''Paper Scissors Stone'' was the fourth and final album by

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

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 ...

. It was released on 6 August 2001 in the UK, and reached #6 on the

UK album chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for 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 Offici ...

Background

The album only had one single taken from it, " Stone by Stone" – the group's final single release. Fittingly, the ending of the video for the song features the band members all abandoning their instruments and walking away. The band had announced on their website that the next single was to be the rocky "Is Everybody Here on Drugs", although the announcement was quickly removed once it was clear that Catatonia were about to put an end to the band. The band were unable to promote the album, albeit with the exception of an appearance on '' Later...with Jools Holland'' and a few performances of "Stone by Stone", as

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 ...

was being treated for alcohol addiction and nervous exhaustion. The band had to cancel their upcoming eight venue UK tour which was due to take place during September due to ongoing concerns with Matthews' recovery. A statement by the record label Warners said that Matthews would not have "recovered sufficiently" from her treatment for "anxiety and exhaustion." The album's cover and in-sleeve photos were taken from the film, ''Tiger Bay'', which starred

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promisi ...

. Hayley was given a thank-you in the album. The album was dedicated to close friend and roadie Barry Cawley, who was killed in a road accident on his bicycle in

Betws-y-Coed Betws-y-Coed () is a village and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The village is located near the confluence of the River Conwy and the River Llugwy and is on the eastern edge of Snowdonia. The population of the co ...

, North Wales in July 2000. The track, "Imaginary Friend", was written about him. The album title refers to the game

rock paper scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by #Names, several other names and word orders) is an Intransitive game, intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstret ...

Reception

Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' noted a feeling within some of the album's lyrics and song titles such as "Is Everybody Here on Drugs?", which felt like they mirrored her actual life. Gill commented: "Cerys's boozing is, on this showing, the least of the band's problems. More pressing, surely, is the glaring absence of a hook as memorable as 'Road Rage' or 'Mulder & Scully'; the closest they come here is the single 'Stone by Stone'." Caroline Sullivan in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' said that " atthewswill always be an acquired taste, one that depends wholly on the strength of the songs. Ideally suited to pub singalongs, her warble is done justice by festival anthems such as Road Rage, but when pitted against anything heavy or balladish it tends to grate relentlessly." She also praised the single "Stone by Stone", saying it "gets it right." She concluded: "on balance it comes down to loving or hating that voice." In 2006, Iain Forrester of ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' said the album "certainly doesn’t deserve any of the hatred it received in the press at the time. It has a fire to match their debut and a much wider musical scope, taking in the string-laden melodrama of 'Godspeed' (which certainly suits Cerys Matthews' bellowing vocals) and flirtations with dance on 'What It Is,' as well as rock blasts like 'Immediate Circle'."

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paper Scissors Stone (Album) 2001 albums Catatonia (band) albums Albums produced by Alan Winstanley Albums produced by Clive Langer Blanco y Negro Records albums Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios