Maxim may be looking for some staffers on the music side

I know, it's Maxim, but shit, you have to have a set of balls to think you might get away with this.

NEW YORK (AP) - The Black Crowes are lashing out at Maxim magazine for reviewing the band's new album _ apparently without actually hearing it first.

The review, published in Maxim's March issue, gives the Crowes' "Warpaint" a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five.

"The writer _ who has not heard the album since advance CDs were not made available _ wrote what appears to be a disparaging assessment anyway, citing, `it hasn't left Chris Robinson and the gang much room for growth,'" said a statement on the band's official Web site.

The band's manager, Pete Angelus, said the magazine explained that its review was an "educated guess."

"It speaks directly to the lack of the publication's credibility," Angelus said in a statement. "In my opinion, it's a disgrace to the arts, journalism, critics, the publication itself and the public. What's next _ Maxim's concert reviews of shows they never attended, book reviews of books never read and film reviews of films never seen?"

 

Hey, my favorite paper ever had a guy get busted pulling AP quotes on events he never attended.

If I was still single, I'm sure I would still have my subscription. ;D

 

What if reviewers who actually DO listen to the record give it less than two and half stars?

 

Inexcusable, but the writer can't be faulted for thinking it was going to suck.

Crowes haven't done anything good since the sizzling "Remedy." That was 16 goddamn years ago.

And anyway, who the fuck reads Maxim for anything? You want music info, read Blender, which seems fresh every month.

 

And Blender is published by Maxim. That strikes me as somewhat odd, because you're right, it's light years better than Maxim.

I prefer Paste to Blender these days, and Paste did something this month that I thought was pretty impressive: it did an entire article on the Black Crowes and Chris Robinson without mentioning Kate Hudson once. (And I assume Paste got an advance CD or at least heard the new album, because they liked it.)

 

You know, I thought they were published by the same company, but it made no sense to me why Maxim would run a music section when it has Blender so I figured it was published by one of the other laddy mag publishers.

Blender is outstanding. It's my favorite magazine to read while traveling...always able to pick it up and find something entertaining. It feels fresh despite the monthly constraints. And a subscription is insane...I have a card I need to send in that gets me 18 issues for $10. Deal.

 

When did Maxim have any credibility?

 

It always pisses me off when someone blatantly won't even fucking, you know, LISTEN to the CD he or she is reviewing. I've seen a few of those types of reviews and it's all I can do to keep myself from upper decking those writers.

If one of my writers did that, I'd kick it back and say, "next time, actually listen to the CD before you review it." If I give them a next time.

 

They've been doing this with movie reviews for years. They'll give movies two or three stars based solely on who's in it - a movie with an attractive woman might get an extra star.

They don't advertise it, but it's clear from reading the reviews.

And Moddy, I would love to hear from our member who was or is an editor at Maxim. I've always been curious what it's like to work there.

 

Seriously, I think to do that is unforgivable.
Of course, I don't do music reviews. I don't know how I could because I have to listen to CDs at least a few times before I can really get a feel for them.

 

I've written CD reviews on occasion. I did one of Tina Turner's last studio CD that U-Wire picked up back when I was at the Big Student Daily.

When I've done them, I've usually only started after listening to the entire CD front to back. The one that was even remotely different was when I reviewed Trouble in Shangri-la (Stevie Nicks's last studio record). In THAT case, I listened to certain songs several times in addition to one or two front to back listens.

To me, reviewing something without having read it, seen it or heard it is unpardonable.