Tangerine Dream – Madcap’s flaming duty

3 reviews for Tangerine Dream – Madcap’s flaming duty

1. 

   Andy K / UK – 2022-11-22

   Housed in a very weird fluorescent Green jewel case comes TDs latest CD
   Okay lets get this out of the way, Tangerine Dream can’t do vocal music, theyre masters of instrumental music, because well, because…er.
   Take a deep breath, because on this album TD blast some of those preconceptions out of the water

   01. ASTROPHEL AND STELLA
   Music by Edgar Froese, Lyrics by Sir Phillip Sidney
   Edgar kicks the album off with a breathy Blues Harp solo (that’s a Hohner Harmonica to you). He hints at times past whilst preparing us for few new surprises to come on this album, and then it’s straight into usual intro (as heard on the Tempodrom DVD) a loop of choirs, modulated synths, filtered hisses and bass notes, but this soon deviates from that version with wordless echoed (and perhaps flanged) vocal phrases. Drums are introduced and for the first time you can clearly hear Chris Hausls voice, emotional and forceful. The mid paced tempo is kept up as instruments swap rolls within the track, with some guitar from Bernard Beibl in the distance. A solid opening track.

   02. SHAPE MY SIN
   Music by Thorsten Quaeschning, Lyrics by Christian Torsa
   Opens with a chugging sequence, with strummed guitar chords with a very simple melody and swooshing synth sounds, later a higher sequence is added. Drums pound metronome like; hinting at TDs earlier work with drum machines. A catchy chorus is added with Chriss vocals doubled with an echoed spoken word counterpoint and then things take off into almost pop territory (don’t panic though), the piece drops away and then almost stops and some very TD sounds bring it all back as panned drums are added and the piece ends with a very TD-like pad. Great stuff, TD does pop, with a new twist.

   03. THE BLESSED DAMOZEL
   Music by Thorsten Quaeschning, Lyrics by Dante G. Rosetti
   The track starts with some layered acoustic guitar, with odd echoing vocal phrases. But this time with a lilting vocal phrase, from Chris. The sequence is panned as a chugging tempo builds, full of small clicks and sonar type zaps (it vaguely reminded me of OST from the movie The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Plenty of space is left for atmosphere as Chriss vocals are double tracked, and guitar phrases interplay with an emotional Mellotron like string melody as it subtly weaves over the key changes. Bending its way through this comes a sustained melody (perhaps it might be Thorsten using his e-bow on a guitar?). The bass line hints at the Metaphor EP as a breathy synth melody is added, but the track soon fades leaving you wanting more. Subtle and emotional its a great track.

   04. THE DIVORCE
   Music by Edgar Froese, Lyrics by Thomas Stanley
   Ah Edgars track on the Road Map to Music EP comes back in new clothes, with Chriss new vocals and chorused guitar strums following the chord changes. The lush chords of the original have been removed, giving way to a rather digital piece which wouldnt out of place on most of Edgars solo albums. OK, but nothing special but Chriss vocals lift it nevertheless.

   05. A DREAM OF DEATH
   Music by Thorsten Quaeschning, Lyrics by Edmund C. Stedman
   An atmospheric pad gives way to surprise surprise Thorstens track from the same EP, with busy drums over soft pads but this time shorn of its awful out of tune vocal sample intro. Over this Chris adds some fine breathy vocals which cross-fade into an even more breathy synth note. A few flute notes from Linda and the whole piece takes off into a lengthy instrumental section, with the flute mirrored by a distant guitar, a few bars and Bernards guitar takes centre stage, emotional and showing what an accomplished guitarist he is. Chris returns towards the end. Brilliant.

   06. HEAR THE VOICE
   Music by Edgar Froese, Lyrics by William Blake
   Ah now we are talking! Linda plays an emotional flute intro over a rolling/ echoing bass note and percussion pattern, over this Chriss note perfect vocal phrasing plays with weird synth sounds and key changes from Edgar. Subtle electric guitar is added as the tempo builds and the vocals become more impassioned. Guitar parts play against a ghostly backwards version of themselves, with an organic tempo that pulls against the clockwork synth sequences that ripple quietly as Chriss voice takes unusual key changes to keep things fresh. Towards the end Bernard bringing it into a more Rock area with some tasty Floyd-like licks. Loved it!

