Aphrodite's Child

The period from about 1965 to 1969 was a crux point for music but the Brits and the Americans managed to fool themselves into a vain belief that the radical music was all happening in Britain (specifically England and more specifically London) and USA (California and New York) with occasional 'outbreaks’ of freakdom in France and Germany. The truth is that virtually every nation was touched by psychedelia and there is some awesome material that has been re-issued in the last few years from Holland, Argentina, Sweden and, here, Greece. These albums by Aphrodite’s Child featured Vangelis who later had a major career as a solo artist and with Yes and Demis Roussos whose larger than normal girth was made much fun of when he emerged as a middle of the road ballad singer a few years later.

The first of these two albums - 'End Of The World' (****) - begins with an enormous crash chord, very much like the chord at the end of the Beatles 'A Day In The Life’, and the most wonderful lyric 'You should come with me to the end of the world – without telling your parents anything' and somehow manages to turn this unprepossessing start into a an album of brilliantly deranged psychedelia and acid- tinged imagery. Vangelis’ piano playing is jazzy and thought provoking while Roussos’ falsetto gets over the intensity and wonder of the new freakworld.
There is obviously a huge Sgt Peppers influence on the album but this was a time when you were either influenced by Dylan, The Beatles or Jefferson Airplane so not so much of a shock.
There is a very trippy, English air to a lot of the album but it is very well done.

'It’s Five O’Clock’(***) was the second album and the band had developed, picking up new influences such as Procul Harum and Arthur Brown and making music that was more statuesque and a little less charming but still very good listening.
They seem to have picked up on the country music elements of the West Coast sound but on some tracks, especially 'Annabella’ with its ocean washing opening and pan-pipes leading into full-on mellotron-iana and Roussos’ wavering vocal – strangely occasionally reminiscent of The Small Faces(!), they really have kept the Greek identity in their music.

Considering that this band later went on to release '666’ which was one of the seminal Psych albums of all time these two albums actually show Aphrodite’s Child were a major force before that release and for any fan of '60’s psych these really are essential.