Salvador Dali is no stranger to this bizarre phenomenon. The Spanish painter and self-proclaimed genius once appeared on the Tonight Show with a scalped rhino.
The grasshopper frightened him. He often drags a piece of “lucky driftwood” to exorcise evil spirits. At a party in New York, he offered to please Cher with an oddly shaped dildo. Yet all of this seems like surreal foreplay compared to the grand scheme of his accompanying release. 6661972 Greek quartet album “Children of Aphrodite”.
Dalí’s plan was to stage a “what’s going on” in Barcelona, witnessed by only a few local shepherds, who would later convey the wonders of it all to the people.There should be loudspeakers on the street, loud and loud 666 For 24 hours, the soldiers accompanying the march wore Nazi uniforms.
Hundreds of live swans have gathered in front of Gaudí’s famous Sagrada Familia to have dynamite sticks sewn into their stomachs and explode in “special effects in slow motion”. Navy planes would whizz overhead, and their pilots were instructed to dump their ammunition on the cathedral. But no bombs. Instead, they’re going to bomb the building with elephants, hippos, whales, and yes, the archbishop with an umbrella.
“It’s time to end the church!” announced Dalí.
Needless to say, these wild animals and clergymen were undoubtedly relieved that none of this had ever happened.But this is a measure of extreme reactions 666 can be drawn. After all, this is no ordinary rock work. An ambitious conceptual work based on the New Testament, the album presents the battle of good and evil in Revelation through the prism of the ’60s. or something like that.
composer’s creativity Vangelis Papatanaciu With lyricist Costas Ferris, it’s an amazing mix of raw metal, Aquarius freak and edgy. The progressive rock that Marcel Duchamp might have imagined. Dalí himself called it “stone music”, noting that if he were a musician and lyricist himself, it would be one of his greatest works.
“It’s a prophetic album,” explains former drummer Lucas Sideras. “In the Bible, St. John speaks of 666 to prevent this from happening [the Apocalypse]. A lot of people think we made this record because we Believe In 666, but the opposite is true. “
But where exactly 666 from? After all, few in the history of Aphrodite’s children have made such a lofty statement.
The band originally developed from the Greek beat scene in the early ’60s. Vangelis provided lively pop hits as part of The Forminx, and copycats like The Idols and We Five soon followed. Egyptian-born Demis Roussos sang and played bass on both works, and by the fall of 1967 he and Vangelis were recording a demo for Philips as The Papathanassiou Set.
The other two members are Sideras on drums and Anargyros ‘Silver’ Koulouris on guitar. Like many of their peers, they captured the psychedelic scent and began to pollinate their folk-rock tunes with The Beatles and Procol Harum, albeit through traditional Byzantine instruments. They renamed themselves Aphrodite’s child and went into hiding in Paris in 1968.
debut 45 rain and tears Breaking into Blighty’s top 30, but taking a bigger hit across the rest of Europe.first record Armageddon Arrived in October 1968, a year later the new ergot drug, It’s five o’clock. Both have had considerable success on the African continent. Aphrodite’s children are now established as Med’s preeminent furry freak brothers.
“rain and tears It was number one in Europe and sold over 20 million records worldwide,” Sideras said. “Then we had the opportunity to make the album we always wanted to do.that became 666. “
Silver Koulouris has missed the return of the first two Aphrodite’s Child LPs due to NS, changing the dynamic somewhat.But no one could have foreseen 666.
Vangelis’ main accomplice was Greek-Egyptian writer and film director Kostas Ferris.Then while in exile in Paris, Ferris designed a concept 666 known as the self-styled “rock oratorio” revelation. He then began writing lyrics based on what he called the film’s “time puzzle” narrative, such as Citizen Kane and Intolerance.
The theme itself is a circus, in which acrobats and animals participate in an apocalyptic-themed evening of entertainment. Outside the tent, however, Armageddon was in full swing, even though audiences thought it was all part of the show. Unbeknownst to the narrator, he becomes increasingly hysterical. In the climax, two things converge on the mother of all battles.like billy smart met world war. Vangelis duly took Ferris’ lyrical endgame and set it to music.
The meeting began in Paris in late 1970. “We were in the studio for nine to 10 months and didn’t let anyone from the record company come in,” Sideras recalls. “Vangelis, Demis and I interfere a lot; we can play nonstop for three hours. We have studios from 10pm to morning, so we just play. After a month or two, we’ll replay what we’ve done and decide what to keep.”
Various guests slipped by, including honest English-speaking narrator John Foster, Greek actress Erin Pappas and George Gomelsky, entrepreneur and The Yardbirds. Former manager, most recently with Soft Machine and Gong. It’s unclear exactly what Gomelsky’s role is, though he’s credited on the last sleeve, somewhat oddly, “passing by.”
