Maxim Magazine hires Faux_Rillz as music editor
soulmarcosa
4,296 Posts
http://www.thetripwire.com/news/2008/2/25/album-reviews-gone-very-wrong-the-black-crowesAlbum Reviews Gone Very Wrong: The Black Crowes Megaforce Records sent us some interesting news regarding a recent album review in the boob-tastic Maxim Magazine on The Black Crowes' latest album, Warpaint. Apparently, advance copies of the album for review had not been sent out yet, but somehow Maxim was already running a review of the new disc. So exactly how can you review an album without hearing it? The magazine claimed it was an "educated guess preview."[/b] The following is a statement from The Black Crowes regarding this shady review:How is it that a magazine can review an entire album--and assign a star rating to it--without actually hearing the album? Case in point: the "review" of Warpaint--the new album by THE BLACK CROWES--in the March issue of Maxim magazine. 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."Incredulously, the magazine gave the album a two and a half star rating--although neither the writer nor the editor could have heard more than one song (the single "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution").When approached for an explanation, the magazine described the review as "an educated guess preview." Huh?Black Crowes manager Pete Angelus says, "Maxim's actions seem to completely lack journalistic integrity and intentionally mislead their readership. When confronted with the fact that they never heard the album they are claiming to 'review' in their music section--with a star rating, no less--they attempt to explain that it was an 'educated guess.' In an email correspondence, Maxim went on to state: 'Of course, we always prefer to (sic) hearing music, but sometimes there are big albums that we don't want to ignore that aren't available to hear, which is what happened with the Crowes. It's either an educated guess preview or no coverage at all, so in this case we chose the former.'" Angelus continued, "It speaks directly to the lack of the publication's credibility. 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?"FYI, The Black Crowes' Warpaint hits stores on March 4.
Comments
overrated. i'd give it one star, if that.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! I don't even know where to begin.
ZING
File under: reap what you sow.
Spanish Maxim probably has higher-grade honeys, too.
I have not seen them, but I'll give them an 8.5.
I'm shocked anyone gave a crap about the Maxim ever.
TWINS
There's a reason you can get three years of it (including STUFF magazine) for "free"
now this sounds like some schitt worth subscribing to. can we get some pcitures please?
My style is to declare something utterly worthless and to flaunt the fact that I haven't listened to it.
Speaking of which, I've been meaning to ask you - who splits your hair?
I am bald. Word to Yuichi.
I'm sure a lot of us could write some stories about idiotic publicists. It's funny because at least now if I want a promo and I'm denied, I'll just go to some Vietnamese website and download a rar or two, then delete it.
I heard about the Black Crowes review on the radio yesterday, and the DJ commented by saying "why would anyone read Maxim for a record review? It's not a music magazine, and why would they care?" If anything, it's a good way to hype up an album that a lot of people don't know about.
I look forward to hearing it.
Ouch.
Not to defend publicists - though they do have some of the worst jobs in the industry - but the inanity of how this works isn't just on them: it's everyone - the artists, the labels, the exec. producers, the A&Rs, etc.
I don't think reviews even make a huge impact these days, one way or another, though enough consensus could hurt or help an album on the cusp. A single review won't mean diddly though.
True, I was just nitpicking.
I agree. It is great to get feedback from the artist directly, especially when it's along the lines of "you actually get what I was trying to accomplish". That feels good, but I'll turn around and ask myself "I wish I could get what I'm trying to accomplish".
I was going to ask something, but I'll take it to the PM.
02/26/2008 7:35 PM, AP
Maxim magazine has apologized for publishing a negative review of the Black Crowes' new album by a writer who hadn't listened to the whole CD.
The review in Maxim's March issue gives the Crowes' "Warpaint" a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five. The band posted an exasperated statement on its Web site last week saying the Maxim writer hadn't heard the entire album because advance copies weren't available. The Crowes' manager, Pete Angelus, said the magazine explained that its review was an "educated guess."
Maxim editorial director James Kaminsky responded Tuesday with this statement: "It is Maxim's editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety. Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologize to our readers."
A spokeswoman for the magazine contacted by The Associated Press declined to say whether the writer would face disciplinary action.
"Warpaint," the Black Crowes' first album in seven years, is set for release March 4. The blues-rock group, fronted by Chris Robinson, has released only one song from the disc, "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution."
The band's hits include "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels."
While we're doling out blame can we add the factual inevitability that if a CD gets an advance mailing, it will end up free on the internet, posted by one of the writers/store emplyees/mailroom folks into whose hands it ended up?
And really O, do you have a serious problem getting your hands on current releases you would like to review? I'm honestly curious.
Anyways, leaking a record to a few important people just isn't effective these days. Folks might read a review, but if they can't download something that instant they will forget about it. It's more effective to try to create some hype with an initial bang all at once, and then work at sustaining that hype where the record hits hardest.