Madcap

Madcap's Flaming Duty is a 2007 album by Tangerine Dream. Along with Cyclone it is one of the few Tangerine Dream releases to feature vocals. The album is a tribute to Syd Barrett who died in 2006; the title references Barrett's album The Madcap Laughs. Filmed during a studio session in Vienna January 2007 Tangerine Dream shows a different aspect of their musical life and artistic variety. With wall to wall lyrics from famous english and american poets, the song structure of this production opens a hidden door to the band's unusual microcosm of sounds and music. Script, produced and directed by Edgar Froese. TD’s performance of all 13 songs - including a bonus song -, shows the Band in a very cool and relaxed atmosphere…

Wisely, The Madcap Laughs doesn't even try to sound like a consistent record. Half the album was recorded by Barrett's former bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour, and the other half by Harvest Records head Malcolm Jones. Surprisingly, Jones' tracks are song for song much stronger than the more-lauded Floyd entries. The opening "Terrapin" seems to go on three times as long as its five-minute length, creating a hypnotic effect through Barrett's simple, repetitive guitar figure and stream of consciousness lyrics. The much bouncier "Love You" sounds like a sunny little Carnaby Street pop song along the lines of an early Move single, complete with music hall piano, until the listener tries to parse the lyrics and realizes that they make no sense at all…