℗&© 1972 Mercury Records
USM Japan, a Universal Music Company
Marketed & distributed by Universal Music LLC, Japan
Single-Layer Stereo SHM SACD. DSD flat transferred from UK original analogue master tapes at FX Copyroom, London, in 2014. Edited in DSD at Universal Music Studios, Tokyo, in 2014. Album originally released 1972.
This reissue combines both original full LPs on one disc. Comes in a box with a place to affix the SACD on a foam button. Also inside the box is the replica gatefold papersleeve, complete with a replica of the original Japanese OBI. Also included are two replica "Vertigo Logo" innersleeves and a booklet with liner notes and lyrics in Japanese. The outer box also has a large OBI with full-rear panel.
"Genuine SHM'd SA-CD for audiophile only."
The Japanese reissue liner notes by Satoshi Onikata translate as follows:
《A Pyramid Of Eurorock》
This paper sleeve reissue of Aphrodite's Child's final masterpiece "666" is a remastered version. The album was released in Japan at nearly the same time as the original with the Japanese title "Aphrodite's Child's Mysterious World" and, as a work by the band Vangelis was in, has been reissued several times after he became famous around the world. Aphrodite's Child itself also gained the spotlight, apparently becoming well-known as a prog-rock band from the non-English-speaking world, next to PFM . Around 1972, when this work was released, the trend of the times was to create a concept album. It's hard to claim many of them were successful, but "666" has become the gold standard of Eurorock, being a work that manages to combine the colours of Sgt. Pepper by The Beatles , the chaos of their White Album , and the exotic nature of Greek music.
《New Testament: The Apocalypse Of John》
As you can see from the title, "666" develops the theme from the final chapter of the New Testament : The Apocalypse Of John. To help you understand this work, let's sketch its contents and list the corresponding songs on the album. The Apocalypse is the "Book of Revelation " that John wrote down after receiving a vision from God through the Holy Spirit about what will happen in the future. To the right of the heavenly throne lies a scroll closed with seven seals. The lamb Jesus starts breaking seals. When breaking the first four seals, a man with a bow, a man with a sword, a man with a scale, and a man carrying the plague appear on white, red, black, and green horses ("The Four Horsemen" / applicable songs below). Each of the four knights kill a quarter of the earth using conquest, civil war, famine and the plague. When the fifth seal is broken, blooded martyrs appear and exclaim loudly. When the sixth seal is broken, a big earthquake occurs in the ground, the sun loses all light, the sea becomes blood, and the stars fall to the ground. Finally, the seventh seal is broken, and silence arrives ("The Seventh Seal"). To avoid disaster, the foreheads of 144,000 believers are sealed ("Aegean Sea"). Eventually, in the ensuing tranquility, seven angels with trumpets step forward, it is time for judgment. One by one the 7 trumpets sound, the heavens, the earth, the sea, the mountains and the rivers are destroyed, and four angels followed by a cavalry of 200 million annihilate one-third of humanity ("Seven Trumpets"). But the remaining humans do not repent. A lamb-like beast with two horns emerges from the ground ("The Beast"). It breathes life into an idol beast so it can speak. And it kills the person who's winning the hearts of those who don't worship the talking idol. Furthermore the captive humans are engraved, meaning those without it cannot buy or sell goods. The engraved characters spell "666" (the text on the front cover). Then an angel with seven bowls destroys Babylon ("Seven Bowls"), only the chosen ones who believe in Christ survive and build a millennial kingdom, and the story ends with the Last Judgment and the visit of the kingdom of God. Since it is a memory of a vision, and because the story is not consistent, various interpretations of it exist, but in general it is interpreted as a story about the Roman Empire, which had suppressed the Christians, being destroyed by the wrath of God and, after the Last Judgment, the birth of a new Jerusalem.
Apart from "666", Genesis 's suite "Supper's Ready", which features seven trumpets, 666, and the new Jerusalem, is famous for using apocalyptic motifs.
