Aphrodite’s Child – End Of The World (Limited Edition) Gold Vinyl

Limited Edition in Gold Vinyl, Only 1000 copies made worldwide this one has super low serial, #0017

I have long been a fan of 666, the final album from Aphrodite’s Child, which was recorded in 1970, but shelved until 1972 because of some of the controversial material. It’s certainly one of the finest albums Vangelis had ever played on, it’s certainly a masterpiece and one of the greatest prog albums ever, in my opinion. Next album I tried was It’s Five O’Clock, which has its moments, but at least I was warned it was more pop than 666. So I wasn’t put much into shock finding much of the album in the pop-oriented vein, although some of the songs make me cringe like “Funky Mary” and “Such a Funny Night”. Now I finally get to hear their debut, End of the World/Rain and Tears. This was their debut, released in 1968. The band was intending to reach England, having left Greece (apparently Vangelis had the idea they’d fare better in England, which is likely true, especially since Greece was under a military dictatorship at the time), but the Paris student riots and apparent problems with obtaining proper work visas left them in France, so they ended up there. Guitarist Silver Koulouris was meant to also be a part of the group, but couldn’t due to military service (once that ended, he was able to actually join the group for 666, but of course the band was beginning to fall apart shortly thereafter). The first four cuts are very much in the pop vein. “End of the World” is a pop ballad. “Don’t Try to Catch a River” is an upbeat beat/pop number. I really like the harpsichord Vangelis used. The vocals here tend to remind me of Rod Stewart (and remember, this was a time Rod Stewart himself was singing for the Jeff Beck Group), I don’t think it was Demis Roussos handling the vocals here. Drummer Lucas Sideras also handled some vocals too. “Mister Thomas” is an attempt at British whimsy coming from a Greek band. There are some strange brass sounds, apparently a Mellotron, which is even more surprising given Vangelis’ dislike of the Mellotron (Tony Kaye also had a similar opinion of the Mellotron, and yet there is unmistakable Mellotron on Badger’s One Live Badger). It’s a strange brass sound I’m not aware of on the Mark II, for all we know they got a hold of the newly introduced M300. I doubt Chamberlin, since very few made it out of America (Magma reportedly used one on Attahk, but that was 1978 where a handful had reached European soil). “Rain and Tears” and “Valley of Sadness” are more pop-oriented pieces (the former was a hit), but I am really shocked with “The Grass is No Green”, “The Shepherd and the Moon” and “Day of the Fool”. These are, to my ears, full-on prog rock pieces, in fact “The Grass is No Green” sounds a whole lot like a precursor to 666. It even has that same “down” vibe as many of the songs on 666! The last two are a bit more experimental. “The Shepherd and the Moon” has those strange vocals in that Greek style (it’s all in English), and some spoken dialog. “You Always Stand In My Way” is a rocking number with some truly in-your-face Mellotron. I just wonder, how was Vangelis talked into playing Mellotron? It’s likely this album was his first experience with them and likely ran into one of those mechanical difficulties that scared him off for life (for all I know it was the M300 with the lubrication on the tape guides wearing off, he switched banks and disaster happened due to static buildup on the tape guides). From listening to this album, it is a better release than their next one, It’s Five O’Clock, where it sounded like they took a step backwards and more concentrated on the pop-side of the band (has its moments, but I always had a hard time with “Funky Mary” and “Such a Funny Night”). Here they combined pop, beat, psychedelic, and surprisingly prog and it works great, and it really does sound like it should be the followup to It’s Five O’Clock, but it actually predates that album. It’s obvious they were trying to aim for both the pop market and do music more to their liking, or perhaps Vangelis who wanted the band move in a more adventurous progressive rock direction (it was the reason the band was falling apart when they recorded 666 because Demi Roussos wanted the keep the band in a more pop-oriented format that made them famous, while Vangelis wanted a more progressive direction).

While 666 will always remain their masterpiece as far as I’m concerned, this is still a great album of psychedelic, pop and even prog! Definitely their best early release.

by Benjamin