APHRODITE'S CHILD

Symphonic prog? Of course not. It's Five O'Clock is the second album by Aphrodite's Child, and it's a poor Country Folk spin-off work, with some psychedelic rock influences IMO. It's tiresome, boring melodies and the whole album have that "I have heard it before" feeling. Even the keyboards by Vangelis sounds annoying here. Almost every track here seems to be a pop ballad, but without innovation or even outstanding creativity. I don't know what drives anyone to buy such an album after listen to any song. Totally uninteresting. I don't have any track to highlight here. I'm sorry. That's my honest opinion.

Aphrodite's Child. The greek god Vangelis wasn't so strong yet. More psychedelic than prog (as you can judge by the cover art). End of The World is their debut, and in my point of view, far better than the legendary conceptual, but poor, "666". Nothing so special at this album, but it's a cool listening. I like the instrumentation, the drums and keyboards are funny. You Always Stand in My Way is the highlight of the album, without any doubt. The weakest songs are Rain and Tears, The Grass Is No Green, and the over the top ending track, Day of The Fool. It's good, but it lacks the special sauce.

I am so sorry, Mr Vangelis, but I am very, very disappointed with this greek psychedelic / prog album. Outstanding, 666 is an experimental concept work about the biblical book Revelations (Apocalypse). And it's booring. Full of recitations, choral chanting and including some performance art, the album doesn't reach a state of enjoyment and coherence for me. From both discs, only a few songs, from the first disc, includes some good passages: the keyboards at The Lamb and The Marching Beast. I can say that short tracks like Battle of The Locusts, Do It and Tribulation are better than the main songs.

Progressive Rock has always been drawn to fantasy themes, so it's no surprise that it would sooner or later steal a few pages from the Holy Bible. I write that, be assured, with tongue lightly in cheek, which is the only way to approach both the overblown extravagance of this 1972 album and the wacky apocalyptic fever dreams that inspired it.

The New Testament Book of Revelation was tailor-made for a Prog Rock concept album, especially in the spiritually adventurous and drug-addled early 1970s. GENESIS would later cover the same thematic ground in their epic song "Supper's Ready", with better poise and in a quarter of the time. But their more refined symphonic interpretation lacked the untethered psychedelic overkill of this album, not to mention the orgasmic shrieking of guest star Irene Papas.

Goodness knows how closely the '72 version follows Scripture, but was that really its aim? In retrospect, the adaptation here by multi-instrumentalist Evangelos Papathanassiou (aka Vangelis) pandered more to counter-culture conceits, with the same calculated efficiency he would later bring to his solo albums and soundtracks. "We are the people / the tambourine people / the alternative people" is a more or less typical lyric. And the album's opening chant ("We got the System / to f*ck the System") can be heard as a quintessential anti-establishment mantra.

The album, originally two LPs, covers a lot of territory in 78-minutes, earning high marks for diversity and chutzpah. Side One of the first record re-imagines the fall of Babylon as an Arena Rock event, then moves to the haunting poetry and solo piano of "Loud, Loud, Loud", then kicks into the full-throttle cosmic rock of "The Four Horsemen", followed by some electro-vibe Aegean folk music, followed in turn by even more portentous narration...

...And on it continues, throughout four sides of vinyl: into the Battle of Locusts, the Wedding of the Lamb, the Capture of the Beast (complete with rattling chain effects), plus the Seven Bowls, Seven Seals, Seven Angels, Seven Trumpets, so forth and so on. All of it incredibly ambitious, suitably pompous, and wildly creative in an undisciplined sort of way. Much like the car depicted in the sleeve art it's an album careening headlong into a masonry wall: a messy but impressive experience, musically compelling but often even more incoherent than its source text.

But that same stylistic inconsistency is possibly a saving grace, because if one episode doesn't grab your attention (hard to believe) the next won't be too far behind it. Disregarding the hodge-podge insanity of the climactic twenty-minute medley "All the Seats Were Occupied", the album packs 23-separate tracks into 58-total minutes: you do the math.

