Aphrodite’s Child were one of progressive rock’s most remarkable launchpads — a Greek band, exiled to Paris, who began as baroque-pop hitmakers and ended by creating one of the genre’s great masterpieces. Formed in 1967, they were the vehicle for two future giants: the visionary keyboardist Vangelis, who would go on to a legendary career in electronic and film music, and the golden-voiced Demis Roussos, soon to become a global pop star. Their final album, the apocalyptic double LP “666,” remains a landmark of early prog.

The short version

Aphrodite’s Child were a Greek rock band formed in 1967 by keyboardist Vangelis and singer-bassist Demis Roussos, with drummer Loukas Sideras and guitarist Silver Koulouris. Forced abroad by Greece’s 1967 military coup and stranded in Paris, they found fame with baroque-pop hits like “Rain and Tears.” But their lasting legacy is their third and final album, the ambitious concept work “666” (1972), a sprawling adaptation of the Book of Revelation now hailed as one of the greatest progressive rock albums ever made. The three albums gathered here trace that extraordinary arc.

From Athens to Paris

The band came together in Athens in 1967, but Greece’s military coup that year made life difficult for young artists, and they resolved to seek their fortune abroad. Aiming for London but denied entry for lack of work permits, they ended up stranded in Paris — where they took the name Aphrodite’s Child, signed to Mercury, and struck gold. Their debut single “Rain and Tears,” built on Pachelbel’s famous Canon, became a huge European hit, powered by Vangelis’ Hammond organ and Roussos’ soaring falsetto. Guitarist Silver Koulouris, left behind in Greece for military service, would only join in time for their final album.

From pop hits to 666

Their first two albums, “End of the World” (1968) and “It’s Five O’Clock” (1969), mixed 1960s European pop with baroque touches and a distinctly Greek, Mediterranean flavour, yielding hit after hit. But Vangelis grew restless with the simple pop formula. For the band’s third album he conceived something far more ambitious: “666” (1972), a double-LP concept work based on the Book of Revelation, written with film director Costas Ferris. Wildly experimental and unlike anything they had done, it sparked battles with their label and within the band — and by the time it finally appeared, Aphrodite’s Child had split.

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The masterpiece

“666” is the reason Aphrodite’s Child are remembered as a progressive rock band. A sprawling, theatrical double album — staging the apocalypse as a circus while the real one unfolds outside — it ranges across psychedelic rock, jazz, funk and world music, crowned by Vangelis’ keyboards and Silver Koulouris’ guitar. Controversial on release for its apocalyptic, occult-tinged imagery, it was a commercial disappointment that only slowly found its audience, gradually becoming a cult classic regularly ranked among the greatest prog albums of all time. Even Salvador Dalí was an admirer.

Album by album

Three albums — two of baroque-tinged pop, one a progressive landmark. Tap any title to explore.

The players

Aphrodite’s Child were built around two extraordinary talents: keyboardist and composer Vangelis — full name Evangelos Papathanassiou — who wrote the music and would later become one of the most celebrated film and electronic composers in the world, and singer-bassist Demis Roussos, whose distinctive voice carried their hits and powered a hugely successful solo pop career. Drummer Loukas Sideras and guitarist Silver Koulouris completed the line-up, the latter joining only for “666” after military service kept him in Greece. Both Demis Roussos and Vangelis have since died — Roussos in 2015 and Vangelis in 2022.

Where to start

There is really only one place to begin: “666” (1972), the band’s masterpiece and one of progressive rock’s essential early albums — ambitious, strange and utterly singular. For their other side, the pop hits, “End of the World” (1968) gathers their early baroque-pop charm, including the lovely “Rain and Tears.” Two very different records from the same remarkable band.

Why they still matter

Aphrodite’s Child matter on two counts. As a band, they created in “666” one of progressive rock’s boldest and most enduring statements — a concept album whose reputation has only grown over the decades. And as a launchpad, they gave the world Vangelis and Demis Roussos, two artists who would go on to extraordinary fame far beyond prog. For anyone tracing the roots of European progressive rock — or the early days of two musical legends — they are essential.

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