666 (Aphrodite's Child album)
666 (The Apocalypse of John, 13/18) is a double album by psychedelic/progressive rock group Aphrodite's Child. It was released in 1972, and was the primary vehicle for the Vangelis project. It had a minor Album Oriented Radio hit in "The Four Horsemen", and the song "Break" was also released. The album was ostensibly an adaptation of Biblical passages from The Book of Revelation, also known as The Apocalypse of John, but was also very experimental in lyrics and composition.
Several tracks on this album were sampled for the first Enigma album, MCMXC a.D.
Conception and production
666 was created with lyricist Costas Ferris who was not part of the band. The music combines psychedelic and progressive rock with ethnic instruments, choral chanting, recitations, and use of electronic keyboards. The record company, Mercury Records, objected to the double-album length and to the musical experimentation, as well as the track "∞" (infinity), on which a female orgasm is simulated by the Greek actress Irene Papas, who repeated the words "I was, I am, I am to come" over a sparse percussion track.
The liner notes state "This album was recorded under the influence of Sahlep."
Release and reception
After Roussos and Sideras had already released their first solo albums, Mercury agreed to release 666, one year after completion and two years after the band had finished their parts in it, on its progressive rock subsidiary Vertigo Records. The single "Break" also came out in 1972, as did a single vinyl edition of the album in Brazil, also titled Break. An extended vinyl edition of 666 was released in Greece in 1974, containing alternative mixes of songs with music cut from other versions of the album. Some of these versions had appeared on the Brazilian release.
AllMusic gives it 4½ stars, but notes that "the entire set eventually becomes too overwhelming to sit through". IGN rated the album #3 on their list of Top 25 Prog Rock Albums.[4] In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition ‘’Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock’’, the album came #40 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".[5]
Track listing
Vinyl release
| 1. |
"The System" |
0:23 |
| 2. |
"Babylon" |
2:47 |
| 3. |
"Loud, Loud, Loud" |
2:42 |
| 4. |
"The Four Horsemen" |
5:53 |
| 5. |
"The Lamb" (Instrumental) |
4:34 |
| 6. |
"The Seventh Seal" |
1:30 |
| 1. |
"Aegean Sea" |
5:22 |
| 2. |
"Seven Bowls" |
1:28 |
| 3. |
"The Wakening Beast" (Instrumental) |
1:11 |
| 4. |
"Lament" |
2:45 |
| 5. |
"The Marching Beast" (Instrumental) |
2:00 |
| 6. |
"The Battle of the Locusts" (Instrumental) |
0:56 |
| 7. |
"Do It" |
1:44 |
| 8. |
"Tribulation" (Instrumental) |
0:32 |
| 9. |
"The Beast" |
2:26 |
| 10. |
"Ofis" |
0:14 |
| 1. |
"Seven Trumpets" |
0:35 |
| 2. |
"Altamont" |
4:33 |
| 3. |
"The Wedding of the Lamb" (Instrumental) |
3:38 |
| 4. |
"The Capture of the Beast" (Instrumental) |
2:17 |
| 5. |
"∞" (Infinity) |
5:15 |
| 6. |
"Hic and Nunc" |
2:55 |
| 1. |
"All the Seats Were Occupied" |
19:21 |
| 2. |
"Break" |
2:59 |
Brazilian vinyl release (released as Break)
| 1. |
"Babylon" |
2:52 |
| 2. |
"The Four Horsemen" |
6:10 |
| 3. |
"The Lamb" |
4:40 |
| 4. |
"Aegean Sea" |
5:22 |
| 5. |
"The Beast" |
2:26 |
| 1. |
"All the Seats were Occupied" |
19:21 |
| 2. |
"Break" |
2:59 |
CD release
| 1. |
"The System" |
0:23 |
| 2. |
"Babylon" |
2:47 |
| 3. |
"Loud, Loud, Loud" |
2:42 |
| 4. |
"The Four Horsemen" |
5:54 |
| 5. |
"The Lamb" (Instrumental) |
4:33 |
| 6. |
"The Seventh Seal" |
1:30 |
| 7. |
"Aegean Sea" |
5:22 |
| 8. |
"Seven Bowls" |
1:29 |
| 9. |
"The Wakening Beast" (Instrumental) |
1:11 |
| 10. |
"Lament" |
2:45 |
| 11. |
"The Marching Beast" (Instrumental) |
2:00 |
| 12. |
"The Battle of the Locusts" (Instrumental) |
0:56 |
| 13. |
"Do It" |
1:44 |
| 14. |
"Tribulation" (Instrumental) |
0:32 |
| 15. |
"The Beast" |
2:26 |
| 16. |
"Ofis" |
0:14 |
Total length: |
36:28 |
| 1. |
"Seven Trumpets" |
0:35 |
| 2. |
"Altamont" |
4:33 |
| 3. |
"The Wedding of the Lamb" (Instrumental) |
3:38 |
| 4. |
"The Capture of the Beast" (Instrumental) |
2:17 |
| 5. |
"∞" (Infinity) |
5:15 |
| 6. |
"Hic et Nunc" |
2:55 |
| 7. |
"All the Seats were Occupied" |
19:19 |
| 8. |
"Break" |
2:58 |
Total length: |
41:30 |
Personnel
Band musicians
- Vangelis Papathanassiou (Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou) - keyboards, organ, piano, vibraphone, bass, flute, percussions, backing vocals ("Lament", "The Beast", "Break")
- Demis Roussos (Artemios Ventouris Roussos) - lead vocals ("Babylon", "The Four Horsemen", "Lament", "Hic et Nunc"), bass, guitar, backing vocals
- Lucas Sideras - drums, lead vocals ("The Beast", "Break"), backing vocals
- Silver Koulouris (Anargyros Koulouris) - guitar, percussion
Guest musicians
Production
- Vangelis - producer
- Hans Brethouwer - mastering
- Gerard Fallec - production coordination
- Minoru Harada - product manager
- Roger Roche - engineer
- Jean-Claude Conan - assistant engineer
- Hitoshi Takiguchi - mastering engineer
- Kiyoshi Tokiwa - art coordinator
References
External links
[1]