''Equally Cursed and Blessed'' is the third studio album by Welsh band

Catatonia Catatonia is a complex syndrome most commonly seen in people with underlying mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder, or psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia. People with catatonia exhibit abnormal movement and behaviors, wh ...

, released in April 1999 via Blanco y Negro Records. It reached number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, and three singles were released from it: " Dead from the Waist Down", "

Londinium Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. Most twenty-first century historians think that it was originally a settlement established shortly after the Roman conquest of Brit ...

" and " Karaoke Queen".

Recording

While touring in the United States following the success of their second studio album, '' International Velvet'',

recorded sample demos onto a DPS12

hard disk recorder A hard disk recorder (HDR) is a system that uses a high-capacity hard disk to record digital audio or digital video. Hard disk recording systems represent an alternative to reel-to-reel audio tape recording and video tape recorders, and provide ...

in their tour bus upon the recommendation of their producer,

TommyD Tommy Asher Danvers, better known by his stage name TommyD, is a British producer, songwriter, arranger, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of NFT marketplace, Token, , Traxx. He is best known for his work with artists such as Right ...

. They returned to the Monnow Valley Studio in

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, where they had recorded the previous album, to record ''Equally Cursed and Blessed''.

Release and promotion

The album was announced in January 1999; the title taken from a line in the song "She's a Millionaire". The first single, " Dead from the Waist Down" was released on 29 March 1999, with the album released on 12 April. This repeated the release schedule used for ''International Velvet'', which had been preceded by " Mulder and Scully" by the same period of time. ''Equally Cursed and Blessed'' faced competition from

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

's 1992 compilation album '' Gold: Greatest Hits'' for the number one spot on the

, as the ABBA album had re-charted due to the success of the '' Mamma Mia!'' musical featuring the band's songs. But by midweek, the Catatonia album was 15,000 sales ahead and it went on to secure the top place in the chart. At the time, all three Catatonia studio albums were in the top 40. ''Equally Cursed and Blessed'' went on to be

certified platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

showing at least 300,000 copies sold. The American release of the album saw two tracks from ''International Velvet'' added, including "

Road Rage Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by people driving a vehicle. These behaviors include rude and verbal insults, yelling, physical threats or dangerous driving methods targeted at other drivers, pedestrians, or cyclists in an ...

Singles

The album spawned one top-10 single, "Dead from the Waist Down", which reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart. The band had intended to release " Karaoke Queen" as the follow-up, but were overruled by the record label and they were forced to release "

" on 12 July 1999 instead. This angered lead singer

Cerys Matthews Cerys Elizabeth Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the " Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s. Matthews now ...

, as did the expense of the video for the single which had cost more than ''Equally Cursed and Blessed'' took to make. "Londinium" failed to reach the top ten, placing at number 20. "Karaoke Queen" was released as the third single on 1 November 1999 but stalled at number 36. "Nothing Hurts" was slated to be the fourth single release from the album but was shelved following the low chart placement of "Karaoke Queen". For the release of the ''Make Hay Not War: The Blanco Y Negro Years'' boxset, released on Cherry Red in 2023, the song "Karaoke Queen" was removed from the reissue of this album at the band's request.

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals * Mark Roberts – guitar *

Owen Powell Catatonia were an alternative rock band from Wales who gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s. The band formed in 1992 after Mark Roberts met Cerys Matthews. The first major lineup featured Dafydd Ieuan of Super Furry Animals on drums, P ...

– guitar * Paul Jones – bass * Aled Richards – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes

References

* {{Authority control Catatonia (band) albums 1999 albums Blanco y Negro Records albums