Music By Vangelis Featuring Aphrodite's Child – 666 (The Apocalypse Of John. 13/18) / Pop Classic / Euroton Audio CD / EUCD-0061

UPC 5998490700614  

Made in Hungary  

Total Playtime 74:13

Aphrodite's Child was a Greek rock and pop band formed in 1967, by Vangelis Papathanassiou (keyboards, flutes), Demis Roussos (bass, acoustic and electric guitar, vocals), Loukas Sideras (drums and vocals), and Silver Koulouris (guitar). They initially found success in Europe with hit singles like "Rain and Tears", "End of the World", "I Want to Live", and "It's Five O'Clock", before pivoting to progressive rock with their third and final album, 666 (1972). An ambitious concept album inspired by the Book of Revelation, it later gained critical acclaim and has appeared on a number of lists of the top progressive and psychedelic albums of all time.

Tracklist:

666 (subtitled The Apocalypse of John, 13/18) is the third and final studio album and only double album by Greek progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child, released in June 1972 by Vertigo Records. Ostensibly an adaptation of Biblical passages from the Book of Revelation, it is the group's most critically acclaimed project. Due to internal tensions during the recording process and conflict with the record company, by the time it was released the band had already disbanded and its members had begun work on solo projects.

The music of 666 is more ambitious and experimental than previous Aphrodite's Child releases, containing greater use of electronic keyboards, studio experimentation, expanded instrumentation, and influences from genres such as jazz, musique concrète and world music. Reflecting this character, only six of the album's 24 songs have vocals and lyrics, four by lead singer Demis Roussos and two by Loukas Sideras. The rest are either instrumental, instrumentals with narration, or use vocals as an instrument. Although the album's material is often acknowledged as challenging and uncommercial, it has also been described as tuneful, "fun", and retaining elements of pop music. Authors Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell interpreted the album as reflecting "the turmoil in Greece at the time", while Vangelis argued that its theme was highly relevant in general, stating in Sounds in 1974, "The answer to the question 666 is today." The Mojo Collection argues that "the album's lush arrangements were as startling as any of the progressive era and have aged better than most", in part due to Vangelis not relying excessively on contemporary synthesizers and the prominent role of guitarist Silver Koulouris.

Aphrodite's Child

• Vangelis Papathanassiou (Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou) – keyboards, organ, piano, vibraphone, bass, flute, percussion, backing vocals on "Lament", "The Beast", "Break"
• Demis Roussos (Artemios Ventouris Roussos) – lead vocals on "Babylon", "The Four Horsemen", "Lament", "Hic et Nunc", bass, guitar, trumpet, backing vocals
• Loukas Sideras – drums, lead vocals on "The Beast", "Break", backing vocals
• Silver Koulouris (Anargyros Koulouris) – guitar, percussion

Additional musicians

• Harris Halkitis – bass, tenor saxophone, congas, percussion, backing vocals
• Michel Ripoche – trombone, tenor saxophone on "Babylon", "Hic et Nunc"
• Irene Papas – vocals on "∞"
• John Forst – English narration
• Yannis Tsarouchis – Greek narration on "Ofis"
• Daniel Koplowitz – narration on "Loud, Loud, Loud"

Production

• Vangelis – producer
• Roger Roche – engineer
• Jean-Claude Conan – assistant engineer
• Hitoshi Takiguchi – mastering engineer
• Hans Brethouwer – mastering
• Gerard Fallec – production coordination, sleeve design
• Giorgio Gomelsky – "passing by" (production assistance)
• Minoru Harada – product manager
• Kiyoshi Tokiwa – art coordinator
• Michel Dubré – inner sleeve painting