Don't blame Vangelis for trying to stuff all his eggs into one colorful basket. This was the sound of a young musical prodigy with aspirations beyond his native Greece, and as yet (thankfully) unaware of his own limitations. Under the circumstances a few cracked shells ought to be expected, but who cares? We can only hope the actual End of Days will sound this entertaining.

I couldn't have chosen a different album for my review number 666.

This very complex album which takes the concept from the New Testament's Apocalypse sees the last act of Aphrodite's Child, just after Vangelis had started his solo career. It sees also a lot of guest appearances, one for all the actress Irene Papas who will later record two albums with the keyboardist. Who is not familiar with this very early progressive band may think that the title has something to do with metal or Satanism.

Totally wrong. This is a metaphoric view of the late 60s western society.

The first 24 seconds with people repeating "We fight the system" are a clear reference to the French '68 (The band was actually there) and also the Vangelis early release "Fais Que Ton Reve Soit Plus Long Que La Nuit" contains excerpts from demonstrations and barricades.

"Babylon" is a symbol. For Rastamen is a synonym of cops, but if we think to the Bible, this is the city where the languages are mixed by God because of the attempt to reach the sky by building a tower. It's one of the many "sin cities"" of the ancient Testament. For AC is a catchy beat song (including Sgt Peppers like brasses and false live public). Please give an ear to Demis Roussos at the bass as he's always remembered for his falsetto voice only.

"Loud, Loud, Loud" starts with piano than a speaking woman that should be Irene Papas, but it doesn't seem her voice to me. She speaks of city walls falling down "loud". Listen to Patti Smith's "Birdland" it's exactly the same song with different lyrics.

"The Four Horsemen" is the most famous song from this album, the first on which Demis shows his high pitch on a carpet of thin sounds provided by Vangelis. Something similar will appear on the Blade Runner's OST. The chorus is rock with a touch of psychedelia. A great song full of atmosphere with a nice but quite standardized guitar solo at the end.

"The Lamb" is Jesus in the Christian symbology. A very unusual signature opens this song. Vangelis shows here some keyboardist's skill. He was not used to play so fast in his solo albums, but on this song he demonstrates that he can. One of the most psychedelic moments of the album specially in the second half when keyboards and guitar sound very floydian because of the oriental melodies in Rick Wright's style.

"The Seventh Seal" is what the Lamb (Jesus) opens last and starts the Apocalypse. This is one of the most dramatic episodes of the bible and this one minute track is very calm instead with a man voice reciting the Biblic passage.

"Aegian Sea" Is the Sea which wets the Greek coasts. If you consider that the band was exiled in France because of the "Colonels" dictatorship this instrumental acquires a particular taste. There's an electronic base with a blues guitar and a voice repeating "there's no more suffer for hunger, there's no more suffer for thirst".

"Seven Bowls" is made of bell sounds and a choir in Greek Theathre style speaking of the incoming apocalypse...."the sea turns black, the river turns red...".

"The Wakening Beast" follows without solution of continuity. The same bells as before and noises that should transmit the idea of something coming slightly, more than a wakening it gives me the impression of a birth.

"Lament" has a folk flavor. A dirge on deadly bells in a typical Greek style or at least it seems to me. It's a very emotionally intense moment.

Now the apocalypse is started. "The Marching Beast" comes on. It starts as a rock song. The imprinting of Vangelis is clear to those who know Vangelis solo efforts. In particular the piano scales come back on Heaven and Hell and the pauses in the first minute of the track can be found on Spiral.

"The Battle Of The Locust" is a very acid rock-blues song mainly based on bass and guitar. Again please note the bass line as Demis Roussos deserves to be considered also as excellent bassist. The song is joint to "Do It". They are almost the same song and this is more acid than the first.

