aprhodite's child - 666

keeping with the experimental posts this week, here's another masterpiece. this one is great for long drives, as how i was turned on to this when i was on tour with genghis tron.


an example of the beautiful lyrics from this gem:

LOUD, LOUD, LOUD

The day the walls of the cities will crumble away
uncovering our naked souls,
we'll all start singing,
shouting, screaming
loud, loud, loud, loud

The day the circus horses will stop turning around,
running fast through the green valleys,
we'll sing and cry and shout
loud, loud, loud, loud

The day the cars will lay in heaps
their wheels turning in vain,
we'll run along the empty highways
shouting, screaming, singing
loud, loud, loud, loud

The day young boys will stop becoming soldiers,
and soldiers will stop playing war games,
we'll sing and cry and shout
loud, loud, loud, loud

The day will come up
that we'll all wake up
hearing and shouting of joy
and shouting together with the freaks
loud, loud, loud, loud

The day the world will turn upside down
we'll run together round and round
screaming, shouting, singing
loud, loud, loud, loud
loud, loud, loud, loud
loud, loud, loud, loud

from the wikipedia article:

666 (The Apocalypse of John, 13/18) is a double album by psychedelic/progressive art rock group Aphrodite's Child. It is one of the early cult albums in rock history, and is still popular among fans today. It was published in 1972, and was the primary vehicle/effort for this Vangelis project. It had a minor Album Oriented Radio hit in "The Four Horsemen," and a nearly pop hit with "Break." The album was ostensibly an adaptation of Biblical passages from the book of the same name, but was also very experimental in lyrics and composition, including a curious piece of performance art in which Greek actress Irene Papas is struggling to chant a mantra while coming to climax.

Essentially, 666 was Vangelis' concept, created with an outside lyricist, Costas Ferris. The music that Vangelis was creating for 666 was much more psychedelic and progressive rock oriented than anything the band had done before. The music itself was an impressive display of Vangelis' abilities, combining psychedelic and progressive rock with ethnic instruments, choral chanting, recitations, and very advanced use of synthesizers and keyboards for the time. In time the album became recognized as one of the most important early progressive rock works, and a defining example of the concept album. 666 also made Vangelis an underground name to watch, and in 1974 earned him an offer from Jon Anderson to join Yes following the departure of Rick Wakeman.

Just before the release of the album Vangelis engaged in a long fight with Mercury Records over the content of the album. The record company, in particular, objected to the song "∞" (infinity), which they considered obscene. It consisted of Irene Papas chanting the words "I was, I am, I am to come" over and over again in various stages of orgiastic ecstasy, while Vangelis accompanied her on a maelstrom of percussion (the five-minute finished track was reportedly edited down from a 39-minute piece recorded in a single take). However, the double-album length of 666 and the musical experimentation, as well as the subject matter, also exacerbated Mercury's ire. Another bone of contention was the sleeve note stating "This album was recorded under the influence of Sahlep." This was at first suspected to be either a drug or some form of occult ritual; in fact it is a drink popular around the eastern Mediterranean and made from the dried powdered roots of a type of orchid. After Roussos and Sideras had already released their first solo albums, Mercury finally agreed to release 666 one year after completion and two years after Roussos, Sideras and Koulouris had finished their parts in it, and it came out in 1972, as did a single taken from it - Break.

Current fans and critics typically rate 666 as the group's finest effort; All Music Guide gives it 4½ stars (although their review does say "the entire set eventually becomes too overwhelming to sit through").

download it here:
http://s3.massmirror.com/db79f6211de7d6a12ce740b424993c52.html [re-up 12.14.07]
File Size: 89.54 MB