Aphrodite's Child Discography (5 Albums)

After a search in AH music section I saw almost nothing from Aphrodite's Child. The albums uploaded long time ago were all deleted. I uploaded these albums a while ago to put on my own blog, I know, it's not the best Quality, but I don't have it in a higher bitrate. So please don't ask for Lossless in the comments ;-)

Aphrodite's Child was a Greek progressive rock band formed in 1967, by Vangelis Papathanassiou (keyboards); Demis Roussos (bass guitar and vocals), Loukas Sideras (drums and vocals), and Anargyros "Silver" Koulouris (guitar). Papathanassiou and Roussos had already been successful in Greece (playing in the bands Formynx and Idols respectively) while they got together with Sideras and Koulouris to form a new band. Their first recording as a band was for George Romanos album In concert and in Studio where they played on four songs and were credited as "Vangelis and his orchestra". In the same year they recorded a two song demo and submitted it to Philips Records.

From Athens to Paris

It was probably Vangelis' idea that the still-anonymous band should be relocated in London which would be a more suitable environment. This decision, however, was not problem-free. Koulouris had to stay in Greece to fulfill his military service while the band, on their way to London, got stuck in Paris partially because they did not have the correct work permits and partially because of the strikes associated with the May 1968 events.

In Paris they signed to Mercury Records, christened "Aphrodite's Child" and released their first single "Rain and Tears", a reworking of Pachelbel's Canon in D major. With this song the band became an overnight sensation in France and several other European countries in which the single charted well, despite the song being sung in English and not French. In October of the same year, the band released their first album End of the World. The album contained an equal amount of psychedelic pop songs and ballads in the vein of Procol Harum or The Moody Blues.

The band began touring around Europe, and in January 1969 they recorded a single in Italian for the San Remo Festival in which they did not participate, however. Their next hit single was "I want to live", an arrangement of the song "Plaisir' d'amour". For their second album, the band travelled to London to record at the famous Trident Studios. The first single from the new album, the rootsier "Let me love, let me live" came out in October, while the album It's five o'clock came out in December 1969 featuring more successful ballads (like the title song) but also songs that crossed many musical genres including country rock.

After their second album, the band begun touring again, this time without Vangelis who preferred to stay in Paris and record the music for Henry Chapier's film "Sex Power". Vangelis was replaced on stage with Harris Chalkitis. 1970 went by with the band promoting their latest album and Vangelis working on his first film project. To keep the steady flow of hits, the band released another single in August, "Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall".



666

The band began to record their crowning achievement late in 1970: a musical adaptation of the biblical Book of Revelation, entitled 666. Silver Koulouris, having finished his Greek army duty rejoined the band. However, relations between all the band members were not good at the time, and continued to worsen during the album's creation.

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. This did not sit well with the other band members, who wished to continue in the pop direction that had brought them success. Furthermore, Roussos was being groomed for a solo career, and recorded his first solo single "We Shall Dance" (with Sideras on drums), and his first solo album On the Greek Side of My Mind, whereas Vangelis recorded the score for L'apocalypse des Animaux and worked on a single with his girlfriend Vilma Ladopoulou, performing with Koulouris using the pseudonym "Alpha Beta".

By the time the double LP 666 finally came out in late 1971, and having sold over 20 million albums[1], the band had already split. Both Vangelis and Demis Roussos pursued successful solo careers, Roussos as a pop singer and Vangelis as one of the pioneers in New Age music. Koulouris worked with both on occasion. Loukas Sideras pursued a less successful solo career, releasing an album and the single "Rising Sun" after the break-up.





Albums
End of the World (1968)
It's Five O'Clock (1969)
666 (1972)

Singles
"Plastics nevermore" / "The other people" (1968)
"Rain and tears" / "Don't try to catch a river" (1968)
"End of the world" / "You always stand in my way" (1969)
"Valley of sadness" / "Mister Thomas" (1969)
"Lontano dagli occhi" / "Quando l'amore diventa poesia" (1969)
"I want to live" / "Magic Mirror" (1969)
"Let me love, let me live" / "Marie Jolie" (1969)
"It's five o'clock" / "Wake up" (1970)
"Spring, summer, winter and fall" / "Air" (1970)
"Such a funny night" / "Annabella" (1970)
"Break" / "Babylon" (1972)

Review by Richie Unterberger
The debut album of the only Greek 1960s rock band to make an international impact could have almost been the work of a foppish British psychedelic group on the cusp of turning progressive, if not for the notable foreign accent on the (entirely English-language) vocals. The use of the Mellotron in particular recalls the early psychedelic Moody Blues, as do the mild influences of classical music in the keyboards and melodies. If there's something distinct about Aphrodite's Child, it's a certain Mediterranean sentimental streak to both those melodies and the songs, which get more overtly romantic than virtually any British (or American) psychedelic band would have thought suitable. Though Aphrodite's Child stood up well to the British bands in their level of instrumental accomplishment and production, it's an uneven record. The more heart-wringing numbers will be way too sappy for many listeners, some of the hard-rocking songs have overwrought soulful vocals, and there's a general awkwardness that's inevitable when bands are singing in a non-native language. But this epic melancholy grandeur also makes the group stick out to some degree among second-division psychedelic acts, and their use of skin-crawling psychedelic effects, while dated, is quite imaginative (especially on the closing "Day of the Fool"). The title cut could well have been a standard European pop ballad without those effects, and is certainly the catchiest song here, if the drippiest, though it was the yet daintier "Rain and Tears" that gave them a hit in parts of Europe.

Tracklist
1. End of the World
2. Don't Try to Catch a River
3. Rain and Tears
4. Grass Is So Green
5. Valley of Sadness
6. You Always Stand in My Way
7. Shepherd and the Moon
8. Day of the Fool