Track Listing

1. Godspeed
2. Immediate Circle
3. Fuel
4. What It Is
5. Stone By Stone
6. The Mother Of Misogyny
7. Is Everybody Here On Drugs?
8. Imaginary Friend
9. Shore Leave
10. Apple Core
11. Beautiful Loser
12. Blues Song
13. Village Idiot
14. Arabian Derby

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27687 in Music
• Released on: 2001-08-06
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
What a welcome surprise. Paper Scissors Stone represents a major rebirth for Catatonia. Two years previously, the Welsh band's outlook appeared bleak. Sales of their 1999 album, Equally Cursed and Blessed, foundered at 300,000, less than one-third the sales of its predecessor, International Velvet. A UK tour was cancelled among whispers of alcohol abuse and breakdown s; Britpop's demise looked to have claimed another victim, which is why this startling return to form is so heartening. Catatonia have never sounded better. From the opening "Godspeed", a lush, orchestral lament for a dying love, Paper Scissors Stone is a vivacious and flamboyant suite of music. Cerys Matthews is in tremendous voice, her husky, litling Valleys tones lending quavering humour and pathos to "The Mother of Misogyny" and "Blues Song". Truly, nobody else sings like this. Yet Cerys' idiosyncratic rasp resonates only because her ex-beau, guitarist and songwriter Mark Roberts pens such strong and expressive songs. She must surely find it claustrophobic to sing bitter love songs written by a former partner, but it works, compellingly. "Imaginary Friend" and "Village Idiots" are luscious and lovely, yet the stand-out track is the raucous "Is Everybody Here on Drugs?" Roberts claims it's an anti-Prozac anthem but, face facts, it'll be a defiant sing-along anthem at every Catatonia gig for years. --Ian Gittins

CD Description
Fourth album for Welsh indie-pop stars. Described by singerCerys Matthews as "stronger, more avant-garde, more focusedand impassioned" than their previous album, 2000's 'EquallyCursed And Blessed'. Recorded with veteran Madness/Elvis Costello producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, it in- cludes the single 'Stone By Stone'.

Customer Reviews

Best Album To Date, Completely Against Expectations
I wasn't a great fan of Stone By Stone when I first heard it and the title 'Paper Scissors Stone' sounds like a title by a band who are on the verge of selling out. The very disapointing Equally Cursed And Blessed gave this album little hope. I thought this was going to be a poor effort...

Oh how I was wrong! This is the strongest, and simply the best album by Catatonia to date. Every song on the album is superb. They've mixed melencholy with anthemic, upbeat songs, perhaps more of the first. Immediate Circle is immidiately catchy and will get you head banging at live gigs, as will Village Idiots. What It Is is a branch into new teritory: dance - and one could easily be forgiven for thinking they've been making dance records all their lives.

After several listens you'll be singing every song. The best songs in my opinion are: Immidiate Circle, Fuel, What It Is, Imaginary Friend, Village Idiots and Beautiful Loser

Finally, the lyrics are very thought provoking and dressed up in their usual wit and irony.

Buy this album, it is definately the best ever by Catatonia

Stunning, unexpectedly mature and passionate
It's a shame Catatonia split - this is their best album yet - unexpectedly mature with intricate melodies such as Godspeed and Blues Songs and intiguing lyrics.

Buy this and listen to it, it songs will keep you engrossed far longer than Roadrage and their like.

return to form
There are great songs on this album, the sort that need a few listens to, before they creep up on you and find you can't get them out of your head. Songs like Blues Song and Village Idiot would be #1 singles in a sane world. What It Is leaves you wanting more, the lead off single, Stone by Stone builds up nicely to the anthemic Catatonia we all love. Shore Leave is very popular amongst the fans for good reason - cos its a corker. Obviously not an album for the less discerning greenday fan, but if you like good guitar music, sung with passion, charisma and charm, you'll do geat with this album.