"Tribulation" is a short eclectic instrumental which can be considered also "Avant".

"The Beast" is a bluesy song with connections with Procol Harum, so a bit late in 1972, but surely not bad. I don't know who sings, but he sounds quite similar to Roger Chapman.

"Ofis" and "Seven Trumpets" are voices only. It's like a TV speaker announcing the end of the world like it was a Saturday night's TV show.

"Altamont" is a jazzy instrumental which reminds me to the Wishbone Ash of "Pilgrimage" or to Colosseum (the Live), but it could also fit in the Gong's "Flying Teapot" trilogy. I'm curious to hear comments about. One of the best tracks of the whole album.

"The Wedding of The Lamb"...my knowledge of the Bible is not good, so I don't know if the Lamb gets married. This track is very interesting for the arrangements. It's folk, but this could be folk from a number of different countries. There's a celtic flute, a Greek choir, African drums which turn into a jazz drum solo while the choir keeps track of the two chord of which the track is made. in the last minute the drum solo introduces the next track.

"The Capture Of The Beast" starts from the drum solo. Can the beast be captured? I don't know, but other than the drums, the keyboards come from remote to help the drums.

"Infinity" is opened by low volume percussion and vocals. While we proceed to the end, the music becomes more challenging. The voice screaming "I am to come I was" is more obsessive than the drums below. Is it the beast? It looks like. I can't say that it's a scary track because I'm used to Shub-Niggurath and similars, but it doesn't transmit good sensations for sure. Is she Irene Papas? she could as the way she uses the voice is very theatrical. Nothing so dark will ever be realeased by any of the band's members in the following years.

"Hic et Nunc"(here and now) is another false live. Also in this song I hear some Canterbury influences. Or better, the beat influence makes me think to Wigwam but I hear also Gong or even Gentle Giant on this one. Surely a song that deserves some attention. Its position in the album, just after the darkest and more challenging moment is not a case. It's a pity the this song is closed by a fade out.

Now comes the epic: a 20 minutes track after a whole album on which the longest song doesn't reach 5 minutes and half and some are shorter than one minute. "All The Seats Were Occupied" is a strange title. It's a suite of the kind of Saucerful of Secrets or some Caravan instrumental moments, but totally original. Nobody else than Aphrodite's Child could have done a thing of this kind. It's an epic track, very intense and developed. There are folk elements, the guitar played like a bouzuki or a mandolin for example. It's a track on which the effort of all the band's members can be heard. The recorded voices from previous tracks, specially infinity, which overlap the choir in the most relaxing part, it looks like this is a theatrical representation of the Apocalypse, or just that the whole mankind is watching the end of the world like it was a performance. In the crescendo of chaos which follows, the sreams from Infinity are dreadful and spine chilling. At minute 12 there's another section made of percussion and guitar which can remotely remind to Santana. The music grows up again including bass and keyboards. Some tapes from the previous speeches are quite randomly in but the base is clear and the track does never loose its continuity. This track is enough to consider the album a masterpiece. The increasing scale at minute 15:20 may have influenced Roger Waters for In The Flesh. The crescendo becomes more chaotic and at minute 16:30 the music dissolves again into percussion and tapes. It's time for a long drums solo on which Vangelis puts electronic spacey sounds which survive when the drums stop. A voice says "All the seats were occupied" and the track ends in a scary chaos. Not bad for the end of the world.

There's time for a closer. "Break" is a poppy tune with Demis singing "Goodbye my friends". The world is over and the album is about to end. After all the darkness accumulated up to now, the band didn't want to leave its public with so bad sensations. They probably knew that this would have benn their last work.

They have closed their story with a masterpiece, not many artists have been able to end in this way.

5 obvious stars

This is a good compilation of pre-666 material. It is a collection of many successful hits the greek band has graced us between 1968 and 1970, songs taken from the albums "End of the World" and "It's Five o' Clock" (and from other singles released in that period of time).

