Ahl Al Esheg
Encyclopedia
Ahl Al Esheg is the second studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 singer-songwriter Diana Haddad
Diana Haddad
Diana Joseph Fouad Haddad is a Lebanese singer and television personality with Emirati citizenship. Mainly known as Diana Haddad, she is one of the most popular and successful singers in the Arab World and has been so since the late 1990s...

, released by Stallions Records on February 10, 1997, continued along the lines established by her debut album Saken
Saken
Saken 1996 was Diana Haddad's first solo album . In 1996, and after three years of hard work, Diana Haddad released her debut album, "Saken". The album instantly became a major hit all over the Arab World. The songs "Lagetik", "El-Sahra", and the title track "Saken" were released almost...

. 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
Ammanih
Ammanih was Diana Haddad's third solo album. Ammanih was released in 1998. Ammanih album was spectacular in every sense of the word, featuring different colors and different music genres Diana never did before. The album sold millions of copies, not only in the Middle East, but also in Europe, the...

and her debut album Saken
Saken
Saken 1996 was Diana Haddad's first solo album . In 1996, and after three years of hard work, Diana Haddad released her debut album, "Saken". The album instantly became a major hit all over the Arab World. The songs "Lagetik", "El-Sahra", and the title track "Saken" were released almost...

which were certified platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...

 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
Saken
Saken 1996 was Diana Haddad's first solo album . In 1996, and after three years of hard work, Diana Haddad released her debut album, "Saken". The album instantly became a major hit all over the Arab World. The songs "Lagetik", "El-Sahra", and the title track "Saken" were released almost...

s era, some of them were planned to be released in
Saken but they were canceled, the track "Anida
Anida
Anida is Diana Haddad's first live album released in late 1996 by Stallions in the Arab World following her success in the debut album Saken....

" 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
Anida
Anida is Diana Haddad's first live album released in late 1996 by Stallions in the Arab World following her success in the debut album Saken....

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 Eshegs 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
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 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
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...

 and her husband Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

, it was released before Diana death in June, 1997.

Promotion

The album followed Haddad's debut album Saken
Saken
Saken 1996 was Diana Haddad's first solo album . In 1996, and after three years of hard work, Diana Haddad released her debut album, "Saken". The album instantly became a major hit all over the Arab World. The songs "Lagetik", "El-Sahra", and the title track "Saken" were released almost...

success. It was a big hit in Arabic TV channels Top 20 charts including Middle East Broadcasting Center
Middle East Broadcasting Center
The Middle East Broadcasting Center Group is the first private free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Arab World which was launched in London in 1991 and later moved to its headquarters in Dubai in 2002. MBC Group provides multiple channels of information, interaction and entertainment...

 (aka MBC), Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

, Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

, Arab Radio and Television Network
Arab Radio and Television Network
Arab Radio and Television Network is an Arabic-language television network characterized by its multitude of channels. It is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The company was founded in October 1993 by Saleh Abdullah Kamel, a Saudi businessman...

 (aka ART) and the popular entertainment channel Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation
Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation , widely known as LBC, is the first private television station in Lebanon. It went global in 1996 when it launched its satellite channel LBC Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya covering the Arab World. It now has several channels covering Europe, America, Australia, and...

 (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
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

 and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

.. Although the album contains six tracks only, it performed well in the charts and sold million of copies in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far 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
    Diana Haddad
    Diana Joseph Fouad Haddad is a Lebanese singer and television personality with Emirati citizenship. Mainly known as Diana Haddad, she is one of the most popular and successful singers in the Arab World and has been so since the late 1990s...

    " (Emad Shams Al Din, Robir Aram) – 5:15
  6. "Ahl El Ishq" (Safoh Shegala, George Mardosian, Rojih Khori) – 6:39 Bedouin Arabic

Production

  • Diana Haddad: vocals
  • Salim Salama: acoustic guitar
  • Emad Shams Al Din: conductor
    Conducting
    Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

  • Ehsan Al Monther: violin
    Violin
    The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

  • George Mardosian: percussion
  • Safoh Shegala: cello
    Cello
    The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

  • Rojih Khori: violin
  • Ellie Bitar: violin
  • Salim Salama: drum
    Drum
    The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

    s, keyboard
    Musical keyboard
    A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...

    , piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

  • Salim Salama: piano
  • Ali Safa: violin

  • Walid Baghdai: keyboard
  • Joe Barojian: keyboard
  • George Mardosian: guitar, keyboard, piano
  • George Mardosian: guitar
  • Suhail Al Abdoul: production


Formats

These are the formats of major album releases of Ahl Al Esheg.
Release format Country Label
Lebanese Compact Cassette album Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

Stallions Records
Lebanese Compact Disc album Lebanon EMI Music Group
Emirates Compact Cassette album United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

Stallions Records
Emirates Compact Disc album United Arab Emirates EMI Music Group
Egyptian Compact Cassette album Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

Alam Al Phan (Mohsen Jaber Company)
Egyptian Compact Disc album Egypt Alam Al Phan (Mohsen Jaber Company)

Awards

Year Awarded by Category
1997 Emarites FM Best Song of The Year "Ahel El Eshig"
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