《Release Of The Second Album ~ Until The Completion Of "666"》
The band decide to go on tour to promote their second album, "199717", released in 1969. Vangelis, who escapes touring by introducing a substitute keyboard player, stays in the studio and prepares for his first solo album as well as the band's third album. Vangelis and the band, who finish their tour in 1970, come together at the request of the record company to release the single "199420" in August. While the song is a hit in Europe, they start making the album in Paris. In 1971, feeling the need for a guitarist, they continue its production with the addition of early member Silver Koulouris (g) who has returned from military service. The concept of "666" had been created by Vangelis and Costas Ferris , who has multiple roles such as a videographer, lyricist, and producer, and it was Ferris who had written all the lyrics. The recording process turns out to be difficult. The three main members are always accompanying their wives and do not speak with each other. When they pick up their instruments and start to play, all members smile and become close, but when the performance is over, the terrible atmosphere returns, it is a strange scene to record in. The band has already disbanded by the time the two-disc blockbuster "666", for which they spent three months in the studio and which cost $80,000 to produce, is completed.
《Reduced Masterpiece》
"666" was created originally as a 4-disc concept album. Its story-line was as follows, "In a huge tent a show based on the Apocalypse is being held. While the show is in progress, outside the tent, through God's hands, disaster is actually brought about. The audience in the tent thinks the events outside are part of the show, but gradually it notices something unusual and panic breaks out. After the conflict between good and evil, between the apocalypse in reality and the fictional apocalypse, the huge tent disappears and the two shows merge completely". This content was esoteric to begin with, and when for commercial reasons a reduction to 80 minutes on a two-disc set was enforced, the story was much reduced and it became difficult to grasp the flow of it just by listening. One of the lines spoken by the choir, We've got the System, to fuck the System! was influenced by the idea of "Fuck the System" by radical activist Abbie Hoffman , and seems to represent the irony of power. In track 2 that follows it, the number with a small guitar solo, the start of the show in the tent is announced as you can hear from the SE (sound effects) of the audience. Vangelis is in charge of the drums on this song. The story based on the apocalypse unfolds in tracks 3 to 6, and the mysterious improvisational track 5 that so effectively incorporates Greek folk instruments is impressive. We have pop songs and songs based on improvisation, and they can be interpreted as representing the show inside the tent and the disaster taking place outside it, respectively. After track 7 with its impressive melancholy melody, improvisation-based songs continue. The phrase Do It in track 13 was taken from the book by hippie thinker Jerry Rubin , and the words on OFIS were taken from a famous Greek drama. Moving on to LP 2, the story of the apocalypse continues in tracks 1~4. Track 5 depicts a person who panics after noticing an incident, as expressed by Vangelis's percussion and the god-like vocalization by famous Greek actress Irene Papas . Apparently the version before it was edited down lasted 39 minutes. The show ends with the pop song on track 6, after which the lengthy 20-minute track 7 starts. This angry collage of songs and improvisations that had appeared up to that point seems to show how reality and fiction are in conflict before being merged. Its final words, "All the seats were occupied", were taken from the sound of a BBC English course. The album closes on a quiet note with the ballad on track 8, which was a way of saying goodbye to the listeners. This work tried to illustrate a magnificent story using John's Apocalypse as a motif, but considering the sudden development in the second half and the final forced punchline, it's as if the story implodes along the way. However, it is the imperfections that give the listener a lot of room for interpretation, and the result is a masterpiece of the imagination.
《The Release Of "666" ~ Aftermath》
The initial idea for the album title was "Apocalypse". However, the band thought it would have a weak impact because it was a rather common title in works of art, so they came up with the title "666", inspired by the number on a car. The idea of 666 in white letters on a black background was in the end changed to a red background to not set it against the Beatles' White Album (a UK reissue is exactly the same as what was conceived originally). The inner cover picture, depicting a car crashing into a wall, was drawn as a symbol of the idea that human acts of stupidity such as war and environmental destruction are equivalent to suicide. The record company Mercury Records expressed disgust with the album's title as it was blasphemous, and demanded "∞" be removed as it features a female gasping voice. After negotiations, the result was to first release it on Vertigo , a subsidiary of that company. A comment on the cover, "this work was recorded under the influence of Sahlep", was also controversial, as it apparently proclaimed the use of drugs. Actually, Sahlep is a healthy hot drink. "666", which was finally released in 1972, was banned in some countries, it was not able to lift along with the single release "276453" and therefore had no commercial success. The band announced its dissolution and the members started their solo activities. However, at the same time that Vangelis became world famous, the value of this work started to be recognized by many people, and by now it has earned and secured a reputation as a masterpiece representing Eurorock.
November 2003
Satoshi Onikata
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