From what I know, it's the first ever Aphrodite's Child compilation and for a long time it was the only way to get most of Aphrodite's Child's hit songs (Rain and Tears, for example).

The tracks are a product of their times (the end of the sixties): there are beautiful melodies (with the beautiful vocals of Demi Roussos) and the superb symphonic-pop sound with which the band climbed up the charts of Europe, as in the excellent "Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall" and in the memorable "It's Five o' Clock".

After the Beatles-inspired psych-flavoured albums 'End Of The World'(1968) and 'It's Five O'Clock'(1969), the Greek outfit Aphrodite's Child went for the grand move with this ambitious, double-sided concept piece. Although it would prove to be the their final release, fans and critics alike have hailed 1972's '666' as the group's defining moment, and one of the most important examples of European psychedelic rock. A trio, Aphrodite's Child would prove to be the springboard to later success for two-thirds of it's membership. Demis Roussous(vocals, bass) would become a highly-respected producer, songwriter and solo artist, enjoying European success throughout the upcoming decades, though even his popularity as a performer would be surpassed by that of keyboard-player Evangelio Papathanassiou, who, under the universally-recognised pseudonym Vangelis, would become a household name during the 1980's thanks to a series of electronically-coloured solo releases, two progressively-inclined albums with Yes front-man Jon Anderson(under the moniker Jon & Vangelis) and for his hugely popular soundtrack that accompanied the oscar-winning 1981 movie 'Chariots Of Fire'. However, before these later excursions, Roussos and Papathanassiou, along with drummer Lucas Sideras, were known as some of the most exciting and experimental purveyors of psychedelic music outside of the dominant USA and UK set of groups such as Tomorrow, The Byrds and Jefferson Airplane, thanks partly to their merging of modern rock elements with traditional Greek and European sounds. 'End Of The World' and 'It's Five O'Clock', plus a handful of popular singles, had seen the threesome build up a strong following throughout Europe, and a series of concerts in Germany, France and the UK led to a major- label deal with the French arm of Phillips. With the short-lived psychedelic phenomenon beginning to make way for more experimental forms of rock music, as pioneered by Pink Floyd, E.L.P. and Gentle Giant to name but a few, Aphrodite's Child were keen to follow suit. Their first two albums had made good use of the limited studio gadgetry available to them, with special effects, sound collages and tape splicing adding a bustling sonic layer to their quaint, folk-inspired acid-rock sound. However, the recording environment for '666' would prove far superior. Recorded in Paris, at the technologically-advanced Studio Europa-Sonar, '666' would be Aphrodite's Child's first - and only - stab at the concept album. Ostensibly, and thematically, the album was an attempt-of-sorts to musically adapt various passages from the bible, interspersed with psychedelic rock songs, more sound collages, strange and ethereal effects and, during the latter stages of side two, some seriously bizarre 'performance' art courtesy of sixties bohemian actress and fellow Greek Irene Papas, which took the form of manic chanting whilst the female performer was seemingly in the throes of sexual hysteria(!). These moments aside, the group did find time to add some actual songs to the album. 'The Four Horseman' is possibly the most popular track from '666', featuring a slow and carefully-composed keyboard-orientated build-up followed by a catchy, acoustic- guitar-accompanied chorus that hinted towards more progressive leanings. The song was a minor hit single in the UK, France and central Europe, and is one of the few stand-out moments on what is essentially an experimental psychedelic/progressive art-rock album from a trio of talented musicians who were, at the time at least, having virtually every creative whim indulged thanks to first-rate facilities and the moderate success of their previous two albums. Other tracks, notably 'Break', 'Lament' and 'Babylon', do showcase the trio's more restrained side, with the traditional Greek elements that graced 'End Of The World's stronger moments juxtaposing nicely with the albums jagged, Beatles-and-Tomorrow- styled psych-rock sound, though, ultimately, these moments are just too far apart to maintain interest throughout. There are far to many strange interludes, with talking voices, clanging bells, tribal percussion and atonal sound effects effectively filling up a large chunk of the album's lengthy running time, and the number of actual compositions is surprisingly small for a double-album. Encased between these tedious episodes are genuine moments of impressive beauty, with 'The Four Horsemen''s Crosby, Stills & Nash-esque harmonies and Pink Floyd-ish strains making for a wondrous, and rare, moment of clarity amongst all the manic stream-of-conciousness sonic craziness and experimental fiddling. However, despite the obvious care and craft, and many, many hours of labour that has gone into this epic release, too much of it has been spent on the least-accessible - and enjoyable - moments. 1969's debut 'End Of The World' is a far more compressed example of just what Aphrodite's Child were capable of, and those yet to hear a note of this Greek rock group are advised to start their study of the group there. A highly-creative album this 1972 effort may be, yet, unfortunately, most of the creativity seems to have been expended on virtually everything but the music. To put it lightly, this is very much a flawed gem, though one that demands a cursory listen at least from those interested in such things. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2011

