- Fairuz - Wahdon - Label: Wewantsounds

The year 1978 was a turning point in Fairuz's career. During the first part of the 1970s, the Lebanese Diva became an international star, giving sold-out concerts all over the world. Artistically she had established a fruitful collaboration with her husband Assi Rahbani who with his brother Elias (aka the Rahbani Brothers) had written most of the singer's great classics. In 1978, Assi, victim of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1972, was weakened and needed to take a step back and their collaboration ended (as well as their personal relationship). Their son Ziad, a young musician and producer aged 22, then took over the artistic reins of his mother's career and began working on a first joint album, Wahdon ("alone"), which he produced, composed and directed. Wahdon crystallizes this key moment in Fairuz's career, which saw her move from traditional arrangements of oriental music to more modern sounds. The first side of Wahdon demonstrates the singer's more traditional aspect with hypnotic songs such as "Habaitak Ta Neseet Al Naoum" ("I loved you so much that I lost sleep") or "Ana Indi Haneen" ("I Am Nostalgic"), served by superb traditional arrangements with strings and oriental percussion.

The second side of the album is a completely different story. Recorded in Athens in the EMI studio at the same time as Abu Ali, the two long tracks which compose it are in funk and disco mode making this album a highly sought-after vinyl by DJs and diggers from all over the world. In particular "Al Bostah" ("The Bus") title tells the story of a woman in love remembering a bus trip with her lover in stifling heat, and which is carried by a hypnotic Arabic funk rhythm, while while the slower, jazzy “Wahdon” showcases Fairuz’s superb vocals. These titles shocked some of the diva's fans at the time, but they have since passed the test of time and become cult titles.

The year 1978 was a turning point in Fairuz's career. During the first part of the 1970s, the Lebanese Diva became an international star, giving sold-out concerts all over the world. Artistically she had established a fruitful collaboration with her husband Assi Rahbani who with his brother Elias (aka the Rahbani Brothers) had written most of the singer's great classics. In 1978, Assi, victim of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1972, was weakened and needed to take a step back and their collaboration ended (as well as their personal relationship). Their son Ziad, a young musician and producer aged 22, then took over the artistic reins of his mother's career and began working on a first joint album, Wahdon ("alone"), which he produced, composed and directed. Wahdon crystallizes this key moment in F The year 1978 was a turning point in Fairuz's career. During the first part of the 1970s, the Lebanese Diva became an international star, giving sold-out concerts all over the world. Artistically she had established a fruitful collaboration with her husband Assi Rahbani who with his brother Elias (aka the Rahbani Brothers) had written most of the singer's great classics. In 1978, Assi, victim of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1972, was weakened and needed to take a step back and their collaboration ended (as well as their personal relationship). Their son Ziad, a young musician and producer aged 22, then took over the artistic reins of his mother's career and began working on a first joint album, Wahdon ("alone"), which he produced, composed and directed. Wahdon crystallizes this key moment in F