Афродита: 666 – Апокалипсис Иоанна

1972 studio album by Aphrodite's Child

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. An ambitious double LP concept album, ostensibly an adaptation of Biblical passages from the Book of Revelation, 666 was composed by keyboardist Vangelis and lyricist Costas Ferris. Conflict within the band and with their record company over the album's uncommercial style led to its release being delayed for more than a year. Though it was eventually released to a lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it later attracted a cult following among fans and musicians and became the group's most acclaimed project. It has appeared on various lists of the greatest progressive rock albums of all time.

The concept for 666 was created by Vangelis and film director Costas Ferris, who served as the project's lyricist. Ferris cited as influences the nonlinear narrative style of the films Intolerance, Rashomon, Citizen Kane and The Killing, as well as the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Who's Tommy. The central concept is a countercultural interpretation of the Book of Revelation, in which a circus show based on the apocalypse performs for an audience at the same time that the real apocalypse takes place outside the circus tent, and at the end the two merge into one. They took just over three months to record it and finished in early 1971. The overall cost of album's recording was estimated as US$80,000 (90000.0 in 1971 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years). The recording was marked by tension, as the ambitious nature of Vangelis and Ferris' concept clashed with Demis Roussos, Loukas Sideras and Silver Koulouris' wish to continue with the psychedelic pop direction that had brought them success. Vangelis, Roussos and Sideras were also accompanied by their partners, further adding to the strain. Engineer Roger Roche reported that they enjoyed playing together but would not speak to each other after they finished a take. stating, "It was too sophisticated for the group. I realised that I couldn't follow the commercial way anymore, it was very boring." Giorgio Gomelsky, in France at the time due to his work with Magma and Gong, made several contributions to the album and by his own description served as "a sort of 'acting producer. He believed that his contributions were not enough to warrant a producer's credit. Accordingly, on the album sleeve, he is credited as "passing by". Gerard Fallec, credited on the sleeve with "production coordination", Additional contributors to the album included Harris Halkitis, who had filled in for Vangelis when the band toured in support of It's Five O'Clock, horn player Michel Ripoche, Greek painter Yannis Tsarouchis, actress Irene Papas, John Forst and Daniel Koplowitz. Upon the album's completion, Mercury Records refused to release it, objecting to its uncommercial material and in particular the song "∞". In 1971, the band organised a "one year anniversary party" at Europa Sonor, to protest the album not being released. and planned an ambitious happening in Barcelona to mark the album's release. The plan was canceled when Dalí angrily broke off further contact after a friend of Ferris' referred to Gala Dalí as "Madame Éluard" during a visit in Rome. Roussos released his debut solo album Fire and Ice (also known as On the Greek Side of My Mind), obtaining a hit single in Europe with the song "We Shall Dance". Eventually, Mercury agreed to release 666 on its progressive rock subsidiary Vertigo Records in June 1972. The album was promoted with one single, "Babylon"/"Break", released in November. Mercury also produced a four song EP to encourage radio play, and ran a contest where they would give $666 to the first three promoters who could get their market's share of 40,000 sales. Although Melody Maker stated that "Break" "could easily have made the chart if it had been released as a single", Two years later, Vangelis said that the album sold well in the United States. 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, in a gatefold sleeve displaying the painting originally on the inner sleeve; some of these versions had appeared on the Brazilian release.

Side two begins with "Aegian Sea", an instrumental featuring another lengthy guitar solo by Koulouris, elaborate keyboard work by Vangelis, and wordless vocalising. "Lament" begins with a repeated vibraphone note played by Vangelis, followed by Roussos singing a lament for "the human race" over a minimal backing. Vangelis provides additional backing vocals, which reflect his interest in Byzantine music. variously perceived by reviewers as being influenced by jazz contains a repetitive funk influenced groove, Roussos scatting along with the bassline, vibraphone by Vangelis, and overdubbed horns by Halkitis. The second half of the song introduces additional narration, referring to the imagery of previous songs and describing the sight of the apocalypse as "the pictures of what was, of what is, of what is to come". One of the lines of the narration, "We are the people/The rolling people", later inspired the title of The Verve's "The Rolling People". "Altamont" ends by crossfading into "The Wedding of the Lamb", a world music influenced instrumental that contains an electronic keyboard melody backed by wordless vocalising and syncopated, rhythmic drumming. The instrumental in turn crossfades into "The Capture of the Beast", a drum solo by Sideras that makes heavy use of toms and percussion instruments, performed over Vangelis' keyboard drones and effects. The songs are linked together by brief spoken lines recited in a halting manner which announce their titles, "That was 'The Wedding of the Lamb'" at the end of the former, and "Now comes 'The Capture of the Beast'" at the beginning of the latter. "Hic et Nunc" (Latin for "here and now") is an upbeat pop song with phased piano, tenor saxophone by Michel Ripoche, a crowd chanting "Here and now!" in the chorus, a reuse of the audience sound effect from "Babylon" and the "We got the system to fuck the system" chant from "The System" during Vangelis' piano solo, foreshadowing the concluding "montage".

Colin Larkin's Encyclopedia of Popular Music states that "the album was applauded for its ambition and execution", but it did not attract many contemporary reviews. AllMusic gives it 4½ stars, but notes that "the entire set eventually becomes too overwhelming to sit through". IGN ranked the album number 3 on their list of Top 25 Prog Rock Albums. In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition ‘’Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock’’, the album came number 40 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".

Although Ferris has been identified as the lyricist, the album explicitly states that all tracks — even the instrumentals — are composed by Vangelis Papathanassiou and Costas Ferris.