Black Letter Days - Frank Black & The Catholics
Black Letter Days Image
Metascore
60 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critics What's this?

User Score
9.5 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 10 Ratings

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0 out of 10
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  • Summary: Recorded direct to two-track, 'Black Letter Days' features a stripped-down sound for the former Pixie and his current band. And if the 18 new tracks here (including not one but two covers of Tom Waits' "The Black Rider") aren't enough for you, there's even more on the companion release, 'Devil's Workshop.'… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. CultureDose.net
    100
    Black Letter Days is a truly special work, and should be treated as such. Don't let the best record of the year go overlooked.
  2. Billboard
    80
    Dedicated fans will be pleased with the results.
  3. All Music Guide
    60
    Arguably, some prudent pruning might've made the album great instead of good, but even the album's uneven moments are still pretty enjoyable.
  4. The A.V. Club
    30
    The tossed-off quality of his recent work may be liberating to Black, but it's not likely to be so satisfying to his audience.

See all 12 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. AndrewK.
    10
    Yet again another "grow on you" masterpiece!!
  2. AJ
    10
    An underappreciated masterpiece. It slowly entangles you like ivy. Music to wander to.
  3. mommypants
    10
    this is the stuff that made the pixies go--pure rock and roll song writing.
  4. GregM.
    7
    Songwriter-extraordinaire Frank Black would do well to take heed of the old axiom "concise is nice," but he has begun to ramble in his old age. Oh well, his rambling is better than 99% of the other crap out there, so just burn the best songs from each CD onto one mix, and do what Old Man Frank couldn't bring himself to do.… Expand

See all 8 User Reviews

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