666 (The Apocalypse of John, 13/18) is a double album by psychedelic/progressiveart rock group Aphrodite's Child. That is one of the early cult albums in rock history, still popular among fans today. It was published in 1971, 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 which seems to be a woman struggling to chant a mantra while coming to climax. Psychedelic music is a musical genre inspired by or attempting to replicate the mind-altering experience of drugs such as cannabis, psilocybin, mescaline, and especially LSD. It is not rigorously defined, and is sometimes interpreted to include everything from Acid Rock and Flower Power music to Hard Rock. ... Progressive rock (shortened to prog, or prog rock when differentiating from other progressive genres) is an ambitious, eclectic, and often grandiose style of rock music which arose in the late 1960s, reached the peak of its popularity in the early 1970s, and continues as a musical form to this day. ... Art rock is a sub-genre of rock music that is characterized by ambitious lyrical themes and melodic or rhythmic experimentation, often extending beyond standard pop song forms and toward influences in jazz, classical, or the avant-garde. ... Aphrodites Child was a Greek rock band formed in 1968 by vocalist Demis Roussos, multi-instrumentalist Vangelis Papathanassiou and drummer Lucas Sideras. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... The Greek electronic composer Vangelis in 2001. ... Album Oriented Rock, abbreviated AOR, was originally an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock music artists rather than singles releases. ...
Current fans and critics typically rate 666 as the group's finest effort; allmusic.com gives it 4½ stars (although their review does say "the entire set eventually becomes too overwhelming to sit through").
It is remarkable to consider when listening to '666', Greek band Aphrodite's Child's third and final LP, that prior to it's release they were a huge draw on the 'Europop' circuit of the late 60s/early 70s with top ten hits across the continent.
In fact it is an epic, double concept album concerned with the book of Revelations from the Bible, and it succeeds utterly in conveying the gothic horror of the stories told therein.
Whatever, '666' is an early 70s rock curio, an all too often overlooked masterpiece that is definitely worthy of investigation and adulation by all fans of 'dark' prog.
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