Ahl Al Esheg

Ahl Al Esheg is the second studio album by Lebanese pop singer-songwriter Diana Haddad, released by Stallions Records on February 10, 1997, continued along the lines established by her debut album Saken. The album was yet another hit for Haddad, especially the title song. By that time, Diana truly established herself as a top selling Lebanese singer, but what was coming was even more. The album was a huge major success in the radio stations including the Emirates radios, she was awarded for the best female artist and the best album in the popular radio station Emirates FM. Also, in late 1997 she received a nomination for the best Arabic female artist in the magazine Al Ryada Wal Shabab and she won it according to Rabie Al Hunaidi. Ahl Al Esheg is Haddad's third best studio album of all time behind Ammanih and her debut album Saken which were certified platinum by Stallions Records, her label. The album was heavily promoted, released in several editions and was supported by the Ahl Al Esheg Arab World Tour.

Background and recording

Although Haddad is a Khaliji man's wife, there is no Khaliji song in the album. Haddad wanted to introduce herself as a Lebanese Pop star. They, Haddad and her husband, began to choose the songs of the album in Saken's era, some of them were planned to be released in Saken but they were canceled, the track "Anida" which was released as the album's first single is one of them it was written by Emad Shams Al Din, produced by Shams Al Din also and composed by the Lebanese composer Robir Aram. Haddad recorded more than six tracks in Ahl Al Esheg era including her smash hit single "Ammanih" which was originally planned to be released in Ahl Al Esheg but when Haddad and her husband Suhail Al Abdoul felt that this song could be a huge success they canceled it from the album's track listing.

Production and release

The album's title was taken from the last track in the album which was produced by George Mardosian and written by Safoh Shegala, one of the earliest songs recorded in Haddad's whole career. The album displayed a diverse sound but with more Lebanese Pop. The song "Anida" was the first single from the album, it was released in late 1996 as a promotional single for her first live album Anida and was sent to Lebanese and Emirates radio stations. Although the song "Anida" was the first single from Ahl Al Esheg, Haddad didn't shot any music videos for the song also it wasn't the lead single and it failed to charts. "Ahl Al Esheg" was released as Ahl Al Esheg's lead single instead of "Anida". Suhail Al Abdoul, Haddad's husband, directed the two singles released from the album "Ahl Al Esheg" and "Bizal Menak" as music videos. The first music video for "Ahl Al Esheg" was directed in Jubail, an old city in Lebanon, where Haddad lived her early life there, the video shows a picture of Diana Haddad in the 1970s when she was kid, it also shows some girls who sing with her. "Bizal Minak", the second music video from the album, was also directed by Abdul. the video is in black and white, it was directed in London and shows all the British people walking reverse while Diana Haddad is walking in the right way and singing. The video is about Diana, Princess of Wales and her husband Charles, Prince of Wales, it was released before Diana death in June, 1997.

Promotion

The album followed Haddad's debut album Saken success. It was a big hit in Arabic TV channels Top 20 charts including Middle East Broadcasting Center (aka MBC), Qatar, Dubai, Arab Radio and Television Network (aka ART) and the popular entertainment channel Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (aka LBC). Dubai, the city, was full of Diana Haddad billboards as a commercial from Haddad's label Stallions Records. The album was certified Multiplatinum in the Arab World including Dubai and Lebanon.^[1]. Although the album contains six tracks only, it performed well in the charts and sold million of copies in the Middle East. On TV channels, Haddad appeared in different programs including Rania Barghout Show on MBC. Ahl Al Esheg received mixed reviews from music critics and magazines. Rabie Al Hunaidy who was a music writer in the Emirates passed magazine "Al Riyadah Wal Shabab" helped Haddad in the album commercial. He did several interviews with Haddad and her husband Suhail. A special thanks was written to him on the album cover. When Ahl Al Esheg first released it was only released as a compact cassette album, the cassettes were more common in the Arab World that time so it wasn't released as a compact disc. In 1999 while Haddad was promoting her smash hit album Shater a new edition of Ahl Al Esheg was released with a new cover not the same as the 1996 one and also the album was released as a CD for the first time when the CDs were begging to spread.

Track listing

1. "Bizal Minak" (Samir Nakhla, Emad Shams Al Din, Ali Safa, Diana Haddad) – 5:10 Lebanese Arabic
2. "Wilfi Gafani" (Adel Raffol, Salim Salama, Ellie Al Alia) – 5:54
3. "Tafh El Keil" (Emad Shams Al Din, Ehsan Al Monther, Diana Haddad) – 5:23
4. "Ya Samieen El Sout" (Ellie Bitar, George Mardosian) – 5:16
5. "Anida" (Emad Shams Al Din, Robir Aram) – 5:15
6. "Ahl El Ishq" (Safoh Shegala, George Mardosian, Rojih Khori) – 6:39 Bedouin Arabic

Credits and personnel

Production

Formats

These are the formats of major album releases of Ahl Al Esheg.

Awards

References