Although the premise is serious, 666 It’s not all plagues and omens. There are also a lot of pranks.Twenty-three second opening remarks system, inspired by ’60s activist Abbie Hoffmann, consists of a congregation chanting the slogan: “We have the system/Fuck the system.” A statement without ideological significance, it’s by no means revolutionary.Instead, it was a direct precursor to Pete Townsend’s reactionary refrain will not be fooled again: “Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss.”
out loud Amidst the sombre piano melody, there’s an emotionless voice, plus a children’s chorus that sounds like the wreckage of an erased cast hair. or at least Lord of the Flies. It’s part liberation, part hysteria: “The day the walls of the city will fall / Uncover our naked souls / We will all start singing / Shouting.”
Locust War is a full-on electric dust collector that incorporates a funky wah sound do ita suffocating tune full of breaks, it could be Ash Ra Tempel Going to the Jungle.
But the killer song on the first two sides 666both depicting the descendants of Babylon, are Four Horsemen and Aegean SeaThe former was a child of Aphrodite, and Koulouris used his guitar to dash through the army of conga and woodwinds. Roussos is at his most imperious, his high-pitched voice rushing out like an angelic Robert Plant.
“It’s not like we sit down and decide what to play,” Sideras insists. “It’s just through interference. And then something honest comes out of it.”
In contrast, Aegean Sea It’s an epic mood piece, with soulful guitar lines adding an undercurrent to the loud ambient noise.it may be Pink Floyd (the band’s name) in their Vesuvius pomp. In fact, Sideras has an interesting story: “We were playing at a club called Psychedelic in Paris in May ’68 when there were riots. We played as a trio all the time, and Vangelis was very loud.
“This is when Pink Floyd came to France to record the soundtrack more. But they haven’t set a record yet. One night, they came to a psychedelic club. We met them and they were amazed at the sound we made. They didn’t believe the voice was just from three people in the group. They think we have background tapes. “
The second record seems to be looking for some kind of spiritual solution for all this mundane hoo-ha.Spoken snippet seven trumpets give way to altamontein which the event, usually believed to have finally ended the hippie dream, was watched from the gods on the top of the mountain: “We saw a lamb with seven eyes/We saw a beast with seven horns/And a This book is sealed with seven seals.”
They’ve probably never seen bad acid sneaking through the door. As powerful as the music is, Ferris’ lyrics are painfully self-conscious.Although they are not as endlessa 39-minute confidence—part horror, part ecstasy—was cut down to five minutes.
Amid the ominous noise, actress Erin Pappas goes from whispering to banshee screaming while squirting the ultimate cosmic orgasm, repeating “I’m/come/I’m coming” until all that’s left is a sound Powerless Shout. Vangelis is her musical playmate, improvising a rave Sensurround to suit the mood. It makes Serge Gainsbourg sound like Cliff Richard.
And for good reason, as Sideras candidly explains: “Would she like to do it? Very very very! It’s true, you know? (laughs) She’s alone in her cabin, and no one can Look at her. It’s pitch black in the room and that’s what she does. It’s not a dramatic thing, it’s a real orgasm.”
Then came Hic and Nunc, a large-scale pop song with piano lead vocals and a public choir. Its words—”I have a feeling/Someone’s missing/Sing again!”—suggests a world without leaders, without ego, lifted from the shadows.
As if to cement the end of the journey, an epic 20-minute jam All seats are occupied Dub the frantic saxophone, conga and Koulouris burning guitar with the blast of all the songs we’ve heard so far.
closing ceremony rest It’s Fallen, sung by Sideras. It’s a wonderful, boring ballad you might find on Beach Boys LPs from the turn of the ’70s.
Intellectual joke, stupidity of the general concept, or a masterpiece of progressive rock? 666 Possibly all three. “When the record company heard the record, they weren’t happy,” recalls Sideras. “They were only interested in money and trying to find success. In Italy, Austria, Belgium and Germany, the record was not even allowed to be released because of Irene Papas’ songs.”
Mercury sat on the album for almost two years (Vangelis steadfastly refused to cut endless from the final cut), it was not until 1972 that it was finally released. But it was too late. “After this album,” Sidras said, “American Records let us go and play there. But we had a hard time because Vangelis didn’t travel at all.
“He didn’t fly, he didn’t fly this, he didn’t fly that. It was a huge opportunity for us because we were number one on FM over there at the time. FM is the radio” it broadcasts America All underground music. But Vangelis didn’t want to travel, so it never happened. “
Aphrodite’s children split. Jon Anderson invited Vangelis to join Yes (though he politely declined), and Sideras and Roussos embarked on a solo career. The latter quickly became an international superstar of robe-sized kitsch, while Wangelis became an award-winning soundtrack composer.
666At the same time, published on the same day jesus christ superstar. After all, every yin must have its yang
Originally published in Prog Magazine, Issue 10. Subscribe to Prog and never miss a question.
