album rating: ★★★★★
Genre: Baroque pop / easy listening / European pop / ballad. Forever and Ever is the second studio album by Demis Roussos (born Artemios Ventouris Roussos, Alexandria, Egypt, 1946 – Athens, 2015), the Greek singer who became one of the defining figures of European popular music in the 1970s. Roussos had first come to international attention as bassist and vocalist of Aphrodite's Child, the progressive rock group formed in France with Vangelis Papathanassiou, whose 1972 rock opera 666 is considered one of the landmarks of European art rock. His solo career, however, moved decisively toward orchestral ballads and easy-listening pop, combining a dramatic countertenor voice with lush string arrangements and a distinctly Mediterranean melodic sensibility. Forever and Ever contains his most celebrated songs: the title track 'Forever and Ever', 'Goodbye, My Love, Goodbye', 'My Friend the Wind', 'My Reason', 'Velvet Mornings' and 'Rebecca'. The album was self-produced by Roussos and features arrangements by Stelios Vlavianos, who played keyboards, organ and Moog synthesiser throughout. Roussos is accompanied by a full ensemble including Jean-Jacques Cramier on guitar, Alekos Karakantas on lead and classical guitar, Bernard Rosati on bass, Patrick Jean on drums, and trombonists Alex Perdigon and G. Conti.
Label: Philips Records (international), 1973.
Producer: Demis Roussos (self-produced).
Recording studio: Not individually specified in publicly available sources; recorded in France.
Critical reception: Critical opinion on the album was divided, both at release and in retrospect. Contemporary critics and later commentators characterised the lush, sentimental arrangements and Roussos's kaftan-clad persona as emblematic of 1970s easy-listening excess. Rate Your Music reviewers note the contrast with his Aphrodite's Child work. However, Discogs reviewers describe it as 'this is Demis Roussos' landmark album; millions of units were sold', praising it as the starting point for what became 'The Roussos Phenomenon', the wave of Greek popular music — alongside Nana Mouskouri and Vicky Leandros — that swept Europe in the mid-1970s.
Commercial success: Forever and Ever is one of the best-selling European pop albums of the 1970s. In the UK, it peaked at number 2 on the Official Albums Chart and remained on the chart for 68 weeks between 1974 and 1977. It reached number 1 in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, and number 2 in Austria. 'My Friend the Wind' reached number 1 in Belgium. The title track, re-released as part of The Roussos Phenomenon EP in July 1976, reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. The album sold millions of copies across Europe.
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