In 2005, the album was given a European release on the Munich label, and a twelfth track, "La complainte du phoque en Alaska" which was written originally by Michel Rivard for Beau Dommage a Montreal based band, was added.

Brendan Kelly, reviewer for Montreal Gazette, wrote on November 22, 2003:[2] "La Vache qui pleure, like most McGarrigles albums, feels like it exists out of time.

Also on April 15, 2005, Andy Gill of The Independent wrote:[4] "Presumably named in opposition to the synthetic connotations of the French processed cheese, La Vache Qui Pleure (Crying Cow) features folksy arrangements of Acadian fiddles, accordions and banjos, with the sisters' harmonies adding an Enya-esque gossamer quality to tracks such as "Petite Annonce Amoureuse" and "Sunflower (Ah Tournesol)", where the swelling and subsiding of the backing instruments is like the lapping of an ocean on a distant beach.

There's a keen awareness of the plight of powerless outsiders, be they the homesick refugee of "Ce Matin", the natives of Michel Rivard's "La Complainte du Phoque en Alaska", lamenting the way their youngsters leave for the US, or the cow of the title-track, weeping for her lost calf.

Most quirkily enjoyable is the reading of Malvina Reynolds' folk standard "Little Boxes (Petites Boites)", rendered as a lolloping cajun waltz of fiddle, accordion and guitars."