Having sat in the vault for a year after it was recorded and only limping out after the band split up, 666 is probably the album the band is best known for. With Vangelis taking control of the musical direction, the album's concept is - as the title implies - a retelling of the Book of Revelation, with an experimental psychedelic-symphonic approach influenced by Greek religious music at points.

I couldn't put hand on heart and tell you that I think it's a truly essential album - in particular, Infinity is kind of goofy and drags on for four minutes after the basic idea of the track (orgasm sounds and percussion) becomes tiresome - but it's an engaging enough epitaph for the band. Even then, I can't rate it much higher than three stars. The fact is that Aphrodite's Child are probably famous more because of the members' solo careers - Roussos became a very successful pop singer back home in Greece whilst Vangelis became... well, Vangelis - rather than by virtue of anything they produced as a band.

Have you ever been... experienced? Oh, sorry, I mean: Have you ever been in Greece? Yes, you know: beach, sea, sun, black olives, tsatsiki, souvlaki, moussaka... And a glass of white retsina, of course. Wonderful. A paradise. The end of the world. Ops, sorry again, I said it. The end of the world. The Apocalypse. And how the world is supposed to end? Not with a bang. But with this record, perhaps... A lot of the charme of this music is in the fact that is a sort of "one shot". Never like this before, never like this after. It's the end of the world. And of the group, of course. Vangelis, the real mind beyond all this music, is well-known in Italy for a stunning commercial jingle made for the most famous brand of pasta in the world (yes, more known for that one that for Blade Runner, you can bet...). Latins said "sic transit gloria mundi" ("this way passes world's glory"). After all, it's a story of "how to make money if you're a musician". And what a kind of a musician. The answer is: not with an album like this one. This is for those that are waiting for the end of the world. Those that, a lot of time before that the musical contamination, the genres mixation, became a usual way to do, do not dislike music that is rock, greek rock ("what the hell is "greek rock"?", "okay, listen this one"), experimental music, and a lot of other stuff (and among them interesting lyrics). Speaking of the rating. I am not into that, I confess. Life is not black and white, so, why four stars or five? what about four stars and three quarters? Anyway, if five stars means "essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music", that's what this record is. Not the best record in prog rock history, but surely a masterpiece, and "one shot". The bang of the end of the world.

This is one of the most unique albums that I own. A cult classic from Greece that looks at the serious subject of The Apocalypse through seemingly innocent and almost irreverent eyes. An album that is misunderstood by many but almost universally celebrated by Prog fans. It's one of the first double concept albums ever recorded. Funny but I usually am not a fan of either double albums or concept records yet this has captured my imagination completely. I have a difficult time explaining why which makes me think there has to be something magical about this recording.

