Apagorevmeno


Apagorevmeno is Greek singer Anna Vissi's 25th studio album, released in Greece and Cyprus on December 9, 2008 by Sony BMG Greece. It is Vissi's first studio album since 2005 and the first since her 1981 self-titled album to not include any songs or input by Nikos Karvelas. The album was mostly produced with the Maple Jam Music Group in Los Angeles, United States, and by its head producer Greg Ladanyi.
The album was reissued with three new songs and two remixes as Apagorevmeno+ on November 16, 2009.

Background

Vissi had been working on the album for two years. In an interview with Down Town Magazine in July 2008, Vissi said that she felt the same way as she did at the start of her career by having already listened to over 600 songs in the studio in an attempt to find songs she liked. She also stated that this would be the first album of which Nikos Karvelas would not be contributing any songs to, expressing that the two have gotten tired of each other, but clarified that this does not rule out a collaboration in the future.
On October 30, 2008, Vissi gave an interview on MAD TV's OK with Themis Georgandas. She added that ten of the tracks were arranged in Los Angeles, while she had a hand in the production of all tracks. By the end of November, the name Apagorevmeno had been selected and it was announced that the album would be released on December 9, 2008. The final version contains 15 tracks in total, with the single "To Parelthon Mou" and the cover "Kontra" being included as bonus tracks.
Photographs that Dave Stewart took of Vissi on a beach in Malibu, California were also supposed to be included in the CD booklet but seem to be left out, presumably to be instead included on her never materialised 2010 English language album.

Production

The album was produced with the Maple Jam Music Group in Los Angeles, California, and by its head producer Greg Ladanyi. Vissi is also signed to Maple Jam for artist management since 2008.
Among the original composers were Patrick Leonard and Giannis Kifonidis with three songs each, Giannis Hristoudoulopoulos with two songs and Alex Papakonstantinou, Grigoris Kollias, and Anna Vissi herself with one song each. The songs by Patrick Leonard were originally written with English lyrics for Vissi's possible upcoming, though never released, 2010 English album, but were instead re-recorded using Greek lyrics to appear on this album. The title track "Apagorevmeno" is also co-composed with Kara DioGuardi. Among the lyricists are Mirto Kontova with six songs, Eleana Vrahali with five songs, and Giorgos Mitsigkas, Grigoris Kollias, Valia Kaladzi and Vagellis Papazoulou with one song each.
Three Greek language covers appear on the album: a bonus track, Dan Wilson's song "Breathless" titled "Kontra", Luz Casal's song "Ni Tu Ni Yo" titled "Metallo", and Christina Aguilera's song "That's What Love Can Do" titled "An S'Erotefto". The latter was an Aguilera B-side track composed by Aguilera herself and Glen Ballard which appeared on the limited edition CD Justin & Christina used to promote the Justified and Stripped Tour.
Vissi composed the song "Apo Makria Kai Agapimeni" with lyrics by Mirto Kontova as a reflection of her relationship with Nikos Karvelas. The song "Risko" was described by Vissi and its lyricist Eleana Vrahali as a rock zeibekiko, as well as the song "Alitissa Psihi" composed by Vagia Kaladzi with lyrics Giannis Kifonidis received a similar description.
A remake of the Rebetiko song "Pente Hronia Dikasmenos ", originally recorded in 1936 by Vangelis Papazoglou, appears on the album as "Pente Hronia Dikasmenos" produced and remixed by Matheos Sprague. Vissi's rendition presents a fusion of vintage Greek urban folk music, or rebetiko, with contemporary urban music by including English language R&B and rapping elements. Argile is Greek for hookah, while the featured rappers also refer to smoking with a hookah pipe.
Composers of the additional songs on re-release of the album titled Apagorevmeno+ include Alex Papaconstantinou, Giannis Kifonidis, and Anna Vissi with one song each. Among the lyricist are Vagia Kalantzi with one song, and Anna Vissi with two songs. In the lyrics for Fabulous, Vissi breaks out of the first-person narrative, referring to herself in the third person by telling the listener that she is going to see her own show to hear "Tsoules" and "Alitissa Psihi".

