalthoum (who's name should be well known to any fans of Arabic music at all). It also includes 'Habeena Habeena,' one of my favorite Farid al-Atrache songs. There are equally strong showings from other musicians from the Golden Age of Egyptian music, including Abdel Halim Hafez, Muhammad Abdel Wahhab and Layla Murad. The legendary Fairuz of Lebanon and Wadi al-Safi (who can be heard on the phenomenal 'Two Tenors of Arabic Music' alongside Sabah Fakhri) represent the Levant. The album also makes an interesting detour into the music of the Gulf, featuring Saudi Arabia's Muhammad Abdo and Talal al Madaah. As a previous listener noted, this music might not be for everyone, though 'Ayouh' does happens to be another one of my favorite Arabic songs. In total, you wind up with a good hour of Arabic music, highlighting some of the major names in Arabic classical music over the last century. While a couple of names might be notable in their surprising absence, this is still a fine collection, almost on par with EMI's 'Arabian Masters' series. If you want to try a sample of classical Arabic music, check this CD out. A very good introduction to Arabic traditions.

The best way for me to review this CD is to describe how it affected me... The first song "Ayouh" annoyed me after a while with the constantly quavering voice of the singer, and in the next the woman's voice was too piercing for me, so I advanced to the third selection, "Khayef Aqpool" which was pleasant and soulful with rich voice and instrumentation. Song number four (Kunt Fein) was smooth and passionate, and inspired me to sway and twist around the house, and number five, "Hebeena", was quite lively with a bouncing rhythm, and really got me moving. The remaining songs are a little more subdued, but they are richly textured with many contrasting and intertwining sounds: voice, clapping, and a variety of Arabic instruments blending and taking turns in the spotlight. The selections are from a variety of authentic Arabic recordings, and although not all of them appeal to me, most carry me away to Arabic lands, and provide a great alternate listening experience in my collection of world music.