Today is the Big Day

Kammil Kalamak, Amr Diab's latest album is finally out. Go to the nearest records store and grab your copy now.

Smart Move

I think the Amr Diab website have done a good thing when they decided to close the forums for a couple of days until the album hits the market. This way, they have limited the spread of the leaked version, which is available only on one site, and kept the potential damage to sales to a minimum.

However, even if the link to the page that has the leaked album has been widely distributed, I think only a few would be able to download it because the hosting server would crash down under the high demand. Reports talk about fake copies of the album being sold in Kuwait and Egypt, but I think real fans won't be fooled.

The Earlier, The Better

I guess I was right about the early release. ADW just reported that the album will be out on December 8.

Waiting, Leakage, and More

When Amr Diab was done with the new album and it was supposed be released on November 28, this time it is Rotana's turn to delay the album, and makes the fans wait for a longer time. Due to some problems with their promotional plans, Rotana said, the album will be released on December 14. This date is supposed to be official and final. The new album is called Kammil Kalamak, and Rotana has released samples of the ten songs of the album for mobile services providers. You can download the samples from ADW homepage (link 1, link 2).

However, the big news, and as I was expecting, is that several tracks of the new album have been leaked on the internet. The first track to be leaked was Kammil Kalamak, by one of the fans who recorded the song from Rotana FM (Jordan only) and put it in some forums. Not a long time later, some MP3 websites and forums leaked several more tracks, including Allah La Yehremni Minnak, Ma'ak Begad, Ayam We Ben'esh'ha, and We Malo, which is expected to be Amr's first video from the new album. UPDATE: The whole album has been leaked. I think Rotana should consider releasing it earlier.

It is said the source of leakage is one of Rotana local partners and distributors, who are supposed to be preparing copies of the album now to hit the market next week. Rotana, of course, is blamed, for the leakage. If they cannot control the behavior of their partners, and they were really concerned about the confidentiality of the album, they could make the process of copying and distributing the album central instead of depending on some unreliable people.

I have listened to the samples and some of the leaked tracks (guilty, I know, but I could not help it. I have not distribute them, and I have no intention to do so), and even though it is too early to have any reaction about it, I think the new album would make what Allem Albi and Leily Nahary could not make. I think the new album will bring Amr back to the masses he gained with records like Tamally Ma'ak and Aktar Wahed Behibbak.

For devoted Amr fans, the new album would taste so sweet because they have been waiting for a long time, and they will discover that it was worth it. It does not matter what kind of music he is using, or who arrangers he is collaborating with, because these fans are going to buy any CD with Amr's name on the cover, even if it was a blank CD. Now, I can't wait until it is Wednesday December 14 morning to go to Rotana music store and get my CD.