"The System" is really people chanting the same line over and over for 23 seconds then "Babylon" kicks in with strummed guitar and people cheering as vocals and bass join in. An upbeat and catchy song with horns helping out as well. "Loud, Loud, Loud" opens with piano as narration comes in. Love the mood here. I like the line "Shouting together with the freaks" because i've hung around with a lot of so called freaks in my life. "The Four Horsemen" is probably my favourite track. I love how the vocals almost cry the lyrics. It kicks in just before a minute. How good is this ! Back to the spoken vocals that cry the words as contrasts continue.Vocal melodies then a guitar solo before 3 1/2 minutes. "The Lamb" is a good energetic track.Vocal melodies, drums and other sounds lead the way. Some unique and intricate sounds in this one. "The Seventh Seal" is a short track with narration. "Aegian Sea" is another amazing tune. Love the dreamy intro then it kicks in at a minute before returning to that spacey atmosphere again. Contrasts continue. Gorgeous ! Narration 3 minutes in with guitar and a beat. Nice.

"Seven Bowls" opens with percussion-like sounds then spoken words follow that quote scripture then the clanging sounds are back to end it. "The Wakening Beast" has these strange sounds as it blends into "Lament" where we get haunting vocal melodies. "The Marching Beast" kicks in right away and the piano becomes prominant. "The Battle Of The Locusts" is guitar led with upfront bass and drums.The guitar lights it up pretty good here. "Do It" continues with the bass, drums and guitar putting on a show. Great stuff. "Tribulation" is horn led and it sounds incredible.Too short though. "The Beast" is kind of silly and Zappa-like really. I like it ! I enjoy the drumming and guitar too. "Ofis" is a short spoken word piece to end disc one.

"Seven Trumpets" is a short spoken word passage announcing judgement in an irreverant way. "Altamont" is fantastic ! Catchy stuff with vocal melodies. Horns lead 2 minutes in. Great sound. Spoken words join in after 3 minutes as the music continues. "The Wedding Of The Lamb" is another good one with flute, percussion,vocal melodies and more leading the way. It settles back after 2 1/2 minutes then spoken words and drums end it. "The Capture Of The Beast" opens with brief spoken words as a beat and clanging sounds with atmosphere takes over. Great sound ! "Infinity" is the hardest track to digest as actress Irene Papas repeats words with urgency and then with emotion and then she's just out of control (haha). Insane. "Hic And Nunc" is live with piano, drums and vocals. Catchy.

"All The Seats Were Occupied" is the over 19 minute epic.We get snippets of earlier tracks being reprised on this one. Organ floats in then synths and stringed instruments as it builds. Great sound after 2 1/2 minutes. Brief spoken words before 5 minutes. Nice bass before 6 minutes. It settles right down 8 minutes in.You can hear Irene in the background. It kicks back in before 10 1/2 minutes. She's back and horns too. Guitar and percussion take over a minute later then the horns return.They're jamming here and I love this. Percussion leads after 17 minutes. Some crazy sax 18 1/2 minutes in for the big finish.That was one incredible piece of music. "Break" ends it beginning with piano and reserved vocals as organ comes and goes.The backing vocals sound like Wyatt here.The guitar is back when the vocals stop.They're back after 2 minutes.

It's an honour to be the first to hit 3,000 reviews even though I still wish Hugues had done it because he deserves it more than I do. I want to thank Hibou (Lise), Easy Livin (Bob), Sean Trane (Hugues), loserboy (James) and others who inspired me late in 2005 when I first started to frequent this site on a regular basis.These people especially became my inspiration and the windows to the Prog world for me. I didn't have music samples to listen to back then so these people and this site were the ones who I relied on as I learned about different bands and albums I had never heard of before. I didn't join this site until August 27th 2006 because for some reason I didn't want to join until I was ready to start doing reviews. Imitation is the sincerest form of flatery they say. My first review was September 1st of that year and I feel like I haven't even had time to take a breath since (haha). That day is coming soon though.