Release

The release of Apagorevmeno marks Anna Vissi's 25th studio album. It was released on December 9, 2008 in Greece and Cyprus by Sony BMG Greece. It is her first studio album since 2005's Nylon and includes the bonus tracks "To Parelthon Mou" from the soundtrack of the film Bank Bang and a Greek-language cover of Dan Wilson's song "Breathless" titled "Kontra".
Apagorevmeno was repackaged and re-released with three new songs and two remixes as Apagorevmeno+ on November 16, 2009. This new 19-track version is in DBS packaging and carries a fixed price of €9.90, roughly half the price of a typical album in the Greek market. The re-release replaces the song "Apo Makria Kai Agapimeni" with the remixed version.

Reception

Commercial performance

The newspaper, Real News, distributed the album Apagorevmeno on 8 August 2010. The newspaper sold 60,320 units publication that included the album.

Chart performance

Apagorevmeno debuted at number three on the IFPI Greek Albums Chart on week 51, and was certified gold within its first week of release. The album moved up to number one on its second week where it remained for its third week, and fell to number nine for its fourth and fifth week.
Though the album was released on December 9, 2008 just three weeks before the end of the year, it still made it into the top ten on both of IFPI's year-end charts: Top 50 Greek albums of 2008 in the 9th spot and Top 50 Greek and Foreign Albums of 2008 in the 10th spot.
In March 2009 IFPI Greece announced that they would close their charts for a period of time in order to renew their charting system, thus it is no longer possible to track sales of "Apagorevmeno". IFPI Greece is set to resume public release of the Greek albums chart in late 2010.
In Cyprus the album debuted at number one of the charts of Musical Paradise where it remained for eight weeks. It gained gold status on the second week of its release, and reached platinum status on its eighth. It remained in the top 10 for 12 weeks. In September 2009 during Vissi's visit in Cyprus, Musical Paradise confirmed that the album is officially certified 2x platinum in Cyprus as well. With its re-release the album re-entered the Cypriot official album charts at no1 for a further 3 weeks and remained on the top 10 for a further 3 months.

Promotion

once again sponsored a Vissi album, and as in the past, it released a series of commercials for the album including a TV commercial featuring Anna Vissi with the song "Apagorevmeno".
On November 26, 2008, Cosmote was the first to release the three songs "Apagorevmeno", "Apo Makria Kai Agapimeni" and "Kontra" onto their music store as part of their mobile music campaign.
On October 29, 2008, the song "To Parelthon Mou" was released simultaneously to all radio stations in Greece and Cyprus along with its music video. It was the theme song from the Greek film Bank Bang, released in December 2008.
On February 10, 2009, Vissi appeared on the Women of the Year 2008 awards by magazine Madame Figaro in Cyprus. At the awards, Vissi announced that she has set up a scholarship fund along with the magazine to award to one young female student annually. Vissi also sang "Apagorevmeno", "Kontra", "To Parelthon Mou" and "Stin Pira".

Apagorevmeno Summer Tour

Vissi had originally planned to start performing at Athinon Arena in February 2009 in support of the album, however she opted to stage a big concert in Athens during the summer instead, along with a 2009 summer tour around Greece. The tour was titled Apagorevmeno Summer Tour.

The Fabulous Show

Vissi's concert series for the winter season 2009-2010 was at Athinon Arena and debuted on October 31, 2009 and was concluded on March, 27. Vissi was appearing three times a week and the show was named The Fabulous Show after her single "Fabulous". Supporting acts included the band Ble, Giorgos Sampanis, and Vera Boufi, who is Vissi's niece, special guest star was rebetiko singer Mario.

Track listing

Apagorevmeno

Apagorevmeno+

Singles

"Apagorevmeno"
"Stin Pira"
"Alitissa Psihi"
"Apo Makria Kai Agapimenoi "
"Fabulous"

Personnel

Management

Charts

ChartPeak
position		Weeks on chartCertification
Greek Albums Chart183x Platinum
Cypriot Album Chart1253x Platinum
Top 50 Greek Albums of 20089align="center" align="center"
Top 50 Greek and Foreign Albums of 200810align="center" align="center"