Show Me Your Tears
by Frank Black & The Catholics
  • Record Label: Spin Art
  • Release Date: Sep 9, 2003
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22

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  1. steved
    Sep 10, 2003
    10
    frank black's best work yet
  2. KrisA
    Sep 13, 2003
    9
    Frank Black betters his work with each album. Lyrically-speaking, SMYT is a departure for Black, a little less cryptic, but somehow more personal and powerful. With this release, Black continues to implement "live to two-track" recording. The result is a fantastic, raw, big rock sound. No over-produced, cookie-cutter band on the radio ever sounded this good. The legacy of the Pixies lives Frank Black betters his work with each album. Lyrically-speaking, SMYT is a departure for Black, a little less cryptic, but somehow more personal and powerful. With this release, Black continues to implement "live to two-track" recording. The result is a fantastic, raw, big rock sound. No over-produced, cookie-cutter band on the radio ever sounded this good. The legacy of the Pixies lives on with the Catholics (despite what some amature critics say).… Expand
  3. dw
    Sep 10, 2003
    10
    nice
  4. JasonP
    Sep 8, 2003
    10
    If you can't like this, you are dead. This is the most Beautiful Charles and the guys have done so far.
  5. JoeGrassby
    Sep 9, 2003
    9
    The Gbad reviews miss the point, again!
  6. AJ
    Jul 10, 2006
    9
    The perfect break-up record. The Stones and Leonard Cohen were clearly influences. Mastif Centrale sounds a bit like a Pixies track. For fans: Some great stuff but it feels a little more sterile than say "Dog in the Sand" and a bit more forced than "Black Letter Days."
  7. DeanK
    Sep 11, 2003
    10
    An instant classic alongside familiars as Teenager of the Year and Dog In The Sand. Don't miss!
  8. chrisl
    Sep 13, 2003
    10
    amazing album, prolific writer
  9. LeoK
    Sep 17, 2003
    10
    The Catholics never disappoint. Frank is incapable of writing a bad tune.
  10. JohnM
    Sep 25, 2003
    8
    Isn't he great? It's probably the Catholics weakest album I think, but still sounds fantastic...
  11. RyanBeeswax
    Nov 21, 2003
    8
    Frank Black?s wifey is gone and his songs are woeful, well, lyrically anyway, he still finds ways to pull out the great rousing pop.pop. melodies that we come to expect from ?Frank Black? and his band ?the Catholics?. In fact, I think Frank Black might be one of the last of his kind: a rock?n?roller with substance. The album is very stylistically close to ?Dog in the Sand?, maybe a bit Frank Black?s wifey is gone and his songs are woeful, well, lyrically anyway, he still finds ways to pull out the great rousing pop.pop. melodies that we come to expect from ?Frank Black? and his band ?the Catholics?. In fact, I think Frank Black might be one of the last of his kind: a rock?n?roller with substance. The album is very stylistically close to ?Dog in the Sand?, maybe a bit more ?Rolling Stones? at times though. It?s mostly rock music with some country twang and some good stripped down ballads.. Show Me Your Tears starts off with ?Nadine? and it has some ?Tom Waits? in it; not too much, but you can hear the influence. I?m not gonna go thru it track by track, but trust me it?s a really great album after say 3 listens. The first listen or two will probably leave you wondering where the wonderful melodies I?m blathering about are but they are there, just let recognition do its part. Anyway, the album highlights would be, ?Horrible Day?, ?Massif Centrale?(pure Frank Black genius, especially the bridge and simple piano), and ?Goodbye Lorraine?, while the lowlight is ?The Snake?(standard part of the scourge of being prolific) If you mildly like Frank Black you should really go out and get this record and give some money back to an artist who might just be the last of his kind; Rocking and worthy. I?m glad his wife is gone, this should be the last horribly laid out disc (she did all the graphic design for all ?FB&theC?s? albums). I think somewhere in his heart he knows it too?I mean, besides the poor graphic design (there is a powerful resilience in his voice) 8/10 … Expand
  12. MichaelM
    Sep 14, 2003
    9
    This album takes a while to get used to, but once you're past the initial impression you'll find that there's a lot going on here and a lot to like. I will say, however, that "Manitoba" is a huge disappointment compared with live versions I've heard.
  13. SvenC
    Sep 18, 2003
    10
    This album is not a grab-your-attention, jump-out-at-you album; you wouldn't play this at the next frat party. But if you can shut down your schizophrenic mind for 45 minutes, you'll be rewarded with an album that will massage your ears with catchy rhythms and in my opinion, Frank Black's best post-Pixies album to date. It's Leonard Cohen meets Tom Petty and it's This album is not a grab-your-attention, jump-out-at-you album; you wouldn't play this at the next frat party. But if you can shut down your schizophrenic mind for 45 minutes, you'll be rewarded with an album that will massage your ears with catchy rhythms and in my opinion, Frank Black's best post-Pixies album to date. It's Leonard Cohen meets Tom Petty and it's more relaxing than a serving a quaaludes with a side of kava tea.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
  1. Pitchfork
    54
    Paling in comparison to the Pixies is expected (and it would be unrealistic to expect otherwise), but Tears isn't even a good Catholics album.
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  2. Blender
    60
    Important? No. Remarkable? Not really. [Sep 2003, p.118]
  3. ShakingThrough.net
    50
    Even by the standards of Black's previous Catholics and solo offerings, Show Me Your Tears is a disappointment.
    Read full review
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