Album Reviews: Andaloussiyat

Andaloussiyat
Fairouz excels as always in singing the considerably difficult Mawawil/Mouachi7at. It proves once more that the greatest singer in the entire Arab World is Fairouz. That said, I have to clear out that the (technical) quality of the album is low. It sounds just like tapes. Voix de l'Orient wants me to go crazy with another thing too. They have all the 'Andalousiyat' songs on just two tracks. If you want to listen to a certain part of a song, you'll have to go through other songs, just like tapes. The only reason anyone should get this album on CDs, is the durability of the CD compared to tapes, and of course, the extra songs (which, by the way, you can find in higher quality in other albums, like 'Mechwar'.)
The poems in this album were written by great poets which adds a lot to this classical album. Some of the songs are performed/co-performed with Mohammed Ghazi and the Lebanese Popular Troupe. It was produced by Sabri Sherif. It's a must have, either on CDs or tapes.

All Songs were written by: The Rahbani Brothers except for a number of songs, most the notably the following:
1. Erjai Ya Alf Leila : Poem by Rafik Khouri
2. Ya Man Hawa : Old poem
3. Kad Ataka Ya'tathirou : Poem by Al-Akhital Al-Sagir
4. La Tessalouni : Poem by Nizar Qabani
5. Ya Shadil AlHan : Music by Sheik Said Darwich
6. Ya Ghosn Naka : Old Poem
7. Behbak Ma Baref: Poem by Said Akl
8. Yara : Poem by Said Akl

Album tracks:
1. Erjai Ya Alf Leila, Ballegh Ya Kamar,
Ya Man Hawa and Kad Ataka Ya'tathirou 17'42"
2. La Tessalouni, Ya Sadil Alhan, Ya Khalilaya,
Ya Wahid El Gheed, Hajabouha and Ya Gohsn Naka 16'34"
3. Bektob Esmak Ya Habibi 4'16"
4. Alou El-Eda 4'07"
5. La Teatab Alayi 3'07"
6. Shal 4'33"
7. Yara 4'24"
8. Behebak Ma Baref 3'26"

Approx. time 58'09" - VDLCD 522

Related Links: The complete lyrics/poems.