666

I'd never heard of this album before discovering PA in 2008--I had no clue that Vangelis Papathanassiou had a life in prog world before he went electronic/New Age. But then, imagine my surprise (and delight) at discovering this masterpiece of theatric storytelling, a brilliant and emotional representative of its time--the flower-power, unleash the voices of the youth early 1970s. The similarities to Andrew Lloyd-Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar are numerous. (My own musical theatre sensibilities were very well conditioned by Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Raincoat, Fantastiks, Pippen, Hair, Tommy, and Godspell, and this album belongs right up there with or perhaps even above those others.) The speeches, the vibrant energy, the instrumental performances, the overall concept, even the atmospherics all put on display a passion and sincerity that is extraordinary, unsurpassed. This was an album of LOVE and impassioned, anti-establishmentarian youthfulness. Though I do not listen to it often, when I do I am IMMEDIATELY hooked in--knowing that I'll be listening to the whole double album, start to finish, all 78:28 of it, and that I'll be smiling and pumping adrenaline the entire time.

Without question I hold this album up as a true testament to the powerful and creative heights that human artistic expression can take us. Amazing.