Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever (Running)

"He wants to talk to me/one on one/he wants to give me his professional opinion!" So Peter Hammill howls as his vocals and the band's music race furiously to keep up with each other, whipping around lyrical corners and psychological precepts as though participating in a musical caucus race. The song itself is either a great depiction of a wild psychedelic drug trip or a mad dash through a period in the life of a psychotic -- either way, it's a song filled with atmospheric language and frantic wordplay that really doesn't add up to much in literal sense. Hammill shares co-writing credit with violinist Graham Smith, whose pumping string work is a particular highlight of the track -- as a bonus, he also provides a multi-tracked string section to fill things out. "Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever (Running)" also provides a latter-day opportunity for Guy Evans to demonstrate his phenomenal drumming skills at full tilt. Unsettled and unnerving, this is a fascinating and malleable song.