Line #18 Music/AphroditesChild


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_po1x92syes1r62o57o1_400.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Aphrodite's Child, early 1970s. (Clockwise from left: Music/{{Vangelis}}, Loukas Sideras, Demis Roussos, Anargyros "Silver" Koulouris.)]]
3
4	->''You should come with me to the end of the world,\
5	Without telling your parents and your friends.\
6	You know that you only need to say the word,\
7	So end my play with the end of the world.\
8	But I know that I'll go away by myself,\
9	I feel you don't want to come.''
10	-->-- "End of the World"
11
12	Aphrodite's Child was a [[UsefulNotes/{{Greece}} Greek]] rock band based in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, UsefulNotes/{{France}}. The band consisted of a bunch of musicians (most notably Demis Roussos and [[Music/{{Vangelis}} Vangelis Papathanassiou]]) who were already successful in Greece, but they decided to flee to London after the junta of 1967. Since they couldn't get a visa to enter Britain, they decided to work in France instead.
13
14	While they started as a PsychedelicRock influenced pop band ''à là'' Music/ProcolHarum or Music/TheMoodyBlues, their last album ''666'' (1972), which was a seminal ProgressiveRock album is the one which is best remembered (albeit as a CultClassic, and only among prog circles). The scope and ambition of this double album was what caused the demise of the band. While Vangelis wanted to make more music like it, Roussos and Sideras wanted to keep the band's sound mainstream. There was also the problem of their record company not wanting to release the album because it was too avant-garde for commercial radio.
15
16	After they disbanded, Vangelis found success making film scores and Demis Roussos became a successful pop singer, who was very popular in Europe and Middle East during TheEighties. Roussos' music is largely forgotten nowadays, but he had many hit singles back in the day.
17
18	While they remained a cult group, they were influential on bands such as Music/TheVerve, Music/{{Beck\|Musician}} and Music/{{Enigma}}. Their music was noticed by Music/{{Yes}} frontman Jon Anderson[[note]]Who later collaborated with Vangelis[[/note]], and he loved ''666'' so much, he offered Vangelis to become their keyboardist after Music/RickWakeman left the band. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen He couldn't join Yes because of visa problems]] and Patrick Moraz joined Yes instead.
19	----
20	!! Studio discography
21	* ''End of the World'' (1968)
22	* ''It's Five O'Clock'' (1969)
23	* ''666'' (1972)
24
25	!! Members
26	* Music/{{Vangelis}} - keyboards, flutes, production
27	* Demis Roussos - bass, acoustic and electric guitar, vocals
28	* Loukas Sideras - drums and vocals
29	* Silver Koulouris - guitar
30
31	!! '''''We've got The System, to trope The System''''':
32	* ApocalypseHow: A very common theme in their music
33	** Their first album (and its eponymous single) is named "End of the World"
34	** Their last album, ''666'' is a concept album about a theatre troupe performing a play about the apocalypse, while the real apocalypse happens. The whole album is based on the Literature/BookOfRevelation
35	* ArcWords: So many examples in ''666''.
36	** The lyrics "We've got the system to fuck the system" starts off the album.
37	** "Do it!"
38	** "I was, I am, I am to come"
39	* ArtisticStimulation: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] The MindScrew album ''666'' contains the disclaimer "This work was recorded under the influence of "SAHLEP"[[note]]Sahlep in Arabic, salepi in Greek, is an oriental hot, sweet and healthy drink. It is basically a sort of herbal tea with a calming, relaxing effect. It has nothing to do with alcohol or any other drugs, but it is usually drunk by poor people early in the morning, instead of coffee or tea[[/note]].
40	* AsTheGoodBookSays: The concept of ''666'' is based on the Literature/BookOfRevelation
41	* AvantGardeMusic: A large amount of ''666'' qualifies as this, especially [[MindScrew "∞"]].
42	* TheBusCameBack: Argyris "Silver" Koulouris joined the army when the rest of the band left Greece. He rejoined them in time to participate in ''666''.
43	* CanisLatinicus: "Hic and Nunc"[[note]]Which means "Here and now"-the very words that were sung in English in chorus, but the word and is left English[[/note]]
44	* CarefulWithThatAxe: "∞" consists of Irene Pappas shouting the words "I was, I am, I am to come" again and again, louder every time
45	* CherubicChoir: "Loud", "Hic and Nunc".
46	* ConceptAlbum: ''666'' is a concept album about a theatre troupe performing a play about the apocalypse, while the real apocalypse happens. It is also one of the earliest rock concept albums.
47	* DarkerAndEdgier: They moved on from being a psychedelic pop band to ''666''.
48	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their earliest stuff was fairly lightweight psychedelic pop, which was very different from their last album (which ''is'' already weird by itself).
49	** The band itself is one for two of its former musicians:
50	*** Demis Roussos makes soft pop music, which is very very different from anything Aphrodite's Child has ever done.
51	*** Vangelis became much better known as a film score composer.
52	* EpicRocking:
53	** "All the Seats Were Occupied" is 19 minutes 19 seconds long.
54	** "∞" was originally 39 minutes long before Vangelis shortened it to five minutes.
55	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: All the songs in ''666''.
56	* GenreRoulette: From straight prog to hard rock, psychedelia, funk, soul, jazz, electronica, musique concrète and different traditions of Greek folk music[[note]]Even the kinds of music not intended for recreational listening, like liturgical choruses and wedding music can find its place here[[/note]], ''666'' is a real genre roulette.
57	* GratuitousGreek: A rare instance of a band using their native Modern Greek amongst mostly English songs.
58	** "The Beast" includes the exclamations "Pame"[[note]]"Let's go"[[/note]] and "Teliounome edho pera, etsi?"[[note]]We finish here, right?[[/note]]
59	** "Ofis"[[note]]Ancient Greek for serpent[[/note]] is a hammy spoken word piece in Modern Greek.
60	* GrayRainOfDepression: "Rain and Tears" from their first album, ''The End of the World''
61	* InTheStyleOf:
62	** "Babylon" in the style of Music/TheWho, specifically their ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' era.
63	** "The Marching of the Beast" in the style of Music/JethroTull.
64	** "Do It" and "The Battle of Locusts" are HardRock instrumentals ''à la'' Music/LedZeppelin.
65	* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: "The Four Horsemen"
66	* {{Instrumentals}}: "The Lamb", "Aegian Sea", "The Seventh Seal", "The Wakening Beast", "Do It", "The Marching of the Beast", "Tribulations", "The Battle of Locusts", "The Wedding of the Lamb", "The Capture of the Beast"
67	* LargeHam:
68	** "Seven Trumpets" consists of a very hammy anouncement.
69	** The Greek spoken word section in "Ofis" is pure ham.
70	** Irene Pappas, shouting in "∞".
71	* LeadBassist: Demis Roussos is a Type B version.
72	* LimitedLyricsSong: The only lyrics in "Do It" are the title, which is [[SpokenWordInMusic spoken]].
73	* LongestSongGoesLast: The second type in ''666'', since "All the Seats Were Occupied" (19:19) is followed by "Break" (2:59).
74	* LyricalDissonance: "The Beast" is a catchy, funky song about the Beast of the Apocalypse.
75	* MindScrew: Most of ''666''. There are many [[LyricalDissonance catchy tunes about the Apocalypse]], and there are some pieces which are so experimental, they could hardly even be considered music.
76	* MinimalisticCoverArt: The outer gatefold of ''666''. The inner gatefold, which features an illustration of a car crash, is a little more elaborate.
77	* MinisculeRocking: Many tracks in ''666'' are shorter than 2 minutes. Most of those are spoken word pieces, instrumentals or experimental tracks which are barely even music.
78	* NewSoundAlbum: ''666'' is a ProgressiveRock ConceptAlbum of the experimental kind, which is very different from their earlier soft psychedelic pop music.
79	* NumberOfTheBeast: Their last album is named ''666'' after all.
80	* ProgressiveRock: Their last album, ''666''.
81	* RepriseMedley: "All the Seats Were Occupied" is basically all the songs in the whole album reprised.
82	* {{Scatting}}: "Break" includes scatting by Vangelis at the end,which was intended to [[{{Bathos}} make fun of the dramatic feel of the song.]]
83	* {{Sampling}}: The TitleDrop at the end of "All The Seats Were Occupied" comes from a recording of a {{Creator/BBC}} English Teaching lesson.
84	* ShoutOut: The lines "We've got the System, to fuck the System!" and "Do it!" are references to the books "Fuck The System" by Abbie Hoffman and "Do It! Scenarios Of The Revolution" by Jerry Rubin, respectively.
85	* SpokenWordInMusic: Songs like "Loud, Loud, Loud", "Seven Bowls", "The Seventh Seal", "Seven Trumpets", "Ofis", "Altamont" are made solely of these.
86	* TitleDrop: That was "the Wedding of the Lamb"/Now comes "the Capture of the Beast"
87	* UncommonTime: Appears often, which is not surprising for a Greek[[note]]uncommon time signatures are already common in Greek folk music traditions[[/note]] prog band.
88	* VocalTagTeam: Demis Roussos and Loukas Sideras split lead vocal duties on ''666''. Roussos sings lead on "The Four Horsemen", "Babylon" and "Hic Et Nunc", while Sideras sings lead on "The Beast", "Altamont" and "Break".
89	,
90	----
91	''[[TheStinger Do it!]]''

Context Music / AphroditesChild