See How We Are

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web |title=See How We Are Review by Greg Prato |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/see-how-we-are-mw0000222063 |website=AllMusic |access-date=30 April 2023}}

|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev2score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|chapter=X|page=1,280}}

|rev3 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

|rev3score = 4/10{{cite book |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |pages=438–439}}

| rev4 = The Village Voice

| rev4Score = B[https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv9-87.php Village Voice review]

}}

Robert Christgau reviewed the album in his 1987 "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice:

{{blockquote|"Even during the first four songs, when the sustained detail of the writing--with a boost from Dave Alvin's tormented yet unembittered '4th of July'—makes it seems [sic] they'll fight for every inch, you miss Billy Zoom's syncretic junk: fine though he is, Tony Gilkyson is too neoclassy for these convinced vulgarians. Then the material devolves into complaints, throwaways, wasted stanzas, and utter clinkers."}}

Rolling Stone wrote that X "adjusts to the challenge of guitarist Billy Zoom's departure by tightening up, discarding the gratuitous poetics of some of its lyrics and stating its case as succinctly as it has since its 1982 signpost, Wild Gift."{{cite magazine |last1=Guterman |first1=Jimmy |title=X See How We Are |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=Oct 8, 1987 |issue=510 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/x/albums/album/259588/review/6212743/see_how_we_are|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927214103/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/x/albums/album/259588/review/6212743/see_how_we_are |archive-date=2007-09-27 }} Trouser Press considers the album superior to its predecessor, Critter on the Road, writing that Alvin contributes "two of his most heart-rending compositions" and generally "[brings] the band back to earth, restoring its confidence". They describe the album as a "polished platter [that] cooks on desperate rockers like the lead-off “I’m Lost” then tugs at the heartstrings with “You,” an old-fashioned love lament even non-fans should appreciate."{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=Jon |last2=Robbins |first2=Ira |last3=Yockey |first3=Matt |title=X |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/x-band/ |access-date=March 17, 2025}} Rob Sheffield, writing in the Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995), bemoans the "massive loss of sonic energy" resulting from Gilkyson joining the band, and believes "4th of July" is the only good new song, noting that "while the rest of it is competent roots-rock, it's self-pitying gloom without the noisy catharsis of Wild Gift."

All tracks written by Exene Cervenka and John Doe except as indicated.

1. "I'm Lost" – 2:55
2. "You" – 3:28
3. "4th of July" (Dave Alvin) – 3:32
4. "In the Time It Takes" – 3:09
5. "Anyone Can Fill Your Shoes" – 2:45
6. "See How We Are" – 3:46

1. "Left & Right" – 2:57
2. "When It Rains..." – 4:29
3. "Holiday Story" – 3:36
4. "Surprise, Surprise" – 2:50
5. "Cyrano de Berger's Back" (John Doe) – 3:33

1. "Holiday Story" (Demo/Remix) – 4:00
2. "I'm Lost" (Demo/Remix) – 2:48
3. "Highway 61 Revisited" (Bob Dylan) (Outtake/Rough Mix) – 5:08
4. "In the Time It Takes" (Demo/Remix) – 3:08
5. "See How We Are" (Demo/Remix) – 3:57
6. (untitled hidden track) – 2:06

;X

• D.J. Bonebrake – drums, percussion
• Exene Cervenka – vocals
• Tony Gilkyson – guitars
• John Doe – vocals, bass

;Additional personnel

• Dave Alvin – guitar, six-string bass
• Benmont Tench – Hammond organ, Casiotone

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Category:X (American band) albums

Category:1987 albums

Category:Elektra Records albums

Category:Roots rock albums