   07. LAKE OF PONTCHARTRAIN
   Music and lyrics ‘Irish Traditional’, Arranged by Edgar Froese and Thorsten Quaeschning
   TDs Irish tune! Which starts, with all things a Didgeridoo, as weird as that might sound, but it fits perfectly. Acoustic (bodhran?) drums pound as a solid synth sequence chugs along giving the track its backbone. Over this Chriss vocals give a nice feeling to what is a traditional song, albeit given a modern TD feeling. Only TD would dare to do this and pull it off so well. Theres a nice instrumental break in the middle full of acoustic strings over the rubbery synth rhythms. Chriss vocals return over a woodwind-like melody, with some nice piano from Edgar. If somebody had said that TD would do an Irish tune and told me I would have liked it I would have said they were mad. They weren’t and I love it.

   08. MAD SONG
   Music by Edgar Froese, Lyrics by William Blake
   A nice solid track based once again William Blakes Poem, but this is no Tyger, its modern TD. Chris pulls off the usual pop falsetto phrases very nicely and just when you think its just the same old stuff from Edgar, steel drums are introduced over choir pads, with some recorder? & guitar licks added to the mix. Emotional, if a tad MOR, it should be played on the radio.

   09. ONE HOUR OF MADNESS
   Music by Thorsten Quaeschning, Lyrics by Walt Whitman
   Starts with a nice filtered stretched sound color (over a repeated synth sequence), with flute trills and bass rumbles. Chris sings One hour of Madness and joy (prophetic words about this album perhaps?) distant chords take the track into a far more dramatic area, tragic perhaps? With panned hard-sync synth sounds, the piece builds again with a chugging bass line and punchy drums. Some rather tasty melodies are added over a fairly static section, only for drums to punch a dramatic break, with electric guitar coming to the fore and things really take off, with Bernard laying down some great and emotional melodies over the mechanical groove. Chords build and builda crash and its over. Superb!

   10. MAN
   Music by Edgar Froese, Lyrics by George Herbert
   Another mid-tempo chugging track from Edgar, over a simple plodding rhythm. Chriss vocals build into a nice track with a Dobro or a steel guitar type melody, either way it saves the track from being too MOR. OK, but nothing special for me.

   11. HYMN TO INTELLECTUAL BEAUTY
   Music by Thorsten Quaeschning, Lyrics by Percy B. Shelley
   A piano repeated sequence plays over a complex echoing arrangement, with a slowed down break beat loop. Chriss vocals add drama with Shelleys words and the vocals die away as guitar and synths take over, only for the vocals to bound back in, with a yearning and heartfelt phrase Why do we pass away and leave this world? Drum hits introduce a few notes from steel drums whilst Chris returns to Shelleys text

2. 

   Laserdisc Dream / USA – 2022-11-22

   It the Best Superb Album by Tangerine Dream!

   2007. Laserdisc Dream / USA

3. 

   Edward Xia – 2022-11-22

   Edgar Froese founded Tangerine Dream in autumn of 1967 in Berlin, and over the next few decades the band became a pioneer of instrumental and ambient music. Nominated for seven Grammy Awards, the band has done movie soundtracks and survived several member changes. 40 years and many albums later, Tangerine Dream is still making music.
   The new album Madcaps Flaming Duty is true to Tangerine Dreams form, full of hollow sounds and spacey atmosphere. It is dedicated to former Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett, and the lyrics of each song are taken from the poems of British and American poets, ranging from William Blake to Ralph Waldo Emerson to Walt Whitman. Depending on your tolerance for such kitsch in your music, the idea is either insufferably pretentious or delightfully frivolous. Either way, the poetry fits perfectly with the layered landscape of the music.
   Chris Hausl, the vocalist, inflects the poems with despair, although at times he sounds like hes doing an impression of Ian Curtis. However, for a band that has often been criticized for failing to integrate vocals effectively within the music, Madcaps Flaming Duty is a coup. Hausl uses his voice in an understated way, and his reservation manages to mesh with the ambience of the album.

   Within an album of sounds, there are specific sounds that absolutely stand out. Linda Spas harmonica on Astrophel and Stella” feels like something out of an old Sergio Leone film.
   The synthetic drums on “Solution of All Problems” shake and shine.
   The flute on “A Dream of Death” provides a degree of airiness that perfectly undercuts the thudding drums.
   Highlight tracks include “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty”